The decision to live as a couple is accompanied often with a question : how best to protect his spouse in particular, in the case of death ? Depending on whether one is married, partner, or in a de facto marriage, the protections will not be the same. What you need to know.

the fate of The surviving spouse is one of the main concerns of the couple. It is today all the more divorces are frequent. A result, blended families are increasing, with a risk of increased tensions during succession, as the case may be, for example, between a father-or a mother-in-law and children of a first marriage of the deceased. According to the couple’s status, the protection is, however, variable.

The safety of marriage

The law governs the marriage complete and accurate, while allowing the spouses to modulate its rules by the choice of matrimonial regime is considered to be the best suited to their situation.

In the event of the death of a spouse, the survivor is not only an heir, but he is more exempt from inheritance tax. If the couple was married under the legal regime of community reduced to acquests, which applies by default -, the estate of a deceased person consists of all of its own property and half of jointly owned property.

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after his death, the community is liquidated. The surviving spouse gets half of the joint property which belongs to him and exercises his rights of succession on the other half, as well as on the own property of the deceased. If the spouses have children together, the spouses can opt for one-fourth of the succession in full property, the children sharing the three-quarters in equal shares, for either the entire usufruct, the children sharing the bare-ownership in equal shares. If the deceased husband had had at least one child from a previous marriage, the surviving spouse is entitled to one-quarter of his estate in full ownership. The other three-quarters are shared between the deceased’s children in equal shares, regardless of the union of which they are born.

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We can still strengthen the protection of the surviving spouse, by opting for the regime of universal community with full entitlement of the community to the survivor. This solution allows the latter to recover all of the couple’s property outside estate. It is recommended for couples without children.

Another solution, the donation to the last living one, who has the particularity of not to take effect until death of the donor. It gives the survivor is the proportion of available ordinary of the estate, or a proportion of available special between spouses. This last door on the totality of the estate in usufruct, or on the quarter in full ownership and three-quarters in usufruct. This solution is advantageous when there are children from a first marriage, these being assured to recover their share of the inheritance in full ownership at the death of the spouse of their parent.

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spouses are also entitled to rights on the housing of the torque to the death of one of them : a right of enjoyment free automatic for a year, and the right of occupancy for life.

relative Protection of PACS

as the spouses, partners of a PACS are exempt from inheritance rights in the event of the death of their spouse. On the other hand, they are not heirs of one another. Therefore, if they wish to protect themselves, they must expressly provide for their living. To this end, the partners of PACS write generally a last will and testament at the same time as their convention of PACS.

This will must comply with the reserved portion to any children of the deceased. The partners may also make donations in their lifetime, or opt for joint ownership. As to the housing of the torque, it can be occupied for free by the survivor for a year.

Practice >> Learn more about investing in REITS in partnership with Corum

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Precarious cohabitation

Unlike the marriage and the PACS, union libre or consensual union does not offer protection to spouses. The tax does not more gift : as they are considered as non-parents, this is a taxation of 60 % which applies to gifts or wills made in favour of one another. In these conditions, they hardly have two solutions for, respectively, the shelter : to buy their home in a common and/or subscribe to a life insurance contract in which they designate another beneficiary in the event of death. By doing this, they benefit from the tax advantages of life insurance in matters of succession, and, in particular, reductions in specific (152 500 € 30 500 €) in function of the age of the insured when the payment of the premiums (before or after its 70 years). Note : the underwriting of a life insurance policy can be a great solution for spouses and civil partnership, tuesant that they are themselves totally exempt from inheritance tax.