A parent dies. An apartment in Paris passes to four siblings spread across three countries. A farmhouse in Provence is donated to two children who have never lived in France. A separation leaves two people jointly owning a flat they bought as unmarried partners.
In all these situations, French law places the co-owners in a legal state called indivision — undivided co-ownership. Nobody owns a specific room, a specific wall, or a specific garden. Everyone owns everything, proportionally.
This article explains what that means in practice: what you can do with the property, what you cannot do, who owes what to whom, and — most importantly — how to get out.
Can you simply refuse the inheritance?
Yes. Under French law, any heir has the right to renounce their share of a succession (C. civ., art. 806). Renunciation must be made at the clerk’s office of the Tribunal judiciaire of the last domicile of the deceased, or before a notaire (since 2017). It is not sufficient to simply say nothing or write an informal letter.
The effect of renunciation is total: the renouncing heir is treated as never having inherited. Their share passes to the next level of heirs — typically their own children, who represent them under the mechanism of représentation. A renouncing heir is not liable for the debts and charges of the estate, with the narrow exception of funeral costs for ascendants and descendants.
Renunciation is the right choice when the estate’s liabilities exceed its assets — when the inherited property carries an unpaid mortgage, outstanding tax liabilities, or debts that would fall to the heirs. Accepting the inheritance unconditionally (acceptation pure et simple) means accepting both assets and debts in proportion to your share.
The timing is governed by two different rules. In practice: heirs have four months from the date of death to decide. After that deadline, any other heir or creditor of the estate can serve them with a formal summons (sommation par acte d’huissier) compelling them to decide within two months — failing which they are deemed to have accepted unconditionally. The absolute outer limit is ten years: if no one has accepted the succession within ten years of death, it devolves to the State. Renunciation can be revoked within ten years, provided no other heir has accepted and the State has not yet been sent into possession.
A third option exists between full acceptance and renunciation: accepting the estate up to the net assets (acceptation à concurrence de l’actif net). This caps personal liability for the deceased’s debts at the value of what the heir receives — useful when the estate’s financial position is unclear. It comes with procedural obligations and is less commonly used in practice than outright acceptance or renunciation.
What indivision means
Indivision (C. civ., art. 815 et seq.) is the situation that arises when several people hold concurrent rights of the same nature over the same asset, without any physical division of their shares. Each co-owner holds a quote-part — a fractional undivided share expressed as a proportion: one-half, one-third, one-quarter. That fraction does not correspond to any physical part of the property. No one owns the bedroom on the right; everyone owns the entire property, proportionally.
In English law, the closest equivalent is a tenancy in common — where each person holds an identifiable fractional share that can be sold, inherited, or charged independently, without automatic right of survivorship. This is quite different from a joint tenancy, where the surviving owner automatically inherits the whole on the first death. French indivision is tenancy in common by default.
Indivision arises most commonly through inheritance — when someone dies leaving multiple heirs, the estate passes into indivision from the date of death, regardless of whether a will exists. It also arises through donation, through the dissolution of a matrimonial regime on death or divorce, or through joint purchase by unmarried partners.
One structural feature of indivision that foreign co-owners consistently underestimate: it has no legal personality (Cass. 1re civ., 25 oct. 2005; Cass. 3e civ., 3 oct. 2007). The indivision cannot open a bank account in its own name, cannot sign contracts, cannot sue or be sued as an entity. Every legal act must be carried out by the co-owners in their own names, individually or collectively. When one co-owner takes legal action to protect the co-owned asset, they act in their own name — the resulting judgment binds only them. Other co-owners must bring their own separate proceedings, or be joined as parties.
The first formal step: establishing who the heirs are
Before any management or partition can take place, the notaire must establish the legal identity of all heirs through a document called the acte de notoriété. This deed lists who the heirs are, their relationship to the deceased, and their respective shares. Without it, no act of management, no sale, no partition can proceed legally.
