Who inherits without a will in France?
In France the spouse chooses between the use of the whole estate and a quarter in ownership when there are children.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
A spouse and children survive
Where all the children are those of both spouses, the surviving spouse chooses between the usufruct of the whole estate and the ownership of a quarter. Where some children are from another relationship, the spouse takes a quarter in ownership. Children share the rest equally, and the spouse's share of the marital property is settled first.
A spouse survives, but no children
If there are parents, the spouse takes half and each parent a quarter (a dead parent's quarter goes to the spouse). If there are no parents and no descendants, the spouse takes everything, subject to a right of the siblings over certain family property.
No spouse: who comes next
Descendants in equal shares. A person with no children passes the estate to the parents and the siblings and their descendants; with no siblings each parent takes half. If no relative inherits, the state takes the estate.
A partner who is not married
An unmarried partner, including a PACS partner, has no legal right to inherit but can receive a legacy by will. They have a one-year right to use the family home and its furniture.
What a will cannot take away
Children have a reserved share: half the estate with one child, two thirds with two, three quarters with three or more. If there are no descendants, the spouse has a reserved quarter. Parents and other relatives have none.
If the person or the property is abroad
In this EU country the Succession Regulation applies to people who die after 16 August 2015: the whole estate is generally governed by the law of the country where the person had their habitual residence at death, unless they chose the law of their nationality in a will. A foreigner living here, or a citizen living abroad, can therefore be governed by a different law than the one described on this page.
What to watch for
- A PACS partner or cohabitant leaving everything to a partner can be limited by the children's reserved share.
Understand the legal system first
France belongs to the Civil law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.
Read the France legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in France? →
Official sources
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TheLawToKnow Tools’s inheritance guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.
