Succession: how to limit the bill for my children

Each month, the "Grand rendez-vous de l'immobilier" (Capital / Radio Immo) answers your questions through its sequence "It concerns you". Our experts - lawyers, notaries, real estate agents - solve the most complex legal problems for you and give you their sound advice whether you are considering selling, buying, renting or renovating your home. In this sequence, Nathalie Couzigou Suhas, notary in Paris, responds to Etienne, retired and owner of two properties (a main residence and another secondary). Etienne wonders how best to organize his estate during his lifetime with his children?

In the preamble, our lawyer specifies that Etienne is absolutely right to be interested in this question. Indeed, by making a donation during his lifetime, our auditor will reduce the inheritance rights of his children. For this, the device of the dismemberment of ownership is the most common: it allows the one who gives (the parent) to transmit the bare ownership of the property (s) real estate to his children, while continuing to reserve the ownership. 'usufruct (understand enjoyment). This arrangement will, as you will have understood, reduce the value of the transmission at the time of inheritance. Knowing that each parent can, in the meantime, give during their lifetime up to 100,000 euros to each of their children, free of charge, every 15 years.

Be careful, despite everything, warns our notary: if the operation is obviously attractive from a tax point of view, it is also necessary to understand the possible consequences, and therefore to take the time to discuss it with the family. First of all, it is important to properly assess the value of the real estate that you transfer to each of your children, so that none of them finds themselves wronged later. Also good to know: once you have transferred the bare ownership of a property to your children, you will no longer be able to decide to sell it later, without their consent. Beware, therefore, if you think you will have financial problems...

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Our experts answer you

Are you an owner, buyer, seller or investor and do you also have a legal, tax or practical question? Don't hesitate to connect to the Facebook group Le Club des proprios to ask your questions. The some 6,000 members of this group, created and managed by Capital, will be happy to provide you with their feedback. In a second step, we will also try to bring up your questions to submit them to our experts who will answer them in the next issues of the "Grand rendez-vous de l'immobilier".

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