If the deceased had assets in France, the notaire then prepares a declaration of succession (déclaration de succession) to be filed with the French tax authorities — within six months of death if the deceased died in France, twelve months if outside France. Inheritance tax (droits de succession) must be paid at the same time, or arrangements made for deferred payment. This is not optional. Until the declaration is filed and tax settled or formally deferred, the estate remains blocked.
The fractional share of each heir — their quote-part — is determined at this stage. It drives every subsequent decision.
The key rule: no one can be forced to stay
The foundational principle of French indivision law is stated at Article 815 of the Civil Code: nul ne peut être contraint de demeurer dans l’indivision — no one can be forced to remain in co-ownership. Every co-owner has the right to demand partition at any time. This right is imprescriptible: it never expires, regardless of how long the indivision has lasted or how long no one has acted.
A property left in indivision for forty years can still be partitioned on the day any co-owner chooses to act. The legal claim is always alive.
The corollary is equally important: no one can be forced to sell their share against their will without going through a specific court process. The right to demand partition and the right to resist selling are in permanent tension. That tension is where most indivision disputes live.
What co-owners can and cannot do
French law distinguishes three categories of acts, each requiring a different level of agreement.
Acts any individual co-owner can take alone: conservation measures to prevent the property from deteriorating or being lost (C. civ., art. 815-2). Emergency repairs, urgent maintenance, protecting the property against imminent damage. No agreement needed from other co-owners.
Acts requiring a two-thirds majority of shares (quote-parts): ordinary administration and management acts (C. civ., art. 815-3) — making necessary repairs, engaging a property manager, entering into or renewing residential or professional leases, selling movable assets to pay the indivision’s debts and charges. The two-thirds is calculated by share, not by heads. Two co-owners holding a combined two-thirds or more can act without the others — provided they formally notify all other co-owners, otherwise the decision is unenforceable against those not informed.
Acts requiring unanimity: all acts of disposal and any act outside the scope of normal operation of the co-owned assets — selling the whole property, mortgaging it, making major structural works, and entering into or renewing commercial, agricultural, industrial or craft leases. Any single co-owner can block these acts, regardless of how small their share. A ten-percent co-owner can prevent the other ninety percent from selling. This structural veto is the fundamental problem of indivision.
Practical authority for blocked management: when a minority co-owner systematically refuses necessary management acts, any co-owner can apply to the court for judicial authorisation to proceed alone (C. civ., art. 815-5). The court can also appoint an administrator to manage the property when deadlock is causing harm.
The 50/50 problem: when only two co-owners each hold exactly half the shares, neither has the two-thirds majority required for management acts, and neither can unilaterally force a sale. This is one of the most paralysing configurations in indivision and one of the most common — it arises whenever a couple’s property passes to their two children in equal shares. The only exits are unanimity, court authorisation, or judicial partition.
The financial dimension: what co-owners owe each other
Indivision creates ongoing financial obligations between co-owners that accumulate over time and are settled at partition.
The occupying co-owner’s indemnity: a co-owner who occupies the property to the exclusion of the others owes those others an occupation indemnity (indemnité d’occupation) proportional to their shares (C. civ., art. 815-9). This applies even if the occupying co-owner has a perfectly understandable reason for being there, even if the others never complained, and even if they are not actually living there permanently — the obligation arises from the fact that the other co-owners cannot freely use the asset. French courts have held that merely holding the keys while excluding others creates the obligation. The indemnity is typically calculated on the rental value of the property (with a 20% abatement commonly applied by courts), applied to the excluded co-owners’ respective shares. It accumulates from the start of the exclusive occupation until the property is vacated or partitioned. The action prescribes five years from when the claimant became aware of the exclusive occupation.
The managing co-owner’s reimbursement: a co-owner who has paid expenses relating to the property out of their own pocket — maintenance, taxes, insurance, mortgage repayments — is entitled to reimbursement from the indivision’s assets, with interest (C. civ., art. 815-13). A co-owner who made improvements at their own expense is also entitled to compensation based on the value added at the time of partition or sale, calculated according to equity.
Both types of claim are settled in the partition proceedings. The combination — years of paying running costs while another co-owner lives in the property rent-free — produces two separate and potentially substantial financial claims. Understanding this before any negotiation begins changes the dynamics entirely.
