Co-ownership with a first marriage
The surviving spouse ended up co-owning the family home with two children from a first marriage. A change of regime with a preferential clause was completed while both spouses were alive.
ASTÉRALE Cassinia › Protecting the spouse and the vulnerable
What the law does not do aloneOn a large estate the law protects less well than people assume. A surviving spouse can end up co-owning with children from a first marriage, a vulnerable child can receive capital they cannot manage, and sudden incapacity can freeze an entire company.
Community, separation, participation in acquisitions, with or without matrimonial advantages. Changing regime is possible, costs little, and remains one of the most effective acts available on a large estate.
Gift between spouses, special disposable portion, preferential allocation clause, full attribution of the community. Each tool shifts the balance between spouse and children: it is a choice, and it must be explicit.
Future protection mandate, posthumous mandate, family authorisation. Without a mandate, sudden incapacity opens a court guardianship — and paralyses the management of companies.
Split beneficiary clause, survivor annuity, graduated or residual gift, posthumous mandate. The aim is not to favour them but to protect what they receive.
The surviving spouse ended up co-owning the family home with two children from a first marriage. A change of regime with a preferential clause was completed while both spouses were alive.
The majority manager, after an accident, was unable to decide. No mandate existed. Six months were lost before a court appointed an administrator.
The beneficiary clause provided for outright payment to a fragile child at majority. It was rewritten as usufruct to the spouse and bare ownership to the children, with a posthumous mandate.
No. A notarial deed suffices, with court approval only in certain cases. It is one of the few acts whose effect is immediate and whose cost is low.
No, and it takes effect only on the day it is needed. Its absence costs months of procedure and sometimes control of a company.
That is our recommendation when protecting the spouse unbalances the inheritance. A decision explained during one's lifetime is almost always accepted; discovered at the opening of the succession, almost never.
General information: this page is neither personalised advice, nor an offer, nor an investment recommendation. Legal and tax deeds are drawn up by your notary, lawyer and accountant, whom we coordinate. All investment carries a risk of capital loss. Regulatory statuses and full legal notice on the Legal notice page (French).
If you head a family estate that nobody sees in full any more, that is what the first meeting is for: rebuilding the whole picture and telling you, plainly, whether there is a case for working together.