French succession law · Surviving spouse and legatees

Cantonnement: taking less of an inheritance to pass on more

Under French law, a surviving spouse who benefits from a gift between spouses (donation au dernier vivant), or a legatee named in a will, may decide to take only part of what the deceased left them. The rest passes to the other successors as if it came directly from the deceased, without being treated as a gift by the beneficiary. Prepared in the deceased’s will or gift, this choice is particularly protective of blended families.

Prepare a gift between spouses Estate planning in France
Paris · Geneva · Marseille · Cannes · Lisbon

What is <em>cantonnement</em> and who can use it?

It is the right of the beneficiary of a gift or legacy taking effect on death to limit what they receive to part of the assets the deceased gave them. It belongs to a legatee, provided at least one statutory heir has accepted the estate (French Civil Code, art. 1002-1), and to a surviving spouse benefiting from a gift between spouses where the deceased left children or descendants (art. 1094-1, para. 2), in both cases unless the deceased provided otherwise.

The assets given up are not a gift by the beneficiary: for tax purposes they are deemed transferred by the deceased (French Tax Code, art. 788 bis). The beneficiary is taxed only on what they keep, and the heirs on what they receive, according to their relationship with the deceased.

Civil Code, art. 1002-1; art. 1094-1; Tax Code, art. 788 bis; BOI-ENR-DMTG-10-20-50-30 (in French). Checked on 5 November 2026.

— In brief
Provisions
Civil Code, art. 1002-1 (legatee) and 1094-1, para. 2 (spouse), since 1 January 2007
Conditions
No prohibition by the deceased; acceptance by a statutory heir (legatee); descendants (spouse)
Scope
An asset, a fraction, or the usufruct or bare ownership (ministerial answers of August 2025)
Tax
Assets deemed transferred by the deceased (Tax Code, art. 788 bis), no gift by the beneficiary
Limit
The beneficiary does not choose who receives; a sham arrangement remains exposed to abuse of law (LPF, art. L. 64)
— 02 · The provisions

Which articles govern cantonnement?

Version in force on 5 November 2026.

  • The legatee. “Unless the testator provided otherwise, where the estate has been accepted by at least one heir designated by law, the legatee may limit their entitlement to part of the assets bequeathed to them. This limitation is not a gift by the legatee to the other successors” (Civil Code, art. 1002-1, our translation). Any legatee is covered: a civil partner (PACS), an unmarried partner, a nephew, a child benefiting beyond their share.
  • The surviving spouse. Where there are children or descendants, a spouse may give the other the ordinary disposable portion in full ownership, one quarter in full ownership and three quarters in usufruct, or the whole estate in usufruct. “Unless the donor stipulated otherwise, the surviving spouse may limit their entitlement to part of the assets given to them” (Civil Code, art. 1094-1, our translation).
  • The spouse as heir and donee. Each entitlement to the same estate carries a separate right to accept or disclaim (art. 769), but gifts and legacies received by the spouse are set against their statutory rights, without exceeding the portion allowed by article 1094-1 (art. 758-6).
  • A related mechanism. A beneficiary whose gift exceeds the disposable portion may make the abatement in kind, by returning the asset itself, provided they still own it and it is free of any charge or occupation arising since the gift, and if they say so within three months of formal notice from a reserved heir (art. 924-1). Cantonnement, by contrast, is voluntary.
  • Tax. “Assets received by an heir or legatee under article 1002-1 or the second paragraph of article 1094-1 of the Civil Code are deemed transferred free of charge by the deceased” (Tax Code, art. 788 bis, our translation).
— 03 · Conditions and form

When and how should cantonnement be exercised?

Accept, then limit. Cantonnement presupposes that the entitlement has been accepted, the acceptance being “accompanied or followed” by the choice to benefit from only part of it (BOI-ENR-DMTG-10-20-50-30, § 1). A beneficiary who disclaims can no longer limit.

In the same deed as the option. The firm recommends recording in a single notarial deed the acceptance, the spouse’s choice between the portions of article 1094-1, and the list of assets or rights kept. A poorly drafted option may amount to an irrevocable cantonnement that a later deed cannot correct (Paris Court of Appeal, 1 October 2025, below).

Timing. The law sets no specific deadline for cantonnement. The time limits governing an heir’s option do not apply to it directly but give benchmarks: an heir who has not decided within ten years is deemed to have disclaimed (art. 780); an heir may be formally required to decide after four months and then has two months (art. 771 and 772). As a rule, the inheritance tax return is due within six months of a death in metropolitan France, subject to special time limits (Tax Code, art. 641): that provision sets no deadline for the validity of cantonnement, but it is better to settle and document it before filing, so that the tax is assessed correctly.

