During the succession process, a notaire is legally required to create a "déclaration acte notarié" to establish the distribution of the estate based on the deceased's Will and the legal rights of heirs or legatees.
However, in cases of family estrangement, step-families, or heirs living outside France, the notaire may struggle to identify or locate all potential heirs. With the increase in geographical mobility, second marriages and the loosing of family ties, it is an increasing problem.
In such situations, the notaire may hire a "généalogiste successoral," to reconstruct the deceased's family tree using public records and archives and track down any missing heirs.
The fees for genealogists are not regulated and depend on the nature of the service provided.
In routine cases, if the notaire merely seeks confirmation of the heirs, they may hire a genealogist on a flat fee of say, €500-€1,000, payable from the inheritance.
However, if the genealogist is tasked with tracking down a previously untraceable or unknown heir, the fees can be substantial.
International successions often pose a particular challenge, and there are many reports of notaires being hasty to engage genealogists in such cases.
If successful, the genealogist will not disclose full details of the succession or the value of the inheritance to the heir. Instead, the heir will be asked to sign a disclosure contract (contrat de révélation) which provides details of the inheritance in exchange for a commission payment.
The fee is usually a percentage of the net assets received by the heir, ranging from 10% to 50%, depending on the relationship and size of estate. As a result, the sums payable in such cases can be significant.
Earlier this month, a leading parliamentarian,Isabelle Florennes, tabled a draft bill to regulate the fees of genealogists. Although it is too early to be entirely clear, the bill appears to have the support of the government.
“I was struck by the excesses of this profession some time ago. We must put an end to them,” stated the senator.
The draft bill proposes that the fee payable would be a fixed percentage of the estate, which would vary by the relationship of the deceased to the heir(s), and to the size of the estate.
Although at this stage no figures have been formally proposed, commentators are suggesting that the fee would be capped at a maximum of around 30% of the estate.
The bill also proposes increasing transparency with heirs regarding their rights, to alleviate the pressure they face when considering a genealogist's fee proposal.
Finally, the bill also proposes to end the role of the genealogist in the management of the estate, which would be handled entirely by the notaire.
Critics of the existing system also point to the often close informal ties between notaires and the genealogist profession, with the latter openly sponsoring several notairial professional events and offering trips, dining and other gifts to notaires.
Despite the increasing use of genealogists, in the first instance notaires have a legal obligation to make their own enquiries. Heirs who consider that a notaire is being precipitate in engaging a genealogist should demand information on those enquiries, and the fee that would be payable to the genealogist.
John Kitching, a legal specialist in French inheritance law, comments that: "Perhaps the most important that can be done to reduce the risk of such delays and the likelihood of need a genealogist is to make a Will, and in that Will to declare all of their children or that they have no children.”
Related Reading:
