Notaire Fees on a French Estate (Frais de Notaire Succession)

When someone dies owning assets in France, the estate is normally settled by a notaire, and the bill that follows is almost always described as the frais de notaire (notaire fees). That label is misleading, because it is not one fee at all. It is a bundle of three very different things: the notaire's own regulated émoluments, the débours (disbursements) the notaire pays out to third parties on the estate's behalf, and the taxes the notaire collects for the State. Understanding which part is which is the difference between an unpleasant surprise and a predictable cost.

The most important thing to know up front is that the émoluments, the part that is genuinely the notaire's charge, are not negotiated and do not vary from one office to the next. They are fixed by a national tariff in the Code de commerce, and every notaire in France applies the same percentages to the same act. What follows explains how that tariff works in 2026, how the fee differs from inheritance tax, and when you are actually required to use a notaire.

Information last verified on 22 July 2026. This page presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Frais de notaire is three things, not one

The single word "fee" hides three separate components, and only one of them is money the notaire keeps.

The first component is the émoluments. These are the regulated charges for the acts the notaire draws up, and they are the only part set by the notaire's official tariff. The second component is the débours, the sums the notaire advances to other parties to move the file forward, such as land registry charges, cadastral extracts, civil-status documents, and postage. These are reimbursed at cost. The third component is taxes and duties collected on behalf of the State, including registration duties and the property publicity tax when real estate changes hands.

On many estates the taxes and disbursements together exceed the notaire's own fees. Keeping the three apart matters, because only the émoluments follow the tariff percentages, while the rest are pass-through amounts the notaire cannot reduce.

How the regulated émoluments are set

The fees are governed by the tarifs réglementés des notaires, laid out in the Code de commerce at Articles A444-53 to A444-186. That schedule is revised on a roughly two-year cycle by an arrêté issued under Article L444-3 of the same code.

The version in force in 2026 was fixed by the arrêté du 25 février 2026 (NOR ECOC2604872A). It applies to services carried out between 1 March 2026 and 29 February 2028. Because the schedule is reset on each cycle, the correct figures are always those in the order in force on the day the act is signed, and you should confirm the current one rather than rely on an older table.

For an estate, two acts carry proportional fees. The first is the déclaration de succession, the estate return the notaire prepares. The second, which only arises when the estate contains real property, is the attestation de propriété immobilière that transfers title from the deceased to the heirs.

The 2026 proportional scales

Each proportional émolument is charged on a degressive scale, applied tranche by tranche. Every slice of value is charged at its own rate and the parts are added together, so the average percentage falls as the estate grows. All figures below are HT, meaning before 20 percent VAT is added.

For the estate return, the fee is calculated on the total gross assets:

• 1.548 percent on the value from 0 to 6,500 euros
• 0.851 percent from 6,500 to 17,000 euros
• 0.580 percent from 17,000 to 30,000 euros
• 0.426 percent on the value above 30,000 euros

For the property transfer, calculated on the value of the real property passing to the heirs, the scale is higher:

• 1.935 percent from 0 to 6,500 euros
• 1.064 percent from 6,500 to 17,000 euros
• 0.726 percent from 17,000 to 30,000 euros
• 0.532 percent on the value above 30,000 euros

Certain acts carry a fixed fee instead of a percentage. For example, the acte de notoriété, which formally identifies the heirs, is charged a set amount rather than a share of the estate.

These percentages are the regulated national scale as most recently set; because the schedule is revised each cycle, confirm the order in force before treating any figure as final.

A worked illustration

Imagine an estate of 250,000 euros made up entirely of a home. The property-transfer fee is not 0.532 percent of the whole. Instead each tranche is charged at its own rate: 1.935 percent of the first 6,500 euros, then 1.064 percent of the next slice, then 0.726 percent of the following slice, and finally 0.532 percent of everything above 30,000 euros. Those parts are added, then 20 percent VAT is applied to the total. The estate-return fee is computed the same way on its own scale.

