French Inheritance Tax (Droits de Succession): 2026 Rates and Allowances

Droits de succession is France's inheritance tax, charged on each heir's individual share of an estate rather than on the estate as a whole. The amount owed depends on the family relationship between the heir and the deceased, an allowance called an abattement tied to that relationship, and a sliding tax scale that runs from 5% up to 60%.

Information last verified on 19 July 2026. This article presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers droits de succession under French national law only. It does not address the inheritance or estate tax rules of any other country.

Droits de Succession: Who Pays, How Much, and On What

French succession tax is not a single tax applied to the whole estate before it is divided, the way a US-style estate tax works. Instead, each heir is taxed individually on the net share they personally receive, after the estate's debts have been paid. Two heirs receiving very different amounts, or standing in very different relationships to the deceased, can end up with very different tax bills from the same succession.

The starting point for every heir is the same three step process. First, identify the allowance (abattement) that applies to that heir's relationship with the deceased. Second, subtract the allowance from the heir's share to get the taxable base. Third, apply the tax scale that corresponds to that relationship to the taxable base. The sections below work through each relationship category, then walk through a full worked example.

The Full Direct Line Scale (Children, Grandchildren, Parents)

Heirs in the direct line, meaning children, grandchildren, or parents, are taxed on a seven bracket progressive scale set out in Article 777 of the Code general des impots (CGI). The rate applies only to the portion of the taxable share that falls within each bracket, not to the whole amount at the top rate.

Because the scale is progressive, most direct line successions never reach the higher brackets. A taxable share of 300,000 EUR, for example, is taxed partly at 5%, partly at 10%, partly at 15%, and the remainder at 20%, not entirely at 20%. The worked example further below shows this calculation step by step.

Allowances by Relationship: The Full 2026 Table

Every heir's allowance depends on their relationship to the deceased. These figures apply to successions in 2026 and have not changed since the dates noted.

The 100,000 EUR direct line allowance has been frozen since 17 August 2012, when it was set by loi n. 2012-958, and it has not been raised or indexed to inflation since. This surprises many readers who assume an allowance this significant would rise with the cost of living. It has not.

It is also worth being precise about scope: the 100,000 EUR figure is per child, per parent, not a single 100,000 EUR ceiling shared between both parents. A child can therefore receive up to 100,000 EUR tax free from their mother's estate and a further 100,000 EUR tax free from their father's estate. The same allowance also renews for lifetime gifts every 15 years, a mechanism covered in detail on our lifetime gifts page, which also explains the 15 year look back rule that makes this renewal possible in the first place.

The 159,325 EUR disabled heir allowance under Article 779, II CGI is generally described as stacking on top of whatever other allowance the same heir already qualifies for. A disabled child, for instance, benefits from the 100,000 EUR direct line allowance and the 159,325 EUR disability allowance together.

Spouse and PACS Partner: Full Exemption

A surviving spouse or a surviving PACS partner pays no droits de succession whatsoever, no matter how large the inheritance, under Article 796-0 bis CGI. This is a full exemption rather than a large allowance, so there is no ceiling above which tax begins to apply. For background on what a PACS is and how it differs from marriage, see our page on civil partnerships in France.

This spousal and PACS exemption is specific to droits de succession. It does not by itself determine how much of the estate a spouse or partner is entitled to receive in the first place, a separate question addressed on our inheritance overview page.

Siblings: The 15,932 EUR Allowance, and the Conditional Full Exemption

Siblings occupy a middle position. Every sibling gets the 15,932 EUR allowance described in the table above, applied automatically. Separately, and only where specific conditions are met, a sibling can qualify for a full exemption from droits de succession under Article 796-0 ter CGI, similar in effect to the spousal exemption.

That full exemption requires all three of the following conditions to be met at once. The surviving sibling must be unmarried, widowed, divorced, or legally separated. The surviving sibling must be either over 50 years old or unable to work because of a disability. And the surviving sibling must have been continuously domiciled with the deceased for the five years immediately preceding the death, a legal domicile requirement that tax authorities check against matching fiscal addresses, not simply a claim of having stayed over often.

