You have lived in France since before Brexit, or you moved over afterwards on a visa, and the stone house in the Dordogne, the flat in Nice or the cottage in Normandy has become the centre of family life. Your children are grown, they live between London and France, and you want them to have the house now rather than after a long succession. Two fears hold most British parents back: the French tax bill on the gift, and the family row that can follow when one child feels another received more. Both fears have precise legal answers. A gift of a French house only exists if it is made before a French notaire (notaire, the public officer who draws up and registers property deeds). A special form of gift, the donation-partage, lets you divide the property between your children in one deed so that no later claim for rebalancing can reopen the division. Each parent can give each child up to 100,000 euros free of French gift tax, grandparents can give grandchildren a further allowance, and gifts made more than fifteen years ago drop out of the calculation. Where the tax office disagrees with the value or the arithmetic, you have thirty days to answer and the office has three years to come back. This article explains the deed, the allowances, the British overlap and the remedies, with the exact texts and court decisions that govern them.

I. Giving Your French House While You Are Alive: the Notarial Deed and the Donation-Partage That Protects Family Peace

English readers often assume that a signed letter, a witnessed document or an English deed of gift can transfer a French house. It cannot. French law imposes a strict form for gifts, and it offers a purpose-built instrument for parents who want to share property between several children without programming a future dispute. Understanding the difference between an ordinary gift and a donation-partage is the single most valuable step before you sign anything.

A. Why a Gift of a French House Only Exists Before a Notaire

The rule is stated in one sentence of the Civil Code that has not changed in substance for two centuries: article 931 of the Civil Code provides that “Tous actes portant donation entre vifs seront passés devant notaires dans la forme ordinaire des contrats ; et il en restera minute, sous peine de nullité.” In plain English, every lifetime gift must be executed before a notaire in the ordinary form of contracts, the notaire must keep the original (the minute) in the office archives, and failure means nullity. A private letter, an email, or a document signed only before an English solicitor does not transfer a French house, however clear the intention. Where money changes hands informally the courts sometimes recognise a don manuel (a gift made hand to hand, valid for movables such as cash or furniture), but a house is an immeuble (immovable property) and can never pass by a handshake: only the authentic deed (acte authentique, the deed drawn up by the notaire) transfers ownership and allows registration at the land registry (service de la publicité foncière, the office that records who owns every parcel).

The notaire does far more than witness signatures. The office checks title going back thirty years, verifies planning and pre-emption rights, computes the gift tax, collects it, and registers the deed for tax within one month of signature, because article 635 of the General Tax Code provides that “Doivent être enregistrés dans le délai d’un mois à compter de leur date”, listing first among the documents concerned “1° Les actes des notaires”. The one-month registration deadline runs from the date of the deed, and it is the notaire who meets it, not you. That is why the realistic timetable for a gift is driven by the notaire’s file: title deeds, the diagnostic surveys (diagnostics immobiliers, the mandatory technical reports on asbestos, lead, energy performance and similar matters), proof of identity and family status with sworn translations where needed, and, for British donors, evidence of matrimonial regime, since an English marriage without a contract is read by the French notaire through French private international law and can surprise couples who assumed English separate ownership applied.

One common mistake deserves a warning. Some British owners try to sidestep the deed by moving the house into a property company and then giving away the shares, or by routing the gift through a company vehicle, imagining that what passes through a company escapes the family equality rules. The Court of Cassation has closed that door. In a decision published in its Bulletin, the First Civil Chamber held on 24 January 2018, appeal number 17-13.017, published at courdecassation.fr/decision/5fca9e2bb37da0940f37383f, that “l’interposition d’une société ne fait pas obstacle au rapport à la succession d’une donation”. The interposition of a company is no obstacle to bringing the gift back into account at succession: where the deceased gave to an heir through a company in which that heir was a shareholder, the account is due in proportion to the capital held. The practical lesson is simple. If you give one child the house, or the shares of the company that holds it, while the other child receives nothing comparable, the disadvantaged child can demand at your succession that the gift be brought back into the mass to be shared (the rapport, the bringing-back mechanism of article 843 described below). Clever structures do not defeat equality claims; the donation-partage, examined next, is the lawful way to obtain finality.

