In principle, you can use life insurance to benefit one or more people around you by designating them beneficiaries. The sums placed on a life insurance contract are not taken into account in your estate and do not enter into the calculation of the hereditary reserve (i.e. the minimum share of your inheritance to which they have law), because life insurance is transmitted “outside inheritance”.
However, a limit has been set by law: if the premiums paid by the subscriber are manifestly exaggerated in view of his abilities (art. L. 132-13 of the insurance code), they are reportable (reinstated) to the inheritance and may be the subject of an action for reduction for infringement of the reserve.
The exaggerated nature is assessed at the time of payment of the money according to several criteria: the age, the financial and family situations of the subscriber, as well as the usefulness of the contract for the latter. A safeguard which prevents the insured from disinheriting his children.
We must persuade the judges
“Proving the excessive nature of the bonuses is a difficult path for the heirs behind the legal action. They must not only know the existence of the contract, but also reconstruct the assets of their deceased loved one by looking at all the times when the payments took place.explains Stéphane Valory, lawyer in family and inheritance law. “Of course, the judge may be asked to obtain from the insurance company a copy of the contract and the history of contributions and redemptions, he adds. But you must then compare these elements with the assets of the deceased, their income, their age, and have as many documents as possible to support your case. »
Not to mention that, even when the excessive nature seems plausible and evidence can be provided, it is still necessary to persuade the judges of the merits, whose assessment is sovereign. “Quantitative criteria such as income or assets make it easier to convince. But the family situation or the usefulness of the contract are qualitative criteria, which means that two courts could render two different decisions in similar cases.warns Me Valory.
Appreciate excessiveness
And it is still necessary for judges to take into account all the criteria set by case law to assess this excessive nature. On this point, the Court of Cassation monitors.
Again recently, the high court criticized the appeal judges for not having investigated, in order to assess the manifestly exaggerated nature of the premiums, the overall financial situation of the insured who died in 2010, in particular his real estate assets, his savings and his income. on the date of each payment (judgment May 2, 2024, appeal no. 22-14.829).
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