Specific conditions. For a legatee, a statutory heir must have accepted the estate, otherwise no one takes the part given up. For a spouse, article 1094-1 presupposes descendants: without them, the Toulouse Court of Appeal ruled out cantonnement based on that provision and upheld taxation at 60% (below). A spouse named as legatee may then, where appropriate, rely on article 1002-1, if a statutory heir has accepted the estate.

— 04 · Usufruct and bare ownership

Can the beneficiary keep only the usufruct of an asset left in full ownership?

Questioned by two members of Parliament, the Minister of Justice answered in identical terms, quoting the circular of 29 May 2007: cantonnement may concern a specific asset, an undivided fraction, or “only a right in rem such as usufruct or bare ownership”. If the beneficiary may give up full ownership of an asset, they must at least be able to limit the legacy to bare ownership or to usufruct. The answers add that notarial practice may provide, in the legacy or in the gift between spouses, a clause authorising the beneficiary to change the nature of the right transferred by way of cantonnement (Ministerial answer no. 02761, JO Sénat 21 August 2025, p. 4601; Ministerial answer no. 2998, JOAN 26 August 2025, p. 7383, in French).

A ministerial answer does not bind the civil courts, and no Cour de cassation ruling on this point had been identified as at 5 November 2026. No provision makes the clause a condition of validity, but without it legal certainty remains open to debate: the firm recommends it.

— 05 · Tax

Who pays inheritance tax on what is given up?

The beneficiary is taxed, at their own rate, only on what they receive; the heirs are taxed on their share, including the assets given up, according to their relationship with the deceased (BOI-ENR-DMTG-10-20-50-30, § 20 and 30). The beneficiary’s own allowances remain intact.

Everything depends on who limits. A surviving spouse and a civil partner are exempt from inheritance tax (Tax Code, art. 796-0 bis): their cantonnement increases the children’s immediate tax but lightens their own future estate. A legatee unrelated to the deceased, other than a spouse or civil partner, is as a rule taxed at 60% (Tax Code, art. 777): their cantonnement may reduce the total burden where those who take the assets enjoy a more favourable rate or allowances, such as children in the direct line.

The abuse of law procedure remains available against a sham, or against a deed that seeks the benefit of a literal application of the law contrary to its authors’ objectives with the sole aim of avoiding tax (LPF, art. L. 64), with an 80% penalty, reduced to 40% for a taxpayer who neither took the main initiative nor was the main beneficiary (Tax Code, art. 1729, b). Giving up assets in return for a hidden consideration, such as a payment to the beneficiary or a promise to transfer the assets back, would be a disguised sale or gift, not a cantonnement.

— 06 · Examples

What does cantonnement change in two fictitious estates?

A blended family. A husband dies leaving two children from a first marriage and a 72-year-old wife who benefits from a gift between spouses. The estate is worth €1,200,000: a home worth €600,000 and €600,000 of securities. At 72, usufruct is valued at 30% of full ownership (Tax Code, art. 669).

If the wife takes one quarter in full ownership and three quarters in usufruct, each child receives the bare ownership of €450,000, taxed on €315,000; after the €100,000 allowance (Tax Code, art. 779), each pays about €41,194. But €300,000 become the wife’s property and will pass to her own heirs; if she later left them to her stepchildren, who are unrelated for tax purposes, each would pay about €89,044.

If the gift expressly allows it and she limits her entitlement to the usufruct of the home, without claiming the balance of her statutory rights, each child immediately receives €300,000 of securities and the bare ownership of half the home. Each pays about €80,194, and the usufruct then ends on the wife’s death without any tax (Tax Code, art. 1133).

A legatee taxed at 60%. A father leaves one child and €1,000,000; he bequeaths the disposable portion, one half (Civil Code, art. 913), to his partner, who is neither his wife nor his civil partner. Without cantonnement, she pays about €299,044 (60% after the €1,594 allowance of article 788, IV) and the child about €78,194, a total of €377,238. If she limits her legacy to €200,000, she pays about €119,044 and the child, who receives €800,000, about €152,962: €272,006, a saving of more than €105,000 for the family.

Fictitious, rounded figures, at constant values, assuming allowances are unused.

