Succession: “How do you know if you are designated as heir?”

In the “big savings meeting” (capital / radio heritage), Nathalie Couzigou-Suhas, notary in Paris, responds to an auditor who wonders about how she and her sisters were designated as heirs of their father.

Capital video: How to know if we are designated as heirs?

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Each month, the “big savings meeting” (capital / radio heritage) answers your questions in the “your questions, our answers” sequence. Our experts – notaries, taxpiens, specialists in transmission – support you on all your issues related to your assets, whether inheritance, investments or taxation. Today, Nathalie Couzigou-Suhas responds to Florence, whose father, remarried for over 20 years, has a heritage mainly made up of financial investments. She wonders, with her brothers and sisters, how to know if their father has made a will and if they are designated heirs.

On this point, Nathalie Couzigou-Suhas is categorical: “During the life of the person, the potential heirs are absolutely not legitimate to ask if a will has been carried out, and the notary absolutely does not have the right to tell them, because that is professional secrecy.” In other words, it is impossible for Florence and her sisters to obtain this information as long as their father is alive. Furthermore, even if a will has been written, nothing is frozen: “A will is always revocable: until the last moment, it can be modified”recalls the notary. It will therefore be useless to be based on a possible declaration made to have certainties.

In the event of assets placed in life insurance, the capital escapes the succession

Another point to take into account: the nature of the heritage, which here is largely made up of financial investments. “If part of the heritage is placed in life insurance, for example, with a beneficiary clause designating only the mother-in-law, these capital escape the succession. There is no hereditary reserve for children if the premiums paid are not deemed excessive at the time of their payment ”Nathalie Couzigou-Suhas point. Thus, it is possible that part of the funds are transmitted directly to the mother-in-law of Florence, without being integrated into the succession which will concern them with her brothers and sisters.

Finally, if the father has not written a will, the law applies a strict distribution in the event of a blended family. “The surviving spouse is entitled to 25% of the succession, in addition to a life -law allowing him to stay in family housing”recalls the notary. To avoid tensions and rebalance the distribution between heirs, “It can be relevant to testament in order to adapt the transmission to the wishes of the deceased and to avoid potential conflicts ”concludes Maître Couzigou-Suhas.

Florence and her brothers and sisters will therefore not be able to know the content of the succession only after the death of their father. In the meantime, it may be useful to initiate a discussion, as delicate as it may be, or to encourage their father to consult a notary to organize his transmission.

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A question about your investments, a succession, your taxes or your real estate investments? Each month, we select several and submit them to our experts who will enlighten you on all the subjects that affect your money. To ask them your questions, an address: question@capital.fr