B. The Donation-Partage: Dividing the House Between Your Children So Nobody Can Reopen the Division

Where several children are concerned, French law offers an instrument designed exactly for your situation. Article 1075 of the Civil Code states that “Toute personne peut faire, entre ses héritiers présomptifs, la distribution et le partage de ses biens et de ses droits.” Any person may carry out, among their presumptive heirs, the distribution and division of their property and rights, and the act may take the form of a donation-partage or a testament-partage, subject in the first case to the formalities of lifetime gifts. In practice, both parents appear before the notaire, the house is attributed in whole or in shares (one child takes the house, another takes a compensatory payment called a soulte, the equalising sum paid to balance the lots), and every child accepts the division in the same deed.

The decisive advantage of the donation-partage over a simple gift is finality. An ordinary gift to one child remains accountable at the succession: article 843 of the Civil Code requires that “Tout héritier, même ayant accepté à concurrence de l’actif, venant à une succession, doit rapporter à ses cohéritiers tout ce qu’il a reçu du défunt, par donations entre vifs, directement ou indirectement”. Every heir coming to a succession must bring back to the co-heirs everything received from the deceased by lifetime gift, directly or indirectly, unless expressly given exempt from bringing back. A simple gift of the house therefore leaves the door open: at your death the other children can demand a revaluation and a rebalancing. The donation-partage shuts that door. The Court of Cassation held on 4 July 2018, appeal number 16-15.915, published in the Bulletin at courdecassation.fr/decision/5fca8a3a451f367c17dc9c0e, that “les biens qui ont fait l’objet d’une donation-partage ne sont pas soumis au rapport qui n’est qu’une opération préliminaire au partage en ce qu’il tend à constituer la masse partageable”. Property distributed by a donation-partage is not subject to the bringing-back, which is only a preliminary sharing operation. The Court added that this covers property first given as an advance on inheritance and later included in a subsequent donation-partage. For a British family this is the closest French law comes to an English-style clean break: values are fixed by agreement in the deed, everyone signs, and no child can demand a fresh valuation at the succession.

Two practical points complete the picture. First, the donation-partage is made between your presumptive heirs, normally your children together; leaving one child out of the deed destroys its protective effect for that child, so the notaire will insist that all children are parties. Second, the deed does not dispense with tax: the allowances and rates examined in Part II apply identically, but they apply once, on values the whole family has accepted, which is precisely why combining the donation-partage with the allowances below is the standard advice. Readers who have already made an English will covering the French house should also review how that will interacts with the gift: our analysis of choosing English law for a French house and keeping children protected explains the choice-of-law declaration and the reserved share (réserve héréditaire, the portion of the estate French law reserves to children) that no gift can silently defeat.

II. Paying French Gift Tax on the House and Challenging the Bill: Allowances, Rates, the British Overlap and Your Reply Rights

French gift tax (droits de donation, the registration duties levied on lifetime gifts) applies to the French house even where the donor lives in England and the children live in London. The tax is computed by the notaire at signature, but the arithmetic belongs to you: allowances per parent, the progressive scale, the fifteen-year memory of past gifts, and the grandchildren’s allowance can halve or eliminate the bill when used deliberately. And where the tax office later disagrees, strict but short procedures protect you.

