Succession: “Can we inherit a PEL while retaining its advantages?”

A reader of Capital wants to know if it is possible to withdraw the capital from a home savings plan (PEL) which he is to inherit, and if it is also possible to benefit from its advantageous loan conditions.

Didier, reader of Capital, asks us this question : “My 98-year-old grandmother recently died. She had a PEL with nearly 53,000 euros, opened in 2003. This is part of the estate which is in progress. Could you help me understand if a transfer (redemption) on this PEL is possible? Finally, is my grandmother’s loan entitlement also maintained after the transfer?”

Hello Didier, and thank you for your question, which allows us to return to the way in which Housing Savings Plans (PEL) are transmitted in the context of an inheritance. Plans opened before 2011, like your grandmother’s, are often attractive investments thanks to their high interest rates. Without forgetting that this savings product also allows you to obtain a property loan at a favorable rate, this is the “loan right” that you mention.

Loan rights can be transmitted, but not the PEL

Unfortunately, the transfer of a PEL is not authorized in the context of an inheritance, when the latter is more than 10 years old, as in your case. The PEL is in fact a limited-life product, even if it can be kept afterwards. If it is “expired” at the time of death, it is automatically closed. On the occasion of this closing by the bank, the capital of the PEL, as well as the interest generated, are integrated into the estate assets and distributed among the heirs according to the rules of succession. In summary, you will therefore not be able to recover the PEL as a savings product as such.

On the other hand, in the context of an expired PEL, the loan rights may well be allocated to one of the heirs. “One of the beneficiaries of the estate can declare to the notary that they want to benefit from loan rights”confirms Nathalie Couzigou-Suhas, notary in Paris. To do this, “it is enough that the other heirs agree”, adds the expert. In this case, Didier, you will benefit from one year from the death of your grandmother to use these loan rights if they are granted to you. Be careful, however, to ensure that this borrowing rate is really advantageous compared to that which you could obtain today from a bank.