Joint ownership of French property: indivision, tontine and SCI explained

• The problem: buying with a partner, family member or business associate in France means choosing between three genuinely different legal structures — and unlike in many home countries, the structure chosen at the outset dictates how decisions get made and how the property passes on, not just how the deed is worded.
• The stakes: the wrong choice can mean a forced sale triggered by a single co-owner, a survivor facing a 60% tax bill on a partner’s share, or a family SCI unwound by the tax authorities for a paperwork lapse.
• The solutions: match the structure to the relationship and the goal — straightforward co-ownership, guaranteed survivor protection, or long-term family transmission — and have it set up properly from the start rather than adjusted after the fact.

Acquiring real estate in France — a chalet in the ski resorts of the French Alps, a premium apartment in Paris, or a villa on the Côte d’Azur — is a significant step, and buying it with someone else adds a layer of French law that looks quite different from what many international buyers are used to at home. In France, the structure selected at the outset dictates how the property is managed, how decisions are made, and how the asset passes to heirs. This guide goes through the tax, legal and inheritance implications of the three main options: indivision, tontine, and the Société Civile Immobilière (SCI).

The three types of joint property ownership

Indivision (undivided ownership)

This is the default structure under French law: co-owners hold distinct, undivided shares in the property — 50/50, 70/30, or any other split — without any physical division of the premises. It is commonly chosen by family members, unmarried couples, or friends buying together in a straightforward way.

Decision-making: day-to-day management (actes d’administration) can be decided by co-owners holding at least two-thirds of the shares, since a 2006 reform eased what had previously required unanimity for almost everything. Major decisions — selling the property, for instance — still generally require unanimous agreement, though a further 2009 reform gives co-owners holding two-thirds of the shares a route to ask a court to authorise a sale even without unanimity, in cases of genuine deadlock.

Key risks: no one can be forced to remain in an indivision. If one co-owner wants to sell their share and the others cannot afford to buy them out, the entire property may need to be sold. Inheritance implications: on a co-owner’s death, their share enters their own estate and passes to their legal heirs — meaning an unmarried surviving partner could end up owning the property jointly with their late partner’s family or children.

Tontine (clause d’accroissement)

A tontine is a contractual clause inserted directly into the purchase deed, structured in law as an “aléatoire” contract (Article 1964 of the Civil Code) — one whose effects depend on an uncertain future event, here, the order in which the co-owners die. Through this legal mechanism, the last surviving co-owner is retroactively deemed to have been sole owner of the entire property since the day of purchase, bypassing the other’s estate and any forced-heirship claims on that specific asset.

A condition worth knowing before relying on one: for a tontine to hold up, the courts and tax authorities expect the co-owners to have a genuinely comparable life expectancy and a reasonably balanced financial contribution to the purchase. Where there is a significant age or health gap between the parties, the “chance” element the whole mechanism depends on looks less like chance and more like a foregone conclusion — and the clause can be reclassified as a disguised gift, with the tax consequences that implies.

Key risks: the structure is quite rigid during both owners’ lifetimes — all must agree on every major decision, and a co-owner cannot easily force a partition or a sale, unlike in indivision. Tax considerations: for unmarried partners, the survivor can face a transfer tax of up to 60% on the deceased partner’s share (Article 754 A of the General Tax Code), the standard rate applied to transfers between unrelated persons — making additional estate planning worth considering alongside the tontine itself.

SCI (Société Civile Immobilière)

An SCI is a fully incorporated French civil property company set up to hold and manage real estate on behalf of its shareholders — highly suited to long-term family holdings, investment properties, and cross-border wealth management. The property belongs to the company; investors hold shares, governed by customised bylaws (statuts) and managed by a designated manager (gérant).

Tax profile: an SCI can choose between income tax (IR) or corporate tax (IS), which can help shape rental income and capital gains exposure depending on the investment profile — though note that habitual furnished letting through an SCI generally forces it into the IS regime regardless of the initial choice. Inheritance flexibility: shares can be progressively gifted to heirs over time, letting parents retain control and use of the property (via usufruct) while reducing future inheritance tax exposure. We go through SCI mechanics, liability and setup in full in our guide to buying French property through a company, including a nuance worth knowing early: SCI shareholders remain personally liable for the company’s debts, proportionally to their shareholding — a different liability profile from a SARL or SAS.

Legal and tax implications of each structure

Practical considerations for buyers

• Contribution and share allocation. Especially within an indivision, ownership percentages recorded in the deed should match each buyer’s actual financial contribution — a mismatch can be read by the tax authorities as an undisclosed gift.
• Relationship status. Married couples, civil partners (PACS), and unmarried co-owners do not receive the same legal protections under French law; the structure chosen should actively compensate for these differences, a point our family law team looks at alongside the property structure itself.
• Long-term intentions. Running a holiday rental (a furnished ski chalet, say) through a classic SCI taxed under IR is not compatible with habitual furnished letting, which triggers automatic reclassification under corporate tax.
• Financing. French banks routinely lend against a property held in indivision or via an SCI. A tontine clause can make some lenders more cautious, since the clause’s uncertain nature complicates registering standard bank guarantees such as mortgages.