A. The 100,000 Euro Allowance per Parent per Child, the 5 to 45 Percent Scale and the 15-Year Clock

Start with territoriality, because British families often assume that non-residence exempts them. Article 750 ter of the General Tax Code submits to French gift and succession duties “Les biens meubles et immeubles, que ces derniers soient possédés directement ou indirectement, situés en France”, that is movable and immovable property, whether held directly or indirectly, situated in France, “lorsque le donateur ou le défunt n’a pas son domicile fiscal en France”, where the donor or deceased was not fiscally domiciled in France. A house in France given by a British donor domiciled in London is therefore fully within French gift tax. The same article taxes worldwide property where the donor is domiciled in France, so a British resident of France giving a London flat to a child may also face French duties on that flat; take advice on both sides before signing.

The central relief is the parent-to-child allowance. Article 779 of the General Tax Code provides that “il est effectué un abattement de 100 000 € sur la part de chacun des ascendants et sur la part de chacun des enfants vivants ou représentés”. An allowance of 100,000 euros applies to the share of each ascendant and to the share of each living child, or child represented where predeceased. In practice both parents usually give together, so each child can receive up to 200,000 euros of value free of tax, and a family with three children shelters 600,000 euros in one operation. Grandparents have their own allowance: article 790 B of the General Tax Code provides that “il est effectué un abattement de 31 865 € sur la part de chacun des petits-enfants”, an allowance of 31,865 euros on each grandchild’s share. British grandparents who kept a Provencal house while the family settled in France should consider giving directly to grandchildren in the same deed rather than transiting through the children and consuming allowances twice.

Above the allowances, the progressive scale in direct line runs from 5 percent to 45 percent. Article 777 of the General Tax Code sets the bands for the net taxable share of each beneficiary: 5 percent up to 8,072 euros, 10 percent from 8,072 to 12,109 euros, 15 percent from 12,109 to 15,932 euros, 20 percent from 15,932 to 552,324 euros, 30 percent from 552,324 to 902,838 euros, 40 percent from 902,838 to 1,805,677 euros, and 45 percent beyond 1,805,677 euros. Take a worked example. A mother in Lyon gives her daughter a studio valued at 250,000 euros. After the 100,000 euro allowance, 150,000 euros is taxable: roughly the first bands absorb a few thousand euros at 5 to 15 percent and the bulk bears 20 percent, giving total duties of the order of 28,000 euros, collected by the notaire at signature. Had both parents given together, splitting the gift so each gave half, the daughter would have received the same 250,000 euros against 200,000 euros of allowances, with tax only on 50,000 euros. Splitting gifts between parents is the simplest lawful optimisation in French gift planning.

The allowances renew, but slowly. Article 784 of the General Tax Code requires the parties to declare in every gift deed whether earlier gifts were made to the same beneficiaries, and provides that “La perception est effectuée en ajoutant à la valeur des biens compris dans la donation ou la déclaration de succession celle des biens qui ont fait l’objet de donations antérieures, à l’exception de celles passées depuis plus de quinze ans”. The tax is computed by adding to the present gift the value of earlier gifts, except those made more than fifteen years ago. Concretely, a 90,000 euro gift in 2012 is forgotten for a gift made in 2026, while a 90,000 euro gift in 2016 is added back and consumes the allowance. British families who made cash gifts to children for a London deposit years ago must tell the French notaire, because the fifteen-year rappel (the adding-back of past gifts) applies to gifts “à un titre et sous une forme quelconque”, in any form and on any basis, including gifts made abroad. Concealing an earlier gift to preserve the allowance exposes the new deed to rectification and penalties, while declaring it costs nothing more than the correct arithmetic.

