How does joint property ownership (indivision) work in France?

Three decision-making rules depending on the nature of the act

Joint ownership (indivision) most often arises from an inheritance, a divorce or a joint purchase: several people hold the same property together, each for an abstract share (one half, one third), without any physical part of the property being allocated to them. Articles 815 et seq. of the French Civil Code organize this collective ownership around three levels of decision-making, graded according to the seriousness of the act.

Acts of preservation, such as an urgent repair, insurance or a protective measure, may be carried out by a single co-owner (Article 815-2 of the French Civil Code). Acts of administration, meaning day-to-day management and most residential leases, require a majority of two thirds of the undivided rights (Article 815-3). Acts of disposal, such as selling the building, mortgaging it or giving it away, require the unanimous consent of all the co-owners (Article 815-3, last paragraph).

The exact scope of the two-thirds majority

The two-thirds majority is calculated in undivided rights, not per head: a co-owner holding 70% of the rights decides acts of administration alone. Article 815-3 exhaustively lists the four categories of acts open to this majority:

• carrying out acts of administration relating to the jointly owned property;
• granting one or more co-owners, or a third party, a general mandate of administration;
• selling jointly owned movable property in order to pay the debts and expenses of the joint ownership;
• entering into and renewing leases, except those relating to premises used for agricultural, commercial, industrial or craft purposes, which require unanimity.
• Be careful: the majority co-owners must inform the others of these decisions; failing that, the decisions cannot be enforced against them (Article 815-3, penultimate paragraph).
• Finally, the provision expressly reserves the consent of all the co-owners for any act that falls outside the normal use of the jointly owned property and for any act of disposal other than the sale of movables to pay debts: the sale of the building itself, a mortgage on it or a gift of it remain subject to unanimous agreement.

Occupation, rents, expenses: the accounts between co-owners

Each co-owner may use the property in accordance with its purpose, to the extent compatible with the rights of the others; a co-owner who has exclusive enjoyment of the home owes, unless otherwise agreed, an occupation indemnity to the joint ownership (Article 815-9 of the French Civil Code).

Rents and other income from the property accrue to the joint ownership (Article 815-10): they are shared according to each person's rights, after payment of expenses. Conversely, a co-owner who has personally financed preservation or improvement expenses holds a claim against the joint ownership, which must be taken into account on an equitable basis, in principle at the time of the division (Article 815-13).

Organizing the joint ownership through an agreement

The co-owners may adjust these rules through a joint ownership agreement (convention d'indivision, Articles 1873-1 et seq. of the French Civil Code): appointment of a manager, allocation of expenses, terms of use. On pain of nullity, the agreement must be made in writing, describe the jointly owned assets and state each person's share; where it concerns a building, it is subject to land registration formalities, which in practice requires a notarial deed (Article 1873-2). When entered into for a fixed term, it may not exceed five years, renewable; during that period, the division may only be demanded on legitimate grounds (Article 1873-3).