Taxes and charges during indivision: all co-owners are jointly responsible for the property’s ongoing obligations — taxe foncière, insurance premiums, maintenance costs, and any mortgage on the property. Contribution is proportional to each co-owner’s share. A co-owner who refuses to contribute can be compelled to do so through the courts. A property left empty during a long indivision still accumulates these obligations; co-owners who have been paying them hold the corresponding reimbursement claim at partition.
Rental income during indivision: if the property is rented out during the indivision, each co-owner’s share of the rental income is treated as their personal income and taxed in France accordingly (as revenus fonciers for non-resident landlords). Non-residents paying French income tax on rental income should also consider whether a double taxation treaty between France and their country of residence provides relief.
How to exit: the amicable partition
The cleanest exit from indivision is a partage amiable — an agreement between all co-owners. It requires unanimity but is fast and relatively inexpensive when it works.
Forms it can take: sale of the property to a third party with proceeds divided proportionally; one co-owner buys out the others at an agreed price (paying the difference in cash, called a soulte); different assets from the estate allocated to different heirs in equivalent values. A partial amicable partition — covering some assets but not all, or some co-owners but not all — is valid and binding for the assets and parties it covers.
When the partition involves French real estate, the agreement must be formalised by a notaire and published at the service de la publicité foncière. There is no way around this formality for immovable property.
The cost of partition: the French state levies a droit de partage — a registration tax — on any partition. The current rate is 2.5% of the net value of the assets partitioned (i.e., after deducting debts secured on the property). The notaire additionally charges fees for drafting the partition act, calculated on a sliding scale based on asset value. For a property worth €400,000 shared between two co-owners, the droit de partage alone amounts to €10,000. This cost should be factored into any negotiation about who gets what. When one co-owner buys out the others, the buyer also pays transfer costs — typically notaire fees of approximately 7-8% for existing real estate. When the property is sold to a third party, standard conveyancing costs apply on the buyer’s side.
The attribution préférentielle: an heir who was living in the property at the time of death as their principal residence, or who was operating a business or profession from the property, can request that it be attributed to them as a priority (attribution préférentielle) in the partition (C. civ., art. 831). The court will grant this provided the claimant can pay the necessary balancing payment (soulte) to the other co-owners. Attribution préférentielle prevents the property from being sold at auction over a co-owner who genuinely needs it.
How to exit: forcing a sale over minority objection
Between full unanimous agreement and a lengthy judicial partition, an intermediate route exists that most foreign co-owners overlook.
Under Article 815-5-1 of the Civil Code, co-owners representing at least two-thirds of the indivision’s shares can petition the Tribunal judiciaire for judicial authorisation to sell the entire property, even against the opposition of the remaining minority. The procedure begins with a formal declaration before a notaire of the majority’s intention to sell. The notaire then notifies all other co-owners, who have three months to object. If no opposition is raised, the court can be petitioned to authorise the sale. The court will grant the authorisation unless it finds that the sale would cause excessive prejudice to the minority.
This route is faster and less costly than a full judicial partition and is often the right tool when the blocking minority holds a small share.
How to exit: the judicial partition
When amicable partition fails — one co-owner refuses, a co-owner cannot be found, valuations are disputed, or a legal question about the estate is unsettled — the judicial partition (partage judiciaire) is the only remaining route.
Any co-owner can trigger it at any time by filing a court action (assignation). The claim never prescribes. Before filing, the claimant must demonstrate prior amicable efforts — a formal demand letter from a lawyer, addressed to all co-owners, is generally sufficient (French courts have accepted this: « aucun partage amiable n’a pu intervenir, des désaccords subsistant entre les héritiers » — Tribunal judiciaire de Pointe-à-Pitre, RG 24/00322, 27 novembre 2025).
One critical practical point that many co-owners miss: a formal demand letter does not interrupt any limitation period. Sending a registered letter or a lawyer’s letter to the other co-owners does not restart any clock on any legal claim. If you have substantive claims against a co-owner — unpaid expenses, occupation indemnity — those claims have their own prescription periods that run regardless of whether you have exchanged correspondence. Only a court filing interrupts prescription.
