Statute of limitations for requesting delivery of a legacy

Court of Cassation, First Civil Chamber, 23 October 2024, 22-20.367,

 

Published in the bulletin

 

 

The First Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation has just issued an important decision
regarding the rules of prescription in inheritance matters.
Indeed, by its decision (appeal 22-20.367) of October 23, 2024, the Court of Cassation rules on a request for delivery of a universal legacy.
In this regard, the Court of Cassation submits to Article 2224 of the Civil Code by confirming that personal or movable actions are prescribed by five years from the day on which the holder of a right knew or should have known the facts allowing him to exercise it.

 

Facts and procedure summary

 

– The facts: the presence of a will at death

 

A lady died on December 8, 2008, leaving as her successor her son, as well as a
notarized will dated July 13, 2007 appointing a third party as universal legatee.
Under this will, on May 12, 2014, this third party requested the reserved heir
to deliver the legacy. However, the latter opposed it, forcing the
legatee to take legal action and request, on March 10, 2015, the opening of the
accounting, liquidation, and partition of the estate.

 

– The procedure: the plea of inadmissibility based on the statute of limitations for the action for delivery of the legacy

 

During the proceedings, the reserved heir raised a procedural objection based on the
statute of limitations for the action to deliver the legacy, arguing that this action should have been brought
within five years of the deceased's death, i.e., by December 8, 2013. The Versailles
Court of Appeal, in a judgment of June 14, 2022, upheld this argument and declared
the request for delivery time-barred, thereby rendering the legacy ineffective.

The universal legatee filed an appeal in cassation.

 

The action for delivery of the legacy and the limitation period

 

The main issue of the dispute concerned the question of the statute of limitations for the claim for
delivery of the universal legacy.

 

– The request for delivery of a legacy (Article 1004 of the Civil Code)

 

It should be recalled that Article 1004 of the Civil Code requires the universal legatee to apply to
the court for delivery of the legacy when the reserved heirs refuse to grant it
voluntarily.

In this case, the legatee made his request in 2015, while the succession had been
opened as early as December 8, 2008. The court of appeal considered that the starting point of the
statute of limitations should be set at the date of death. It also considered that the applicable
statute of limitations was that of Article 2224 of the Civil Code.

 

– The statute of limitations under Article 2224 of the Civil Code

 

Cet article prévoit que les actions personnelles se prescrivent par cinq ans à compter du jour
où le titulaire du droit a eu connaissance des faits lui permettant de l’exercer.
Selon la cour d’appel, la prescription était donc acquise dès le 8 décembre 2013 (soit cinq
années après le décès).
Pour sa part, le légataire soutenait que la prescription applicable était celle de dix ans prévue à
l’article 780 du Code civil qui concerne la faculté d’option.

 

– The action for delivery of a legacy: a personal action

 

However, the Court of Cassation upheld the Court of Appeal's analysis by considering that
the action for delivery of the legacy, being personal in nature (there was a debate on the legal
nature of this action), fell within the five-year statute of limitations under Article 2224 of the
Civil Code.

 

The contribution of the decision concerning the action for delivery of a universal legacy

 

This decision highlights that the action for delivery of a universal legacy is a
personal action subject to the five-year limitation period of Article 2224 of the Civil Code and
not to the ten-year limitation period applicable to the action for reduction of excessive gifts under
Article 780 of the Civil Code.
Thus, by this judgment of October 23, 2024, the First Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation
settles the time limit applicable to the action for delivery of a legacy.

 

Written by: Alexandre Dazin & Ambre Loupit