The term "donation" usually refers to all forms of transmission of one's property, possible during one's lifetime, that is to say the present of use, the manual donation and the donation by notarial deed. Each of its forms of donation responds to different rules. The bequest, on the other hand, is a form of gift possible exclusively by will, which materializes to the deceased of the donor.
People who wish to organize their estate by donating part of their property to relatives during their lifetime have two main options:the donation, most often called "manual donation", and the donation.
The donation consists in giving, during his lifetime, to his descendants movable property, that is to say for example a sum of money, a painting, a car, jewelry or securities or shares.
This procedure, which is authorized by law, is called a “manual donation” because it is done “hand by hand” and does not require formalization in writing before a notary.
This way of making a donation to his descendants is in principle not taxed from a fiscal point of view. However, it must be declared to the tax department. A manual donation of more than 15,000 euros can be declared by the donor as soon as it is made, or in the month following his death.
In any case, the law authorizes a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent (under the age of 80) to give up to 100,000 euros to each of their children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. -children, provided that they are adults, without paying gift tax, and this every 15 years. This non-taxation is combined with another tax advantage, an allowance of 31,865 euros granted every 15 years for monetary donations.
The manual gift should not be confused with what is called the present of use, also a form of donation. The present of use designates a donation made on the occasion of a particular event, for example a birthday, a wedding, etc. It must be “reasonable”, that is to say proportionate to the fortune of the donor. The present of use is not taxable.
A donation designates the fact of transmitting free of charge during his lifetime the ownership of one of his goods, to the person of his choice, his children or grandchildren, his spouse (in the case of a married couple, we then speak of a donation to the last alive), another member of his family, and even a person outside his family. The donee (who receives the donation) must agree to receive this type of donation.
To make a donation, it is mandatory that the donor has mental capacity allowing discernment and a sufficiently enlightened will, that he has legal capacity, that is to say be able to exercise his rights and obligations himself, and be of legal age.
Unlike manual donation, thanks to donation, it is possible to transmit movable property, but also real estate (houses, apartments, land, etc.) held at the time of donation. On the other hand, a donation must respect the hereditary reserve imposed by law, i.e. the share of the deceased's heritage which must necessarily go to his descendants (the reserved heirs) or the surviving spouse if the deceased leaves no descendants.
A donation must be the subject of a deed before a notary in several situations. When it comes to the donation of real estate; a gift made under a marriage contract; a gift between spouses; a donation-partition (the transmission and distribution during his lifetime of the assets of his future estate; a donation for the benefit of two successive beneficiaries (donation which passes, at the time of the death of the first beneficiary, to the second beneficiary); or a donation with reserve of usufruct (a donation of the sole bare ownership of a property, i.e. being able to dispose of it but not use it or derive income from it).
In the case of a donation by notarial deed, its declaration to the tax services is made directly by the notary.
A bequest is a form of donation which consists of giving part of one's heritage to one or more people (called legatees) by will. This type of donation gives the possibility of derogating from the principles laid down by law, i.e. bequeathing to an heir a share whose amount exceeds the share which is legally due to him, the "hereditary reserve".
It is not mandatory to formalize a legacy before a notary. Nevertheless, this approach is strongly recommended.
There are several types of bequests:
Note:with a bequest, it is possible to transmit your assets by will to two successive beneficiaries. We then speak of residual bequests (on his death, the first of the beneficiaries transmits to the second beneficiary what remains to him of the property received by bequest), or of gradual bequest (the first beneficiary must obligatorily keep the bequeathed property in order to transmit them, to his death, to the second beneficiary).
