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Who gets my belongings after my disappearance?
Well after death
The law provides for the transfer of the property of a deceased person.
If the deceased was not married, his property is transferred, in order:
• to his children and their descendants,
• to his father and mother, brothers and sisters and their descendants,
• grandparents, great-grandparents, and more distant ascendants,
• uncles and aunts, cousins.
If the deceased person has only very distant relatives (beyond the 6th degree), his succession returns to the State.
When the deceased is married and has children:
If all the children of the deceased were born of the union with his or her spouse, the surviving spouse may choose to receive:
• Either the usufruct of all the deceased's property, which allows him to use them but not to sell or give them away.
• Or a quarter of the deceased's property in full ownership.
When the deceased had children with someone other than their current spouse, the surviving spouse collects one-quarter of the deceased's property in full ownership.
When the deceased is married, but leaves no children or descendants, his spouse receives:
• Half of his property if the deceased still has his father and mother,
• 3/4 of his property if the deceased has only one parent,
• All of his property if the deceased no longer has his parents.
Namely : it is possible to predict who will return our assets to after our death by drawing up a will. The law offers a relatively large freedom. However, there is a limit: the children (and their descendants) as well as the surviving spouse (in the absence of a descendant) are reserved heirs. It is not possible to deprive them of their share of the inheritance.
If the deceased was not married, his property is transferred, in order:
• to his children and their descendants,
• to his father and mother, brothers and sisters and their descendants,
• grandparents, great-grandparents, and more distant ascendants,
• uncles and aunts, cousins.
If the deceased person has only very distant relatives (beyond the 6th degree), his succession returns to the State.
When the deceased is married and has children:
If all the children of the deceased were born of the union with his or her spouse, the surviving spouse may choose to receive:
• Either the usufruct of all the deceased's property, which allows him to use them but not to sell or give them away.
• Or a quarter of the deceased's property in full ownership.
When the deceased had children with someone other than their current spouse, the surviving spouse collects one-quarter of the deceased's property in full ownership.
When the deceased is married, but leaves no children or descendants, his spouse receives:
• Half of his property if the deceased still has his father and mother,
• 3/4 of his property if the deceased has only one parent,
• All of his property if the deceased no longer has his parents.
Namely : it is possible to predict who will return our assets to after our death by drawing up a will. The law offers a relatively large freedom. However, there is a limit: the children (and their descendants) as well as the surviving spouse (in the absence of a descendant) are reserved heirs. It is not possible to deprive them of their share of the inheritance.
Good to know
If one of these "disappeared" reappears, he will find his patrimony in the state in which he will be but, in the event that a judgment carrying the consequences of the death has been rendered, and despite the annulment of this judgment the marriage of the person who "reappears" will remain dissolved.
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