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International inheritances

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My mother had a future protection mandate drafted by her notary and appointed me as the agent. Unfortunately, she passed away before the mandate was activated. I am her sole heir. Can I use this mandate to retrieve funds (15,000 euros) ...

... from her bank accounts? No. The future protection mandate ceases to apply upon the death of the person to be protected (article 483 2° of the Civil Code). You should consult a notary to establish a certificate of heirship that will allow you to recover your mother's liquid assets…
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My spouse has passed away, and we owned a principal residence together. I have heard about a tax allowance on the principal residence. Is this correct?

Yes. Article 764 bis of the French General Tax Code provides that, for the purposes of the inheritance tax return, a 20% allowance is applied to the market value of the deceased’s principal residence, provided that the property is occupied by certain specified persons, in particular the surviving spouse on…
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My spouse passed away, and we did not have a joint will. Since he had children from a previous marriage, I receive 1/4 of his estate. Can I accept only part of his inheritance?

No. The right of the surviving spouse to limit their acceptance to certain assets (known as "cantonment") is only legally possible if there is a joint will between spouses (Article 1094-3 of the Civil Code). In the absence of such a provision, you can only accept or renounce the entire…
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I am considering filing an inheritance declaration and paying the associated inheritance taxes. Does this filing imply tacit acceptance of the inheritance ?

In principle, no. If filing an inheritance declaration and paying the taxes are not listed in Article 784 of the Civil Code (which lists acts that do not imply tacit acceptance), old case law has considered that these actions do not constitute tacit acceptance, provided that the taxes are paid…
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My friend passed away. She was unmarried, had no children, and no siblings. Her biological parents are still alive, and she had been adopted (simple adoption). Do the adoptive parents inherit?

Yes. Article 368-1 of the French Civil Code provides that the estate of a person who was adopted under a simple adoption is divided into two parts: one half goes to the biological family, and the other half to the adoptive family (Article 738-1 of the Civil Code).
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