As part of the process of dealing with a succession in France it is the legal responsibility of a notaire to produce a déclaration acte notarié establishing the devolution of the estate based on the deceased person’s Will and the legal rights of any heirs or legatees.

Sometimes, for example, in successions involving family estrangement, stepfamilies, or family members based outside of France, the notaire may be unable to identify or trace all the potential heirs.