Succession: will my adopted child inherit, and with what taxation?

Question to an expert

When I die, will the child I adopted be treated, for my estate, as my biological child?

A child adopted in the full form no longer has filiation with its biological parents. He is therefore the compulsory heir of his adoptive parents. Also for tax purposes, he is treated like an unadopted child: he benefits, for the calculation of inheritance rights, from the allowance of 100,000 euros (in the estate of each parent), then from a tax scale ranging from 5% to 45%.

In the case of a simple adoption, this is more complex – the latter creating a bond of filiation with the adoptive family, while preserving the original filiation.

Read also Article reserved for our subscribers Blended family: how to inherit your stepchildren?

Admittedly, the child here becomes the compulsory heir of his adoptive parent and must receive a minimum share of his estate. But fiscally, he will not always be treated as a descendant.

60% inheritance tax

He will be automatically if he is the child of the adopter’s married spouse. Or if it is demonstrated to the administration that the child has benefited from uninterrupted help and care from the adopter, under continuous and main care, for a certain number of years (i.e. during his minority and for at least five years, or during his minority and his majority and for at least ten years). This requires keeping many pieces of evidence demonstrating this support on a daily basis.

In other cases, for the calculation of inheritance tax, he will be considered as an unrelated heir, with a rate of 60% after deduction of 1,594 euros.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Who can be declared “unworthy” to inherit?

Finally, the child adopted in the simple form is not a compulsory heir in the succession of his grandparent, the parent of his adoptive parent (if the latter dies before the grandparent).

Xaviera Favrie(Notary at KL Conseil)