Succession: He is housed free of charge by his father, his brothers and sisters claim 180,000 euros

Hanging your adult child for free, or almost, can it be assimilated to a gift to take into account when the parents’ inheritance? The Court of Cassation answers this question in a recent decision.

Capital video: Succession: housed free of charge by his father, he is claimed 180,000 euros by his brothers and sisters claimed

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If there is a moment when brothers and sisters stop their bickering, it was when one of the parents died. In theory. The “S” siblings did not stick their elbows: on the death of their father, HS, on April 25, 2007, four of her children found nothing better than to blame the fifth, W., for having received a dad a dad gift of several tens of thousands of eurosthat they want to see now shared between them all. A Ferrari? No, the child W. was housed in an apartment of the father at a price lower than the average rent of the market, from November 1, 2003 to October 31, 2015. A financial advantage that his four brothers and sisters have more precisely quantified in 182,939.64 euros On this dozen years. They wanted to see this advantage integrated into the succession of their father, in order to obtain their share of this sum. But should this this be considered as a gift made by Mr. S. to his son W. and, as such, integrated into the succession with a view to being shared with the other four offspring?

Yes, according to a judgment rendered on May 22, 2022 by the Versailles Court of Appeal, seized by the four brothers and sisters of W. The Court considered that the occupation of the good of the father by his son, in exchange for rent lower than the price of the market, constituted a indirect donation. Indeed, if the father had not housed his son at low prices in this apartment, he could have rented him to someone else at the price of the market and, thus, enriched. By refraining from putting this property on the rental market, the father acted “With the desire to reward his son, thus characterizing a liberal intention”estimates the Versailles Court of Appeal. However, considered as an advance on the succession, the indirect donation must be taken into account in it in order to be shared with the other descendants of the deceased.

Hanging your child at low prices, a gift, really?

Amazed to have to bring more than 180,000 euros as part of the succession of his father in order to share this sum with his brothers and sisters, the son W. was provided in cassation. Well made him: in a decision of June 12, 2024, the Court of Cassation broke and canceled the judgment of the Versailles Court of Appeal. For the highest jurisdiction of the judicial order, two conditions must be met for this sum to be duly claimed by the successors: that it is a “gift” made by one of the parents to his children and that this gesture has “Acrevuri” The donor.

In the case of Mr. S., the second condition is fully fulfilled. There is very impoverishment since he praised his property to his son at a price lower than the rent on the market. But is it a gift? By staying his son with meager income on interesting financial conditions, his father did not simply bring him a essential help ? In the absence of evidence, there is no gift and nothing can be claimed from W., judged the Court of Cassation. The four brothers and sisters of W. must therefore make a cross on the 180,000 euros in question.