Common pitfalls, and how to avoid them

• Choosing the structure too late. Altering an ownership setup after the final deed is signed can generate transfer taxes and legal costs that early planning would have avoided.
• Overlooking SCI administrative duties. Without annual general meetings, transparent accounts, and proper legal secretarial work, the tax authorities can declare a company “fictitious,” cancelling the tax planning benefits it was set up to deliver.
• Assuming home-country tax rules apply. French property taxes, wealth tax (IFI), and inheritance rules interact closely with international tax treaties — see our overview of taxation in France for how this plays out for non-residents.
• Using standard internet templates. Generic contracts downloaded online often carry clauses that are legally void or poorly adapted to a family’s actual situation.

The role of the notaire in joint ownership structures

A notaire is a public officer whose role is to ensure the compliance, validity and security of a real estate transaction, coordinating the legal, fiscal, economic and family dimensions of the purchase into a coherent plan.

• For indivision: drafting the purchase deed, explaining how undivided interests work, and where useful, setting up a formal convention d’indivision to structure management and exit rules in advance.
• For tontine: confirming the age and contribution criteria are genuinely met, inserting the clause into the deed, and advising on the long-term tax exposure for the surviving partner.
• For SCI: drafting customised bylaws, defining the manager’s powers, protecting founding partners with approval clauses (clauses d’agrément), and registering the entity with the relevant corporate authorities — see also our page on business and company law.
• For financing: coordinating directly with the buyer’s bank to draft and register security deeds such as mortgages or an HSPD.

Worked examples

A married couple purchasing via indivision. An international couple married under a separation-of-property regime buys an apartment in Grenoble. One partner contributes 65% of the capital, the other 35%; the notaire ensures these exact proportions are documented in the deed, so that in the event of a future separation, sale proceeds divide accordingly.

Unmarried partners using a tontine clause. A British couple, of similar age, buying a holiday home in Val Thorens opts for a tontine clause so that the survivor automatically becomes sole owner if one of them dies, keeping the chalet outside any external estate claim. Because they are unmarried, the notaire flags that the survivor would still face a 60% tax rate on the inherited share — making further estate planning worth discussing alongside the clause itself.

Multi-generational wealth management via an SCI. A family sets up an SCI to buy a chalet in Alpe d’Huez. The parents gradually gift bare ownership of company shares to their children, using the tax-free gift allowance that renews every 15 years, while remaining managers and retaining full use of the property.

Resolving an indivision stalemate through notarial mediation. After a relationship breaks down, two unmarried co-owners of a property in Divonne-les-Bains reach a standstill over its value and how to divide their assets. Instructing a notaire gives them access to an independent, legally recognised valuation — drawing on the PERVAL database, updated in real time from authentic deeds signed across France — and, acting as a neutral party, the notaire drafts a formal buyout agreement (rachat de soulte) based on objective market data, resolving the dispute without a lengthy court process.

Which structure fits your project?

• Choose indivision if: you want a low-cost, straightforward setup with no corporate overhead, and you are comfortable with two-thirds/unanimity rules for management and sale decisions.
• Choose a tontine if: you are an unmarried couple of comparable age wanting to guarantee the surviving partner automatic full ownership, and you accept a rigid structure during both lifetimes.
• Choose an SCI if: you are planning a long-term holding, want flexibility on tax treatment, wish to avoid indivision deadlocks, and intend to pass shares to children gradually.

Frequently asked questions

Can one co-owner force the sale of an indivision property against the others’ wishes?
Generally only through the courts — either by requesting partition under Article 815, or, since 2009, by co-owners holding two-thirds of the shares asking a court to authorise a sale in cases of deadlock.

Does a tontine clause work for any couple?
Only where the co-owners have a genuinely comparable life expectancy and a reasonably balanced financial contribution; otherwise it risks being reclassified as a disguised gift.

Is an SCI only useful for large or complex estates?
No — it is used just as often by ordinary families buying a single holiday property together, specifically for the flexibility it offers around shared decision-making and gradual transmission.

Can a non-resident set up or join an SCI in France?
Yes, there is no residency or nationality restriction on being a shareholder or manager of a French SCI.

Sources

• Code civil — Article 815 (right to demand partition of an indivision)
• Code civil — Article 815-3 (two-thirds majority for acts of administration)
• Code civil — Article 1964 (aléatoire contracts, the legal basis for a tontine clause)
• Code général des impôts — Article 754 A (taxation of a tontine transfer between co-owners)

In summary

Each of these three structures solves a different problem: indivision keeps things simple but leaves a real exit risk if co-owners fall out; a tontine guarantees a partner’s future at the cost of flexibility during both lifetimes, and only where the underlying “chance” is genuine; an SCI trades some administrative overhead for long-term control over how a property is managed and eventually transmitted. Getting in touch with a notaire familiar with the Alpine property market early on remains the most reliable way to match the structure to the actual family situation, rather than to a generic template.

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