Make a will
Verified 28 March 2023 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice
You want your last wishes to be respected after your death?
For this, you can express them in writing in a will.
This document allows you to organize the transmission of your goods (called bequest) to one or more beneficiaries (called legatees).
Here are the rules to know when making a will.
The will is a writing in which you express your last wishes. For example:
- Transmit your goods (bequest) after your death and decide on their distribution among beneficiaries (legatees)
- Designate a person responsible for carrying out your last wishes (called executor of the will)
- Indicate your wishes regarding your body (organ donation, organization of funerals, cremation, etc.)
- Designate a guardian for your children
- Recognizing a child
To make a will, you must meet the following 3 conditions:
- To be sane, that is to say to have mental capacities allowing a discernment and a sufficiently enlightened will
- Being an adult or minor over the age of 16 (between 16 and 18 years, you can bequeath only half of your property unless you are emancipated minor)
- Have the legal capacity to manage your property.
Please note
to be valid, your will must not be written under duress
If you are guardianship majorHowever, you can make a will only with the authorization of the guardianship judge or the family council.
If you are adult under family authorization, in the interests of justice or under curatorshipYes, you can make your will alone.
FYI
you can't make a multi-will. For example, it is forbidden to write a single will for you and the person you live with as a couple. Each member of the couple must express his or her last wishes in his or her own will.
Your will must be written. You can do it alone or in front of a notary.
Making a will alone
You can write your will alone, without calling a notary. This will is said holograph.
For it to be valid, the following 3 conditions must be met:
- Be written in full by hand (it should never be typed on the computer, even in part)
- Be precisely dated (day, month, and year)
- Be signed.
Please note
you can write your will in a foreign language.
In order to avoid any risk of cancelation of your will or misinterpretation (ambiguity, etc.), you can ask a notary for advice to draft it.
You can keep your will yourself.
FYI
it is recommended to inform trusted persons of the writing of a will and its place of conservation. If its existence and location are ignored by all, the will cannot be respected.
You can also entrust it to a notary to keep. In this case, the notary must register it with the Central Willingness Arrangements File (CWDF) within 3 months of your death.
Warning
the child recognition in a will must be made before a notary, in a authentic will.
Have his will drawn up by a notary
This will is said genuine. You dictate it to a notary, in the presence of 2 witnesses or another notary. Your witnesses cannot be your parents, your legatees or the clerics of the notary you chose.
If you don't speak French and the notary doesn't understand your language, you can have an interpreter assist you. If you are deaf or mute and cannot read and write, you may be assisted by a sign language interpreter. Ask your notary.
Once written, the notary will read your will. You must then sign the document. Witnesses or the 2nde notary present must also sign the will.
The notary keeps your will and registers it in the Central Willingness Arrangements File (CWDF) within 3 months of your death.
Please note
you can also make a will without revealing its contents. This will is said mystical. You give it to the notary in a closed envelope, in the presence of 2 witnesses. However, it is rarely used because the procedure is complex.
The property you pass on in a will is called bequest.
What property can be bequeathed?
The property must be yours personally.
They can be houses, apartments, land, etc. You can also leave furniture, vehicles, paintings, etc.
However, you cannot leave your name or an honorary title.
To whom can the property be bequeathed?
You must respect the transmission rules imposed by law. Thus, the heirs reserving cannot be excluded from your estate. So you can freely pass on the part that exceeds the hereditary reserve. This part is called the available quota.
An heir who has not received a lot equal to his reserve share may exercise a reduction action.
What are the types of bequests?
You have the choice between 3 types of bequest :
- The universal legacy allows you to bequeath all your property to one person (called universal legatee). You can designate several universal legatees, the sharing will be done among them equally.
- The universal bequest allows you to bequeath to a person (called universal legatee) a part of your property (half, a quarter...) or a category of your property (real estate only, for example).
- The special bequest allows you to bequeath to a person (called private legatee) one or more specified goods (for example, a piece of jewelry).
