9 July 2026.
Under French inheritance law, when a child renounces a parent’s estate, that child’s own children may inherit from their grandparent by representation. This raises a difficult tax question: can earlier gifts made by the deceased to the renouncing parent reduce the progressive tax bands available to the grandchildren?
The grandchild is taxed personally according to the family relationship
The French Court of Cassation has ruled that a grandchild inheriting by representation must be taxed personally according to their relationship with the deceased grandparent. For the progressive inheritance-tax scale, earlier gifts received by the renouncing parent cannot be attributed to the grandchild.
The Court relied on two principles: a renouncing heir is deemed never to have been an heir, and the tax aggregation of earlier gifts concerns the persons who actually received those gifts. It cannot be extended to a representative in respect of property that the representative did not receive.
A practical effect on the progressive tax bands
Tax bands previously used by the parent through earlier gifts therefore do not reduce the bands personally available to the grandchild for assets inherited by representation. This departs from the approach previously adopted by the French tax authority and by certain lower courts.
The tax allowance is a separate issue
The judgment specifically concerns the progressive scale in Article 777 of the French Tax Code. It does not settle every question concerning the tax allowance available in cases of representation. The calculation must therefore distinguish between the tax scale, the allowance, any gifts personally received by each grandchild and, where relevant, life-insurance proceeds subject to inheritance tax.
Renouncing an estate may consequently have different civil and tax effects depending on the family structure and earlier gifts. A full assessment should be carried out before any decision is made.
Read the French Court of Cassation judgment of 8 July 2026 (No. 25-13.219), the report of the reporting judge and the Advocate General’s opinion (in French).
Photograph: Rod Long / Unsplash.
The notarial office does not contractually guarantee the accuracy or currency of this information. For advice on how it applies to your circumstances, please consult one of the office’s notaries.
