Book III: Different ways of acquiring property

When the surviving spouse receives all or three quarters of the property, the ascendants of the deceased, other than the father and mother, who are in need benefit from a claim for maintenance against the estate of the predeceased. The time limit for claiming this is one year from the date of death or the date on which the heirs cease to pay the benefits they previously provided to the…

Where the spouse has the choice of ownership or usufruct, his or her rights are non-transferable until he or she has exercised his or her option.

The spouse’s option between usufruct and ownership is proven by any means.

Any heir may invite the spouse in writing to exercise his or her option. In the absence of a written decision within three months, the spouse is deemed to have opted for the usufruct.

The spouse is deemed to have opted for the usufruct if he or she dies without having taken part.

The calculation of the spouse’s full ownership right provided for in articles 757 and 757-1 will be made on a mass made up of all the property existing at the death of her husband to which will be fictitiously joined those which he may have disposed of, either by inter vivos deed or by testamentary deed, in favour of successors, without dispensation of report. The spouse may only exercise his…

Gifts received from the deceased by the surviving spouse are deducted from the latter’s rights in the succession. Where the gifts thus received are less than the rights defined in articles 757 and 757-1, the surviving spouse may claim the remainder, without ever receiving a portion of the property greater than the share defined in Article 1094-1.