French General Tax Code
In forceFor tax purposes, any transferable security, movable or immovable property belonging to the deceased as usufructuary and to one of his presumptive heirs or their descendants as bare owner, even if excluded by will, or to his instituted donees or legatees, even if by a later will, or to interposed persons, is deemed to form part of the usufructuary's estate until proven otherwise, unless there has been a regular donation and this donation, if not recorded in a marriage contract, was made more than three months before the death or there has been a dismemberment of ownership effected free of charge, made more than three months before the death, recorded in a notarial deed and for which the value of the bare ownership has been determined in accordance with the scale provided for in l'article 669.
Proof to the contrary may, in particular, result from a gift of funds evidenced by a deed with a date certain, whoever the author may be, with a view to financing, more than three months before the death, the acquisition of all or part of the bare ownership of a property, subject to proof of the origin of the funds in the deed evidencing the use thereof.
The persons designated in the second paragraph of Article 911 of the Civil Code are deemed to be interposed persons.
However, if the bare ownership comes to the heir, donee, legatee or interposed person from a sale or gift granted to him by the deceased, the transfer duties paid by the bare owner and for which he provides proof are deducted from the inheritance tax payable on account of the incorporation of the property into the estate.
