Paris · Inheritance · Gift
Giving an apartment in Paris: valuing full and bare ownership
Passing on during your lifetime, keeping the use of your apartment, sharing between your children: a gift is prepared with the notaire, and it starts with a fair value. How usufruct is calculated, and the points to watch.
- 4.7/564 Google reviews · Paris
- 4.8/532 Google reviews · Cluny
- Since 2015independent agency
- Guarantee 110 000 €client funds protected
- Licensed estate agentCCI Paris Île-de-France
Today’s valueThe gift uses the value of the apartment on the day of the deed: we establish it from recent sales in the district.
The scale appliedUsufruct and bare ownership follow the tax scale according to the donor’s age: our tool does the calculation.
With your notaireWe send the valuation to the notaire, who drafts the deed and calculates the duties.
Story’s tool
Usufruct and bare ownership: the calculation
Usufruct (30 %)€240,000
Bare ownership (70 %)€560,000
| Age of the usufructuary | Usufruct | Bare ownership |
|---|---|---|
| under 21 | 90 % | 10 % |
| 21 to 30 | 80 % | 20 % |
| 31 to 40 | 70 % | 30 % |
| 41 to 50 | 60 % | 40 % |
| 51 to 60 | 50 % | 50 % |
| 61 to 70 | 40 % | 60 % |
| 71 to 80 | 30 % | 70 % |
| 81 to 90 | 20 % | 80 % |
| 91 and over | 10 % | 90 % |
The scale applies to French gift and inheritance tax. The value of the apartment in full ownership still has to be established: that is what our valuation is for.
Giving the bare ownership, keeping the usufruct
Splitting ownership is the most common form of gift in Paris: the parents give the bare ownership of the apartment to their children and keep the usufruct, that is the right to live in it or receive the rent. Gift tax applies only to the bare ownership, whose value depends on the donor’s age. When the usufructuary dies, the children become full owners with no further tax.
Each child benefits from an allowance of €100,000 per parent, renewable every fifteen years.
Why the starting value matters
Too low a value exposes you to a reassessment; too high, it uses up the allowances needlessly. It matters later too: a simple gift is revalued when the estate is divided, whereas a gift-partition (donation-partage) fixes the values; and if the children sell, the value declared in the deed of gift becomes their acquisition price for capital gains.
We value the apartment in full ownership, as for a sale, from the sales signed in the building and the district. The notaire then applies the scale.
Our references
Recently sold by Story’s in Paris
39 homes sold by Story’s in Paris and the inner suburbs; here are the most recent.
Our Paris sales by arrondissement: 18th (7) · 11th (6) · 3rd (5) · 15th (5) · 5th (2) · 12th (2) · 17th (2) · 19th (2) · 1st (1) · 4th (1)
Value the apartment before the gift
An adviser from our Paris agency will call you back to arrange a visit. The valuation is free and can be sent to your notaire.
A personal reply within 24 working hours, no obligation.
Client reviews
What our clients say
The public Google ratings of our two agencies, updated daily.
Story's Paris
4.7
★★★★★★★★★★64 Google reviews
Story's Cluny
4.8
★★★★★★★★★★32 Google reviews
Frequently asked questions
Can a let apartment be given?
Yes. The value then takes account of the current lease; the usufructuary keeps receiving the rent if the gift concerns the bare ownership.
Can a split-ownership apartment be sold?
Yes, with the agreement of the usufructuary and the bare owners, who share the price according to the scale or an agreed value. The split ownership can also be carried over to another property bought with the proceeds.
Should the apartment be valued before seeing the notaire?
It helps: the notaire can then simulate the duties on a sound value. Our valuation is free and sent directly to them.