Title I: Inheritance

Partition may be requested, even when one of the undivided co-owners has enjoyed all or part of the undivided property separately, if there has been no deed of partition or sufficient possession to acquire prescription.

A person who is undivided as to enjoyment may request the division of the undivided usufruct by way of segregation on a property or, if this is not possible, by way of licitation of the usufruct. Where this appears to be the only way of protecting the interests of all the holders of rights in the undivided property, the licitation may relate to the full ownership.

The same option belongs to the undivided co-owner in bare ownership for the undivided bare ownership. In the event of a licitation of full ownership, the second paragraph of article 815-5 shall apply.

A person who is in part the full owner and who is in undivided ownership with usufructuaries and bare owners may use the options provided for in articles 817 and 818. The second paragraph of Article 815-5 is not applicable in the case of a full ownership licitation.

At the request of an undivided co-owner, the court may stay the partition for up to two years if its immediate completion is likely to affect the value of the undivided property or if one of the undivided co-owners cannot take over the agricultural, commercial, industrial, craft or liberal enterprise dependent on the succession until the end of this period. This deferment may apply to all the undivided property or…

Failing an amicable agreement, the joint ownership of any agricultural, commercial, industrial, craft or liberal enterprise, which was operated by the deceased or his spouse, may be maintained under the conditions set by the court at the request of the persons mentioned in Article 822. Where applicable, the application to maintain indivision may relate to corporate rights. The court decides on the basis of the interests involved and the means…

Indivision may also be maintained, at the request of the same persons and under the conditions laid down by the court, in respect of ownership of the residential premises or premises used for professional purposes which, at the time of death, were actually being used for that residence or for that purpose by the deceased or his spouse. The same applies to movable objects furnishing the dwelling or used for…

If the deceased leaves one or more minor descendants, maintenance of joint ownership may be requested either by the surviving spouse, by any heir, or by the legal representative of the minors. If there are no minor descendants, continuation of the joint ownership may only be requested by the surviving spouse and on condition that he or she was, prior to the death, or became as a result of the…

Maintenance in undivided ownership may not be prescribed for a period of more than five years. It may be renewed, in the case provided for in the first paragraph of Article 822, until the youngest of the descendants reaches the age of majority and, in the case provided for in the second paragraph of the same article, until the death of the surviving spouse.