Who may a family court declare to have lost the right to inherit? The March 2026 amendment to the Civil Act

What changed

Before this amendment, Article 1004-2 of the Civil Act let a decedent declare by a notarial will, under Article 1068, that an heir who was 'the decedent's direct ascendant' should lose the right to inherit, the will's executor then petitioning the family court; the grounds were a serious breach of the duty of support towards the decedent, described as 'the duty of support (limited to the duty of support towards a minor)', and a serious criminal act against the decedent, the decedent's spouse or the decedent's lineal descendants, '(excluding the case of Article 1004)', or other grossly unfair treatment. Without such a will, a co-heir who was the decedent's direct ascendant could petition within 6 months of learning that a person with those grounds had become an heir. Act No. 21454, promulgated and in force on 17 March 2026, removes the 'direct ascendant' limit from the chapeaux of Article 1004-2(1) and (3) and the minor limit from the first item of each, and changes 'lineal descendants' to 'lineal blood relatives' in the second item of paragraph 1, the exclusion of cases under Article 1004 staying. The official reason names the Constitutional Court decision of 25 April 2024 (2020Hun-Ga 4 etc.) and the aim of reaching every heir.

Article 1008 said that a co-heir who received a gift or bequest from the decedent has a share only to the extent that it falls short of that heir's own share. A new proviso excludes gifts or bequests made as compensation for specially supporting the decedent, by cohabitation and nursing for a considerable period or other means, or for specially contributing to the maintenance or increase of the decedent's property, but only 'within the scope corresponding to the contribution'.

In the same amendment, Article 1001 and Article 1010(1) and (2) describe representational succession by reference to a person who died before the succession opened or who 'became unable to inherit under Article 1004 or Article 1004-2', and Article 1003(2) gives joint-heir standing to the spouse of a person who died before that date only. Article 1115(1) replaces the claim for return of the property with a claim for 'payment of the value', with 'interest added from the date on which payment of the value is claimed'. Article 379 of the Act fixes the rate of a claim bearing interest at 5 per cent a year where no other legal provision or the parties' agreement applies.

What to read in the text

Addendum Article 1 puts the Act into force on the day of promulgation, 17 March 2026. Addendum Article 2 applies the amended Article 1008 proviso also to successions opened after 25 April 2024, and the amended Article 1004-2 to successions opened after that date where acts under the items of Article 1004-2(1) or (3) took place before the Act came into force; the parts of the amended Articles 1001 and 1010 on Article 1004-2 follow the same rule. Addendum Article 3 applies the amended Article 1115(1) to successions opened after the Act came into force.

Addendum Article 4 is a transitional measure: for a succession opened after 25 April 2024 but before the Act, a joint heir who learned before the Act that a person with a ground listed in Article 1004-2(3) had become an heir may, despite the chapeau of that paragraph, petition within 6 months from 17 March 2026, and the same applies to a person who is to become an heir under Article 1004-2(4). A file therefore needs the date the succession opened, the dates of the acts complained of, what the claimant learned and when, and, for the Article 1008 proviso, the cohabitation, nursing or other contribution said to justify the gift.

Questions for the legislature

The new Article 1008 proviso denies special-benefit treatment only 'within the scope corresponding to the contribution'. Neither the text, the addendum nor the official reason says how that scope is measured or who establishes it, so the question is how a family court fixes the part of a gift or bequest that is compensation and the part that remains a special benefit?

The new Article 1115(1) adds 'interest' from the date on which payment of the value is claimed, without naming a rate or a basis of calculation. Article 379 fixes 5 per cent a year only where no other legal provision or the parties' agreement applies, and neither Article 1115(1), the addendum nor the official reason says whether that provision governs this interest. Does Article 379 supply the rate for the interest added under Article 1115(1), and on what sum does it run?

When to revisit

We revisit this note if a court decision explains 'the scope corresponding to the contribution' in the Article 1008 proviso or whether Article 379 supplies the rate for the interest added by Article 1115(1), if the 6-month window in Addendum Article 4 is extended or amended, or if Article 1004-2 is amended again to change who may be the subject of a loss-of-inheritance declaration.