The competent court for a succession is the Tribunal judiciaire of the last domicile of the deceased (C. civ., art. 841). The assignation must contain, under pain of inadmissibility (C. pr. civ., art. 1360): a description of the assets to be partitioned, the claimant’s proposed division, and evidence of prior amicable attempts. Missing any of these elements is fatal — they cannot be supplied after service.
The process in plain terms: the court appoints a notaire commis to carry out the liquidation work and a juge commis to supervise. The notaire has one year to produce a draft liquidation statement identifying all assets, calculating each co-owner’s rights, and proposing allocation. In practice, this deadline is rarely met. If co-owners agree on the draft, it becomes final. If they disagree, the notaire records the disagreements in a procès-verbal de difficultés and refers to the juge commis, who attempts conciliation. Unresolved points return to the full court for a binding decision. The case then returns to the notaire to execute the judgment, and may loop again through the court if new disagreements arise.
What nobody tells you: a complex judicial partition of an estate with multiple heirs, disputed asset valuations, and cross-border elements takes four to ten years from first filing to final partition act. This is not a theoretical possibility; it is the ordinary timeline for contested cases before French courts. The notaire commis’s fees are regulated emoluments calculated on the value of the assets being partitioned — not on the time spent — which means the notaire has no financial incentive to move quickly. The co-owners’ lawyers must actively push the notaire and invoke the juge commis‘s supervisory powers to maintain momentum — the authority to issue injunctions and replace a passive notaire exists and must be used.
The right of partition never expires. But every year the indivision continues, costs accumulate, relationships deteriorate, and property values fluctuate in ways that may benefit some parties more than others.
Can you sell your share without the others?
Yes — through a specific formal procedure.
Any co-owner can sell their undivided share (quote-part) to a third party without the others’ consent (C. civ., art. 815-14). This is one of the most underused exits from an indivision. If you hold a one-third share and want nothing more to do with the property, you can sell that share.
The formal requirement: before any sale to an outsider, you must serve a formal notification — specifically by acte extrajudiciaire (a document served by a commissaire de justice, the French court bailiff) — on every other co-owner. A registered letter is not sufficient. The notification must state the price, the full terms of the proposed sale, and the complete identity of the prospective buyer.
Each co-owner then has one month to notify you, also by acte extrajudiciaire, that they are exercising their pre-emption right (droit de préemption) at the same price and conditions. If a co-owner pre-empts, they have two months to complete the purchase. Sales between existing co-owners do not trigger the pre-emption mechanism.
The sanction for bypassing this process is severe: any sale made without proper notification is null (C. civ., art. 815-16). The action in nullity prescribes after five years from the transfer. The transaction is void, not merely voidable.
Selling your share to a third party is not always easy in practice — undivided shares are illiquid assets that attract a significant discount compared to full ownership, because any buyer takes on all the constraints and conflicts of the existing indivision. Specialist investors who acquire undivided shares exist, but they build a substantial discount into their pricing. Selling to a co-investor or to an existing co-owner at a negotiated price is usually more realistic.
Capital gains tax when you sell
This is among the most commonly asked practical questions, and the answer has two parts.
First: when you inherit property in France, no French capital gains tax (plus-value immobilière) is triggered at that moment. You have not made a gain; you have received an inheritance. French inheritance tax (droits de succession) may apply depending on your relationship to the deceased and the value of your share, but CGT is not payable on inheritance itself.
Second: when you sell the property — whether during or after the indivision — CGT applies to the gain calculated from the value of the property at the date of inheritance to the price at sale. The clock resets at inheritance, not at the original purchase by the deceased. If a property was bought by your grandfather for €50,000 in 1970 and was worth €300,000 at the date of death, and you sell it for €380,000 two years after inheriting, your taxable gain is €80,000 — not €330,000.
