A donation during his lifetime refers to the act of transmitting, before his death, the ownership of a property to the person of his choice. It allows you to anticipate your succession and avoid any difficulties related to the sharing of an inheritance and to save taxes when the donation during your lifetime concerns certain types of property. Explanations.
The person who makes a donation during his lifetime is called the "donor". For the latter to be valid, the donor must possess mental capacities allowing discernment and a sufficiently enlightened will, be of legal age (or emancipated minor) and be able to exercise his rights and obligations, i.e. possess the legal capacity to dispose of their property.
A donor can freely transmit his assets during his lifetime to any person of his choice, a person who is called the "donee". It can be his children, his grandchildren, a member of his family or not. In all cases, the donee must agree to receive the donation.
Married persons have the possibility of making a donation to their spouse. This is called a "donation to the last living". This type of donation during his lifetime makes it possible to transmit to his husband more than the available quota (part of the property that a person can give freely) and is correlated to the presence of descendants or not.
A donation during his lifetime is in principle irrevocable. It is final and it is not possible to go back on it, with the exception of the donation to the last living, between spouses. However, in the event of serious situations (crimes or misdemeanors of the prospective donee for example) or the birth of a child after the donation during his lifetime, legal action is possible to cancel or modify it.
A donor can bequeath during his lifetime all the property he owns at the time he decides to make a donation. These assets can be real estate (land, apartments, houses, etc.) or movable (vehicles, paintings, furniture, etc.).
A donation during his lifetime can take several forms:
It is not possible to freely transfer any part of one's property through donation during one's lifetime. Indeed, if there are compulsory heirs (child or spouse in the absence of children, to whom the law attributes a minimum share of the inheritance), the donor can bequeath only the share which exceeds the hereditary reserve, i.e. that is to say the part of his patrimony which must necessarily revert to the compulsory heirs. On the other hand, in the absence of compulsory heirs, the donation during his lifetime can concern all of his property.
Assets bequeathed as part of a donation during his lifetime are subject to tax, also called "donation rights", but an allowance of 100,000 euros, renewable every 15 years, when the donation is made from parents to children, applies.
When it comes to family donations of sums of money of less than 31,865 euros, this sum is entirely exempt from duties under two cumulative conditions:
This tax, generally due at the time of registration of the donation, is calculated according to the property transferred, after the deduction of any allowances.