— 07 · Before the courts

What the courts have decided

  • A clear option is a final cantonnement. A wife, universal legatee with a fallback to the largest portion allowed between spouses, had opted for one quarter in full ownership and three quarters in usufruct, then tried through a “supplementary” deed to present it as contingent. The court held that she had limited her legacy, that the option was irrevocable and that she co-owned the bare ownership with the daughter; partition was ordered (Paris Court of Appeal, 1 October 2025, no. 23/12935, in French).
  • No descendants, no cantonnement under article 1094-1. A widow, donee of the largest portion from a husband without children, had “limited” her gift to movable property, leaving the real estate to the deceased’s brothers and sisters. As the provision presupposes descendants, the court treated this as a gift by the widow and upheld taxation at 60% (Toulouse Court of Appeal, 17 February 2020, no. 17/03762, in French).
  • No presumed cumulation for the spouse. Gifts and legacies received by the spouse are set against their statutory rights; the presumption that legacies are exempt from collation (rapport) does not apply to the spouse, and a wife bequeathed a house could not add it to her statutory quarter (Cour de cassation, 1st civil chamber, 12 January 2022, nos. 19-25.158 and 20-10.091, published in the Bulletin, in French).
— 01

Why take less than the deceased wanted to give you?

A gift between spouses or a will is often drafted years before death, giving the maximum to cover any situation. On death, the beneficiary does not always need everything, or would rather the children receive at once a home they live in or a business they run.

Before 2007, the only options were to accept everything and then make a gift, at the cost of a second transfer, or to disclaim entirely. Since Law no. 2006-728 of 23 June 2006, the beneficiary may accept and limit the gift or legacy to part of the assets. The part given up passes to the other successors under the statutory or testamentary rules of devolution, as if it had never been bequeathed.

— 08

Which clauses should the will or the gift between spouses contain?

The survivor chooses; the deceased’s deed secures the choice.

Authorise or prohibit

Restating the right forestalls any argument about a contrary intention; a spouse who wants the other to take all or nothing may prohibit it.

Allow a change in the nature of the right

Authorise cantonnement over the usufruct or the bare ownership of all or part of the assets, as suggested by the 2025 ministerial answers.

Set a deadline

A few months after death, consistent with the inheritance tax return, and what happens if no choice is made.

Deal with the part given up

It follows the rules of devolution. Accrual between joint legatees (Civil Code, art. 1044) does not expressly address a partial cantonnement: where there are several legatees, state whether the part given up goes to the co-legatees or to the heirs.

Plan for the blended family

Where there is a child who is not the spouse’s, a spouse without a gift takes only one quarter in full ownership (art. 757). A gift between spouses covering the largest portion may allow the spouse to opt for usufruct, depending on its terms. Faced with a gift in full ownership made within the limits of article 1094-1, each child who is not the spouse’s may, unless the deceased unequivocally provided otherwise, substitute for it the surrender of the usufruct of the share they would have taken had there been no surviving spouse (art. 1098).

— 09

Our approach

The firm drafts gifts between spouses and wills with cantonnement in mind, then costs the options on death with the notary. Where the estate has an international element, we first check the applicable law, since cantonnement is a rule of French law.

— Frequently asked questions

Cantonnement: your questions

Is cantonnement a partial disclaimer?

No. A disclaimer covers the whole entitlement; cantonnement presupposes acceptance of the gift or legacy, then limited to part of the assets.

Can I choose which child receives what I give up?

No. The part given up follows the rules of devolution. To favour one child, you must accept and then make a gift, which is a gift by you, taxed as such.

Can a civil partner (PACS) use cantonnement?

Yes, as a legatee, if a statutory heir has accepted the estate (Civil Code, art. 1002-1). Article 1094-1 applies only to a married spouse.

Can a cantonnement be withdrawn?

In principle, a clearly expressed cantonnement cannot be withdrawn unilaterally: the Paris Court of Appeal held a wife’s option irrevocable and refused to let a later deed change its scope (1 October 2025, no. 23/12935). Its exact scope depends on the wording of the deed.

Does cantonnement trigger gift tax?

No: the assets given up are deemed transferred by the deceased (Tax Code, art. 788 bis). The notary charges a fee proportional to the amount given up (Commercial Code, art. A. 444-62).

Cité par

Prepare your gift between spouses or your estate option, reply within 24 business hours

First call Estate planning in France

The information on this page is provided for documentary purposes and does not constitute legal or tax advice. The worked examples are fictitious. Law as at 5 November 2026.