The result is that a larger estate pays a smaller percentage overall, which is the point of a degressive tariff. The same math means two estates of very different size never pay the same rate, so any single headline percentage you see quoted is at best an average for one specific estate value.

Fees are not the inheritance tax

The most common confusion is between the frais de notaire and the droits de succession (inheritance tax). They are entirely separate.

The émoluments are the notaire's regulated charge for handling the file. The droits de succession are a tax paid to the Trésor Public, calculated from the net share each heir receives and the heir's family relationship to the deceased, after the personal allowances that French law grants to each category of heir. A surviving spouse pays no inheritance tax at all, while a distant relative can pay a very high rate, yet the notaire's fees on the same estate do not change. Because the tax often dwarfs the fee, treating the two as one number badly overstates what the notaire earns.

For how the tax itself is computed and which allowances apply, see the guide to inheritance tax.

When a notaire is legally required

You cannot always choose to skip the notaire. French law makes a notaire compulsory when the estate contains real property, because only a notarial act can transfer and register title. A notaire is also required to settle an estate that includes a will or a marriage contract, and to establish the acte de notoriete when the estate reaches the threshold at which formal proof of heirship is needed.

A small estate with no real property, no will, and only modest cash balances can sometimes be settled directly between the heirs and the bank, avoiding notaire fees entirely. Where the deceased left instructions, the rules on wills and, if the estate passes without one, on dying without a will determine who the notaire must recognise as heirs.

Where the money actually goes

For a typical estate that includes a home, the total frais de notaire will usually be dominated by taxes and the property-transfer fee, with the estate-return fee, the débours, and VAT making up the rest. The émoluments themselves are the same at every notaire's office, so shopping around does not lower them, though a notaire may apply a permitted remise (discount) on the proportional fees above a statutory threshold if it is offered uniformly to all clients.

For the wider picture of how a French estate is administered, see the inheritance overview, the rules on the reserved share for children, how jointly owned property is treated, and the full wills and estates hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are frais de notaire the same as inheritance tax in France?

No. Frais de notaire is the cost of the notaire's services and the disbursements and registration taxes tied to the paperwork. Inheritance tax, the droits de succession, is a separate charge paid to the Trésor Public and is calculated from the net share each heir receives and their family relationship to the deceased. The two are billed together at the notaire's office but they are legally distinct, and the inheritance tax is usually the far larger figure on a taxable estate.

Can a notaire's fee for an estate be negotiated?

The regulated émoluments cannot be freely negotiated because they are fixed by national tariff. However, the notaire may grant a remise (discount) of up to a set percentage on the proportional fees for the portion of value above a statutory threshold, and any such discount must be applied uniformly to all clients. The débours and the taxes are pass-through amounts that cannot be reduced because the notaire simply forwards them.

Which arrêté sets the current notaire tariff?

The tarifs réglementés des notaires are contained in the Code de commerce at Articles A444-53 to A444-186 and are revised roughly every two years by an arrêté taken under Article L444-3. The version in force in 2026 was set by the arrêté du 25 février 2026 (NOR ECOC2604872A), which applies to services performed between 1 March 2026 and 29 February 2028. Always confirm the order in force on the date the act is signed, because the scale changes on each revision cycle.

Do I pay frais de notaire if there is no real property in the estate?

The largest proportional fee, the property transfer, only arises when the estate holds real property, so a cash-only estate avoids it. You may still pay a fixed émolument for acts such as the acte de notoriété that identifies the heirs, plus any fee for preparing the déclaration de succession. A very small estate with no property and no will can sometimes be settled by the heirs and the bank without a notaire at all.

How is the proportional fee actually calculated?

The scale is degressive and applied by tranche, not as one flat rate. Each slice of value is charged at its own rate and the results are added together, so a larger estate pays a lower average percentage. For the estate return the tranches are 1.548 percent up to 6,500 euros, 0.851 percent from 6,500 to 17,000 euros, 0.580 percent from 17,000 to 30,000 euros, and 0.426 percent above 30,000 euros, each figure being HT before 20 percent VAT is added.