Make a will-share
Verified 05 October 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
You want to choose how the assets of your estate will be distributed among your heirs upon your death? You can do this in writing in a will-share. You then impose your will: the beneficiaries must accept the division, otherwise they renounce the succession. Writing, content, choice of beneficiaries: here are the rules to know to make a will-share.
Reminder
To find the existence of a will-share, you can query the central repository of last-ditch arrangements (FCDDV).
To make a will-share, you must complete the 3 conditions following:
- To be sane, i.e. possessing mental capacities allowing discernment and a sufficiently enlightened will
- To be adult or minor over 16 years (between the ages of 16 and 18, you can bequeath only half of your assets unless you are emancipated minor)
- Have the legal capacity to manage your assets.
Please note
To be valid, your will-share must not be drawn up under duress.
If you are major under guardianship, you can make a will-share only with the permission of the guardianship judge or the family council.
If you are major under family authorization, under safeguard of justice or under curatorship, you can make your will-share alone.
FYI
You cannot make a will-share with others. For example, it is forbidden to write a single will-share for you and the person you live with as a couple. Each member of the couple must express his last wishes in his own will-sharing.
Your will-share must be written. You can do it alone or in front of a notary.
Write a will-share alone
This will is said holograph.
For the will-share to be valid, the 3 conditions The following must be completed:
- Be written in full by hand (it should never be typed, even in part)
- Be dated precisely (the indication of the day, month and year are essential)
- Be signed.
Please note
You can write your will-share in a foreign language.
In order to avoid any risk of cancelation of your will-sharing or misinterpretation (ambiguity, etc.), you can ask a notary for advice in drafting it.
You can entrust the will-sharing to a notary for him to keep it. You avoid the risk of it being lost, damaged, stolen or not found at the time of death. In this case, the notary must have it registered at central repository of last-ditch arrangements (FCDDV) within 3 months of the death of testator.
Who shall I contact
Have a will drawn up by a notary
This will is said authentic.
You dictate it to a notary who will be assisted by 2 witnesses or another notary. Your witnesses cannot be your parents, your legatees or the clerks of the notary you have chosen.
If you do not speak French and the notary does not understand your language, you can be assisted by an interpreter. If you are deaf or mute and cannot read and write, you may be assisted by a sign language interpreter. Ask your notary.
Once written, your will-sharing is read by the notary. You must sign the document. Witnesses or the 2e notary present must also sign the will-sharing.
The notary keeps your will-share and takes care of registering it at the central repository of last-ditch arrangements (FCDDV) within 3 months of the death of testator.
Who shall I contact
Please note
Witnesses who assist the notary may not be chosen from among the beneficiaries of the will-sharing.
The will-share must include only your personal property. The goods undivided may be part of it.
However, it cannot concern property common to you and your spouse. These are assets that are not known if they will be allocated to you or not at the time of community sharing.
You can choose to share only a portion of your assets. In this case, the assets not mentioned in your will-division are allocated according to the rules of legal devolution.
Please note
You may not, in your will-share, pass on your property under conditions that are contrary to the law or morals.
The designation of beneficiaries of your will-share is not free. Certain rules must be respected.
The property will be divided upon your death in accordance with the provisions of the will-division.
Reminder
You may not, in your will-share, pass on your property under conditions that are contrary to the law or morals.
Designation of beneficiaries
You can make a will-share for your heirs presumed.
You can also make a will-share for the benefit of descendants of different degrees, whether or not they are your heirs. For example, a grandmother may make a will-share for children (who are her heirs) and grandchildren (who are not, as long as their parents are alive).
However, the sharing must not affect the hereditary reserve. For example, the testator who has a child must provide, in his will-division, for the allocation of half of his property to that child.
An heir who has not received a lot equal to his share of reserve may exercise a action in reduction.
Effects on beneficiaries
Your heirs will receive the property designated in your will-share at the time of death according to the provisions you have specified.
These provisions are binding on beneficiaries. They can accept them or give them up. But if they refuse them, they cannot claim a new division of your estate.
The will-share is free if you write it alone (will says holograph).
However, if you file the document with a notary, you will have to pay a custody fee.
If you have your will-share drawn up before a notary, you will have to pay him a fee for this service.
Since January 2021, the following rates apply:
Type of will | Drafting costs | Opening and description fees | Childcare expenses before death |
|---|---|---|---|
Holographic Testament | No fees | €26.41 HT either €31.69 TTC | €26.41 HT either €31.69 TTC |
Authentic or mystical will | €113.19 HT either €135.83 TTC | No fees | No fees |
FYI
The notary may also charge you a fee for the registration of your holographic will in the central file of the dispositions of last will (FCDDV).
Until your death, you can modify or cancel your will-share.
After your death, your heirs may, in some cases, seek the annulment of your will-share.
Initiative of the testator
You may, until your death, revoke your will-share.
Depending on the importance of the changes to be made, you can:
- Make a declaration of change of will before notary
- Make a new will-share canceling the previous one
- Destroy your will holograph (by tearing it for example).
Initiative of heirs
After your death, your heirs can apply to the court for the annulment of your will-share. This request must be made by assignment. Cancelation can be requested in the following cases:
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Failure to fulfill obligations under the will-partition
A will-share may require the beneficiary to fulfill certain obligations (for example, to pay an annuity to a specified person).
If the beneficiary does not fulfill his obligations, your heirs may request the annulment of the will-division in court.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within 5 years from the day on which the beneficiary has ceased to discharge his or her expenses.
The judges determine whether the alleged facts are serious enough to authorize the annulment of the will-share.
Failure to comply with the formalism of the will-share
Your heirs can request the cancelation of your will-share if it has not been written correctly.
For example, a holographic will undated may be canceled.
If you have not signed your will-share, the cancelation may also be requested.
Your heirs must apply to the judge for annulment.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within 5 years from your death or the day they become aware of the will-share.
Failure to comply with the imperative nature of the will-share
The will-sharing is an act of authority that imposes sharing. If you only provide for optional assignments for your heirs, the imperative nature of the will-share is not respected.
Your heirs can then challenge it in court.
Who shall I contact
They can do so within a period of 5 years from your death or the day they become aware of the will-share.
Insanity of mind of the testator
Your heirs can request the cancelation of the will-share if you were not sane at the time of writing. This means that you did not possess the mental capacities for discernment and a sufficiently enlightened will.
Your heirs must apply to the judge for annulment.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within 5 years from your death or the day they become aware of the will-share.
Incapacity of the sharing beneficiary
You can't pass on your property to certain people.
For example, you cannot pass on part of your inheritance in your will to the doctor who treated you during the illness you died from.
You cannot pass on your assets to your guardian or trustee.
Your heirs must apply to the judge for annulment.
Who shall I contact
Your heirs must request cancelation within 5 years from your death or the day they become aware of the will-share.
Conditions for making a will (Article 901)
Form of wills
Conditions for making a will-partition (article 1075-1), property left at death but not mentioned in the will-partition (article 1075-5)
Effects of the will-division (Article 1079), action for reduction (Article 1080)
Service Public
Notaries of France