The applicable rate and social contributions depend on your country of residence, whether a double taxation treaty with France applies, and whether you contribute to social security in another EU/EEA member state. The standard rate on the taxable gain is 19%, to which French social contributions (prélèvements sociaux) may or may not apply depending on personal circumstances. This is a specialist tax question that requires advice specific to your situation — it cannot be reliably estimated from a general guide.
An abatement for length of holding reduces the taxable gain progressively, starting from the sixth year of ownership. The abatement schedule is not a single simple rule: it operates on different grids for the 19% income tax component and the social contributions component, with different rates and different timelines to full exemption for each. Beyond a certain holding period the gain can become fully or largely exempt, but the exact calculation depends on the specific facts and the year of sale. Since the clock resets at inheritance, a property inherited recently and sold quickly faces the full rate with no abatement — this much is clear. For the rest, the rules are detailed enough that general statements carry a real risk of error. Verify the applicable abatement schedule with a French tax specialist.
A property that was the deceased’s primary residence (résidence principale) in France at the time of death may benefit from a CGT exemption for the heirs — but the exemption is not automatic and does not apply indefinitely after death. The tax administration generally requires that the sale occur within what it considers a reasonable delay following the death (typically assessed as around one to two years in practice, though the rule is not a hard statutory deadline). Once the property has been left vacant for a significant period, the exemption will not apply. Seek specific advice if this is your situation.
Non-residents selling French property may be required to appoint a French accredited fiscal representative (représentant fiscal accrédité) for the CGT filing, depending on the value of the gain and their country of residence. This is another point requiring specific advice.
The convention d’indivision — governing the co-ownership
Co-owners who want to remain together but under clear rules can formalise those rules in a convention d’indivision (C. civ., art. 1873-1 et seq.).
A convention d’indivision can designate a manager (gérant), define the majority required for different types of decisions, determine how costs are shared, fix rules on occupation and use (including which co-owner has the property for which holiday period), and establish what happens if a co-owner dies or wants to leave.
The convention can be concluded for a fixed period of up to five years (renewable) or for an indefinite term. During a fixed term, no co-owner can demand partition unless the court finds compelling reasons to allow it. For families managing a holiday property together, it converts a fragile, terminable-at-will co-ownership into a structured arrangement with agreed rules.
If the convention covers French real estate, it must be executed before a notaire and published at the service de la publicité foncière to be enforceable against third parties.
The SCI (société civile immobilière) is a more radical alternative: a French property-holding company into which the property is transferred, with each co-owner holding company shares rather than undivided rights in the property. An SCI gives clearer management rules, easier transfer of interests, and can avoid some inheritance law constraints for non-residents. Converting an existing indivision into an SCI requires the unanimous agreement of all co-owners and generates transaction costs including notaire fees and transfer taxes. It is a planning tool worth examining before partition becomes contested, not after.
What the notaire handling the estate will not tell you
The notaire handling an estate is appointed to settle the succession, not to protect the interests of any individual heir. Their role is to establish who the heirs are, value the assets, collect the necessary documents, file the tax declarations, and guide the parties toward an amicable agreement. If the parties cannot agree, the notaire’s role effectively ends. They have no power to compel a partition or impose a solution on an unwilling co-owner.
A notaire handling an estate in which one heir refuses all contact, disputes their share, or cannot be located is not the person to resolve that dispute. They will send letters, request meetings, wait months for responses, and eventually declare the situation blocked. That is the point at which a lawyer and a court action become necessary.
Co-owners living abroad face specific exposure: they are frequently the last to be informed of what is happening, the last to receive documents requiring signature, and the first to be blamed for delays by other co-owners who are on the ground in France. If you are managing an indivision from another country, the practical answer is to appoint a mandataire — a person in France authorised by notarised power of attorney to represent you and receive documents on your behalf.
The right of partition does not expire. But every year the indivision continues without resolution is a year of accumulating costs, missed opportunities, and compounding legal complexity. The French succession system is not designed to be efficient. Acting — even imperfectly — is almost always better than waiting.
Valentin Simonnet is an English-speaking member of the Paris Bar, trained at University College London. He represents international clients before French courts.
