June 2026
The tontine clause is a powerful tool for estate planning that allows several people to acquire property by stipulating that the survivor among them will be deemed to have been the sole owner from the date of acquisition, regardless of the rules of inheritance.
When agreed upon between cohabiting partners, the tontine is often established not through a direct deed of purchase but through the articles of incorporation of a French real estate company.
In its first ruling on the validity of a tontine agreement covering all the shares of a civil partnership, the Cour de Cassation, in a ruling dated April 9, 2026, confirmed that such a stipulation violates the requirement for multiple partners set forth in Article 1832 of the French Civil Code and that it results not in the clause being deemed unenforceable, but in the nullity of the company itself.
Victor ANTIN, a Notaire in Lyon, provides an analysis of this decision and its theoretical and practical implications in an article published in the journal Droit & Patrimoine.
This article is only available in French
Stéphanie BOHUON
Public relations manager
