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Section 3: Acceptance of the succession up to the amount of the net assets.

Article 788 of the French Civil Code

The declaration must be made at the clerk’s office of the court in whose jurisdiction the succession is opened or before a notary. It includes the election of a single domicile, which may be the domicile of one of the acceptors up to the net assets, or that of the person responsible for settling the estate. The domicile must be in France. The declaration is registered and advertised nationally, which…

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Article 789 of the French Civil Code

The declaration is accompanied or followed by the inventory of the estate, which includes an item-by-item estimate of the assets and liabilities. The inventory is drawn up by a judicial auctioneer, bailiff or notary, in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable to these professions.

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Article 790 of the French Civil Code

The inventory is filed with the court within two months of the declaration. The heir may apply to the judge for an extension if he can show serious and legitimate grounds for delaying the filing of the inventory. In this case, the two-month time limit is suspended from the date of the request for an extension. The filing of the inventory is subject to the same publicity as the declaration….

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Article 791 of the French Civil Code

Acceptance up to the net assets gives the heir the advantage: 1° Of avoiding the confusion of his personal property with that of the succession; 2° Of retaining against it all the rights he previously had over the deceased’s property; 3° Of being liable for payment of the succession’s debts only up to the value of the property he has received.

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Article 792 of the French Civil Code

The creditors of the estate declare their claims by notifying their title to the elected domicile of the estate. They are paid under the conditions provided for in Article 796. Claims whose amount has not yet been definitively determined are declared provisionally on the basis of an assessment. Failure to declare within fifteen months of the publication provided for in Article 788, unsecured claims on the estate’s assets are extinguished…

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Article 792-1 of the French Civil Code

From its publication and during the period provided for in article 792, the declaration stops or prohibits any enforcement proceedings and any new registration of security by the creditors of the estate, relating to both movable and immovable property. However, for the application of the provisions of this section and subject to the service provided for in Article 877, seizing creditors are deemed to have security interests in the property…

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Article 792-2 of the French Civil Code

Where the succession has been accepted by one or more heirs purely and simply and by one or more others to the extent of the net assets, the rules applicable to the latter option are binding on all the heirs until the day of partition. The creditors of an estate accepted by one or more heirs purely and simply and by others up to the amount of the net assets…

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Article 793 of the French Civil Code

Within the period provided for in article 792, the heir may declare that he is retaining in kind one or more assets of the succession. In this case, he owes the value of the property set out in the inventory. He may sell the property he does not intend to keep. In this case, he owes the price of their disposal.

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Article 794 of the French Civil Code

The declaration of the alienation or conservation of one or more assets shall be made within fifteen days to the court, which shall ensure its publication. Without prejudice to the rights reserved to secured creditors, any successor creditor may contest before the judge, within three months of the publicity referred to in the first paragraph, the value of the property retained or, where the sale was made out of court,…

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