A trap worth flagging: a sibling who is in a PACS with someone else does not count as unmarried for purposes of this exemption, even though a PACS is not a marriage. Reported case law from the Cour de cassation, in a decision dated 28 May 2025, confirms that the celibat, veuvage, divorce, or separation requirement in the statute excludes any form of civil union, including a PACS with a third person, even when the sibling otherwise meets the age or disability condition and the five year cohabitation condition. A sibling in that position keeps the ordinary 15,932 EUR allowance but loses the full exemption.

New in 2026: An Allowance for Step-Children

The loi de finances pour 2026 is reported to have introduced a new allowance for step-children (beaux-enfants), figured at 15,932 EUR, the same level as the sibling allowance. As reported, it applies where the deceased stepparent was married to, or in a PACS with, the child's parent, and provided effective, continuous care and support to the child for at least five years while the child was a minor, or, if the child was already an adult at the death, either five years of that support occurring during the child's minority or ten years spanning both minority and adulthood.

This figure and these care duration conditions are corroborated by more than one independent secondary source, but the specific article of the Code general des impots that creates this allowance could not be confirmed against the primary legislative text at the time of writing, so no article number is cited here. Anyone in a blended family situation who may be affected by this allowance should confirm the current, precise conditions with a notaire or directly with the tax administration before relying on it, since it is a newly reported change.

Calculating Droits de Succession: A Worked Example, Step by Step

The example below is illustrative only, using round numbers to show the mechanics. Actual succession tax depends on facts specific to each estate, including how jointly owned property or a usufruct interest is valued, and whether the deceased made other gifts in the preceding 15 year look back period.

Consider a parent who dies leaving an only child a net share of 400,000 EUR, after debts.

Step 1. Apply the 100,000 EUR direct line allowance. 400,000 EUR minus 100,000 EUR leaves 300,000 EUR as the taxable share.

Step 2. Apply the bracket scale from Article 777 to that 300,000 EUR taxable share, bracket by bracket.

• The first 8,072 EUR is taxed at 5%: 403.60 EUR.
• The next 4,037 EUR, from 8,072 EUR to 12,109 EUR, is taxed at 10%: 403.70 EUR.
• The next 3,823 EUR, from 12,109 EUR to 15,932 EUR, is taxed at 15%: 573.45 EUR.
• The remaining 284,068 EUR, from 15,932 EUR to 300,000 EUR, is taxed at 20%: 56,813.60 EUR.

Step 3. Add the four amounts together. 403.60 plus 403.70 plus 573.45 plus 56,813.60 equals 58,194.35 EUR in droits de succession.

On a gross inheritance of 400,000 EUR, that works out to an effective rate of about 14.5%, well below the 20% marginal rate that applied to most of the taxable share, because the allowance and the lower brackets absorb the first part of the inheritance before the 20% bracket takes over.

For comparison, if the same 400,000 EUR had instead passed to a surviving spouse, the tax due would be zero, since spouses are fully exempt. If it had passed instead to an unrelated friend, only 1,594 EUR would be exempt and the remaining 398,406 EUR would be taxed at a flat 60%, a very different outcome from the same starting amount. Life insurance proceeds follow yet another, separate regime, described on our life insurance and succession page.

Filing Deadlines: 6 Months or 12 Months

A succession must be declared to the tax administration within 6 months of the date of death, if the death occurred in France, or within 12 months, if the death occurred abroad. Narrower extensions apply to certain distant or overseas situations, but those are edge cases rather than the general rule that most heirs will encounter.

Payment: In Full, In Installments, or Deferred

Droits de succession are normally due when the declaration is filed. Where that is impractical, heirs can request a paiement fractionne, a fractioned payment plan spread over up to one year, extended to as much as three years where illiquid assets, such as real estate or a business, make up at least 50% of the estate. In narrower situations, mainly a bare ownership transfer with a surviving usufructuary spouse or certain preferential agricultural transmissions, a paiement differe, a deferred payment, may be available instead.

Both facilities require guarantees and carry interest. That interest rate is 2% per year for requests made since 1 January 2026, reduced to 0.6% for certain business transmissions.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about droits de succession under French law as of the verification date above. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client or other professional relationship. Succession tax calculations are fact-specific, including how usufruct interests, jointly owned property, and prior lifetime gifts affect the taxable base, and readers should consult a notaire or qualified tax adviser about a specific estate.