The universal legatee and the universal legatee must pay the debts of your estate, in proportion to their share. The private legatee does not have that obligation.
FYI
you can make a bequest to associations that are authorized to receive them. This is particularly the case for associations recognized as being in the public interest.
The writing of the holographic will is free of charge.
However, if you deposit the document with a notary, you will have to pay a custody fee.
If you have your will drawn up before a notary, you will have to pay a fee for this service.
Since January 2021
Type of will | Drafting costs | Opening and description fees | Pre-Death Care Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|
Holographic Will | No fees | €26.41 HT either €31.69 TTC | €26.41 HT either €31.69 TTC |
Authentic or mystical will | €113.19 HT either €135.83 TTC | No fees | No fees |
Between 1 May 2016 and 31 December 2020
These rates apply to the following services:
- Service performed prior to January 2021 that has not yet been paid
- Service that resulted in the payment by the client of a deposit or provision before March 2020
- Service that resulted in costs incurred by a notary before March 2020
Type of will | Drafting costs | Opening and description fees | Pre-Death Care Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|
Holographic Will | No fees | €26.92 HT either €32.30 TTC | €26.92 HT either €32.30 TTC |
Authentic or mystical will | €115.39 HT either €138.47 TTC | No fees | No fees |
FYI
the notary may also charge you a fee for the registration of your holographic will in the central file of the provisions of last will (FCDDV).
You may, until your death, modify or cancel your will.
After your death, your heirs can, in some cases, seek the annulment of your will.
At your initiative
You may, until your death, reconsider your will.
Depending on the importance of the changes to be made, you can:
- Make a declaration of change of will before a notary
- Make a new will nullifying the previous one
- Destroy your will holograph (by tearing it, for example).
At the initiative of your heirs
After your death, your heirs can ask for the annulment of your will. This request must be made by subpoena. Cancelation may be requested in the following cases:
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Non-performance of obligations under the will
A will may require the legatee to perform certain duties (for example, to pay an annuity to a specified person).
If the legatee does not fulfill his obligations, your heirs can request the cancelation of the will in court.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within a period of 5 years from the day on which the legatee ceases to perform his duties.
The judges determine whether the alleged facts are sufficiently serious to allow the will to be annulled.
Ingratitude
Your heirs may request cancelation for ingratitude if the legatee has committed any of the following acts:
- He tried to kill you
- He committed crimes offenses, insult or severe abuse against you
- He committed a grave insult to your memory.
Your heirs must apply to the judge for annulment.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request the cancelation within a period of1 a year from the day your heirs became aware of both the facts and the will.
The judges determine whether the alleged facts are sufficiently serious to allow the will to be annulled.
Failure to comply with the formality of the will
Your heirs can request the cancelation of your will if it has not been written correctly.
For example, a holographic will Undated can be canceled.
If you have not signed your will, cancelation may also be requested.
Your heirs must apply to the judge for annulment.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within a period of 5 years from the date of your death or from the date on which they become aware of the will.
Testor's Insanity of Spirit
Your heirs can request the cancelation of the will if you were not sane at the time of writing. This means that you did not have the mental capacities to be able to discern and have the will to do so.
Your heirs must apply to the judge for annulment.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within a period of 5 years from the date of your death or from the date on which they become aware of the will.
Incapacity of the beneficiary of the leg
You can't leave your property to certain people.
For example, you cannot pass on part of your inheritance in your will to the doctor who treated you during the illness you died of.
Nor can you bequeath your property to your guardian or curator.
Your heirs must apply to the judge for annulment.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within a period of 5 years from the date of your death or from the date on which they become aware of the will.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Telephone administrative information - Allo Public Service
For more information on this topic, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.
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The informants who answer you are from the Department of Justice.
- Notary
Liberality by will (Article 893); definition of will (Article 895)
Conditions for making a will (Article 901)
Form of wills
Universal Legacy
Universal bequests
Revocation of wills
Registration of the will (Article 636)
FAQ
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