The donations in life they are very common to take advantage of the tax advantages that, in countries like France, reach the threshold of 200,000 euros, while in Spain, depending on the autonomous community, it can mean benefits of up to 400,000 euros. This is the case of a French couple who decided to do this during their children’s lifetime to take advantage of tax exemptions.
In 2013, Jules and Félix’s parents (not their real names) made a simple donation of an apartment for each of them, one in Paris and one in the suburbs, with a total value of 300,000 euros. at the time of legacyaccording to the French newspaper The Figaro.
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Twelve years later they discover their parents’ failure
In 2025, the father, the only survivor of the parents, died. At that moment, in an appointment before a notary, the two brothers discover that their parents had not chosen the most appropriate method to make this transfer.
Félix’s wealth management advisor, one of the brothers in Vaneau, Vincent Coumans, explains: “In 12 years, the two apartments have not evolved in the same way. The Parisian apartment has increased its value by 420,000 euros at the time of inheritance, while that of the other was estimated at 370,000 euros.” The difference in the amount represents about 50,000 euros, the amount that Jules must pay his brother to be on equal terms.
The value of assets evolves
“When there have been several simple donations during the parents’ lifetime, the total is recalculated at the time of inheritance,” that is, when they die, as pointed out by Frédéric Labour, a notary of Sainte-Geneviève des Bois. “We act as if the capital received still belonged to the parents’ assets and then we re-evaluate the whole. If two donations have evolved differently over time, the shares are no longer balanced: equality between the heirs must be restored,” he adds. Therefore, anyone whose assets have increased their contribution must pay compensation to their relative, so that equality between them is effective.
The party that has seen the price of its assets increase may face this rebalancing with difficulty: “If it does not have sufficient liquidity, it could be forced to sell to compensate its co-heir,” warns the notary. In this case, the brothers received enough liquidity to resolve the matter thanks to the father’s life insurance with whose funds: “they reached an agreement and a payment was made for a brother,” said Coumans.
Better shared than simple
The best way to avoid this situation is through shared donation: “Instead of making two simple donations separately, it would have been necessary to make a shared one that combined the two assets at the same time,” indicates Labor. The particularity is that this type does not require any additional calculations at the time of inheritance.
It is assumed that the beneficiaries of a shared agreement are the heirs, who become, immediately and definitively, owners of the transferred possessions. This implies that the estate is not subject to inheritance: its value is fixed at the date of the gift and does not revalue, even if some of it increases significantly over time. For the agreement to be valid, both must have the same valuation at the time it is formalized.