The distribution of an inheritance is not always a simple process. The Civil Code sets clear rules regarding who can inherit, the order of heirs, and what happens when one of the heirs is no longer alive at the time of the succession.
The estate is inherited by the surviving spouse and the deceased’s relatives — children, parents, siblings, uncles, cousins — according to a system of categories of heirs. Descendants and ascendants may inherit regardless of their degree of kinship, while collateral relatives (siblings, cousins) may inherit only up to the fourth degree inclusive. If the deceased leaves no legal or testamentary heirs, the estate is transferred to the local administrative unit (the commune, town, or municipality) where the property is located.
The Civil Code divides relatives into four classes of heirs. The first class consists of descendants — the deceased’s children and their own descendants. The second class includes the deceased’s parents (privileged ascendants) and his or her siblings (privileged collaterals). The third class consists of ordinary ascendants (grandparents, great-grandparents), and the fourth class includes ordinary collaterals — uncles, aunts, and cousins up to the fourth degree. Relatives from a closer class exclude those from the subsequent classes. Likewise, within the same class, closer-degree relatives (for example, children) exclude more distant ones (such as grandchildren). When several heirs are in the same degree, they share the inheritance equally.
A common situation in practice is when one of the deceased’s natural heirs dies before him. In such cases, the mechanism of succession representation applies. Through this mechanism, the children of the deceased heir step into the rights of their parent and receive the share that would have belonged to that parent had he or she been alive. Representation is permitted only for the descendants of the deceased’s children (grandchildren) and for the descendants of the deceased’s siblings (nieces and nephews).
A simple example: if a parent has two children and one of them dies before the parent, the children of the predeceased heir (the deceased’s grandchildren) will split among themselves the share that would have belonged to their parent. The inheritance is thus divided “by branch” — each branch of descendants receives the portion that would have gone to the ascendant of that branch. If a branch has several members (for example, multiple grandchildren), they divide that branch’s portion equally.
Another interesting situation concerns the children of an heir declared unworthy. If an heir has been declared unworthy and, through representation, his or her children receive his share of the inheritance, they must later account for the assets received if they subsequently inherit from their parent together with other children conceived after the opening of the initial succession. This accounting (collation) is required only if the value of the assets received exceeds the debts borne as a result of the representation.
Succession representation is therefore a mechanism intended to ensure fairness between family branches, allowing property to reach the descendants of the person who would have inherited had he or she been alive.
Conclusion
The rules on legal inheritance and succession representation are designed to maintain balance between family branches and to ensure that the rights of close relatives are not lost due to unforeseen events.
Before beginning the succession procedure, identify all relatives with inheritance rights and determine who inherits through representation. Doing so will help you avoid later conflicts and finalize the procedure more efficiently.
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