B. The British Tax Overlap and How to Answer a French Rectification

A British donor faces two tax systems, not one. On the French side the house is taxed as shown above. On the British side, HM Revenue and Customs may treat the same gift as a transfer for Inheritance Tax if the donor is still domiciled in the United Kingdom, under rules that look at survival rather than allowances. The official guidance states: no tax is due on gifts where the donor survives seven years after giving them, outside trusts — the rule the guidance calls the 7 year rule. It adds that gifts made three to seven years before death fall on a sliding scale called taper relief, which only helps where seven-year gifts exceed the 325,000 pound tax-free threshold (see gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts). The two systems therefore measure different things: France taxes the gift immediately at signature with allowances per recipient, while Britain taxes it only if the donor dies within seven years, with relief that shrinks as survival lengthens. A British parent domiciled in London who gives a Dordogne house worth 400,000 euros pays French duties at signature and must also diary the seven-year clock for the British side, keeping the French deed, the valuation evidence and proof of registration as the core of both files. Domicile is the hinge of the British analysis and residence the hinge of the French one; where the parent has lived in France for years, the British exposure may have fallen away while the French bill remains. Map both positions with advisers on each side before the notaire’s appointment, not after.

Where the French tax office questions the deed, the procedure is short and written, and the deadlines below come from the texts themselves. If the office considers the stated value understated or the allowances misapplied, it sends a proposition de rectification (the reasoned correction proposal). Article L.11 of the Tax Procedures Book provides that “le délai accordé aux contribuables pour répondre aux demandes de renseignements, de justifications ou d’éclaircissements et, d’une manière générale, à toute notification émanant d’un agent de l’administration des impôts est fixé à trente jours à compter de la réception de cette notification”. You have thirty days from receipt to reply with observations or acceptance. If thirty days is too short to obtain a valuation report or translations, article L.57 of the same Book adds that a request received by the administration before expiry extends the period: “ce délai est prorogé de trente jours.” On your request received before expiry, the period is extended by thirty days. Use the reply to join comparable sales, the diagnostic file, evidence of any discount for occupation or usufruct retained (a retained usufruit, the lifelong right to use the property, lowers the taxable base because only the bare ownership passes), and proof of earlier gifts declared. A reasoned reply with evidence settles most valuation disputes without litigation.

The administration cannot come back indefinitely. Article L.180 of the Tax Procedures Book provides that for registration duties “le droit de reprise de l’administration s’exerce jusqu’à l’expiration de la troisième année suivant celle de l’enregistrement d’un acte ou d’une déclaration”, the right of recovery runs until the end of the third year following registration of the deed, adding that “ce délai n’est opposable à l’administration que si l’exigibilité des droits et taxes a été suffisamment révélée par le document enregistré”, the period binds the administration only where the document revealed the liability sufficiently. A complete and truthful deed therefore starts a three-year clock; a deed that hides an earlier gift or a second beneficiary does not earn that protection. For readers in Paris and the Ile-de-France, the practical circuit is the same as elsewhere but the offices are close: the notaire registers the deed, any later dispute is handled in writing with the registration office (pôle enregistrement) of the tax service, and gift disputes that reach court go to the administrative courts, with evidence, deadlines and the paper trail deciding far more cases than grand legal theories. Keep one folder with the deed, the valuation comparables, proof of all gifts within fifteen years, and every letter with its date of receipt: that folder is your defence.

Conclusion

A British parent can give a French house to the children now, lawfully and often with far less tax than feared, provided the operation follows the French order of operations. Make the gift before a notaire, because article 931 punishes informal gifts with nullity. Prefer the donation-partage of article 1075 wherever several children are concerned, because the Court of Cassation confirms that property so shared escapes the later bringing-back of article 843, while gifts routed through companies remain caught, as the 17-13.017 decision shows. Compute the bill with both parents’ 100,000 euro allowances per child, the grandchildren’s 31,865 euros where relevant, and the fifteen-year memory of article 784 that forgives old gifts and remembers recent ones. Remember that the French house is taxable in France even if you live in London, and that Britain applies its own seven-year test to domiciliaries, so coordinate both sides. If the tax office challenges the deed, answer within the thirty days of article L.11, request the thirty-day extension of article L.57 where needed, and rely on the three-year limit of article L.180 for a deed that revealed everything. Done in this order, the gift transfers the house, fixes the values the whole family accepted, and leaves each child with a title no sibling can reopen.