In short
A spouse or PACS partner inherits free of tax; children get €100,000 each tax-free and pay 5% to 45% above that. Crypto is declared at its value on the day of death, and that value becomes the heir’s purchase price for the 30% flat tax on later gains. A notaire handles almost every estate, the declaration is due within six months, and children can’t be disinherited.
Droits de succession
What each heir pays depends on the relationship (service-public.gouv.fr):
- Spouse or PACS partner: fully exempt.
- Children: €100,000 allowance per parent, then a sliding scale from 5% on the first €8,072 to 20% up to €552,324, 30% to €902,838, 40% to €1,805,677 and 45% above.
- Siblings: €15,932 allowance, then 35% and 45%.
- Nieces and nephews: €7,967, then 55%.
- Anyone else: €1,594, then 55% or, beyond the fourth degree and for non-relatives, 60%.
Gifts received from the same person in the previous fifteen years are counted against the allowance. Leaving crypto to a friend or partner you’re not married to or in a PACS with is expensive; see Give it now or leave it.
How crypto is valued and taxed
- In the estate, every asset is listed with a detailed valuation in the déclaration de succession (service-public.gouv.fr), at its market value on the day of death. For crypto that means the exchange price that day, documented. See Valuing crypto at the date of death.
- When the heir sells, the gain is taxed under the flat tax for occasional sellers: 12.8% income tax plus 17.2% social charges, 30% in all, with an option for the progressive scale and an exemption when total disposals in a year don’t exceed €305 (BOFiP).
- The heir’s purchase price is the value declared for the succession duties, or failing that the real value at the time (BOFiP, §80). Gains made during the deceased’s life are therefore never taxed as income; what was paid in succession duties sets the new starting point.
The notaire and the paperwork
Most estates go through a notaire. Only small estates escape: if the assets are under €5,965, there’s no property, no will and no marriage contract, the heirs can sign a joint attestation themselves to release bank funds (service-public.gouv.fr). Otherwise the notaire draws up the acte de notoriété, which identifies the heirs and their shares. That document, with the death certificate, is what exchanges will ask for; expect to supply a translation to a foreign exchange.
The notaire also checks the central register of wills, the FCDDV. Wills aren’t public documents in France, but the heirs and the notaire read them, and a seed phrase has no business there (what to put in a will).
The réserve héréditaire
French law reserves part of the estate for the children: half with one child, two-thirds with two, three-quarters with three or more; a spouse gets a quarter when there are no descendants (Congrès des notaires). A will can only dispose freely of the rest. Crypto left entirely to one person can be clawed back in value by the others.
Deadlines
The déclaration de succession is due within six months of a death in metropolitan France, twelve months for a death abroad; late filing costs 0.2% interest a month plus surcharges. No declaration is needed if the gross estate is under €50,000 for children and partners who received no undeclared gifts, or under €3,000 for others (service-public.gouv.fr).
Digital data after death
France has a specific law on it. Under article 85 of the data protection act, anyone can leave directives about their digital data for after their death, general ones registered with a trusted third party such as a notaire, or specific ones with each service; without directives, heirs may close accounts and access the data needed to settle the estate, including digital assets (CNIL). Useful for email and exchange accounts; it doesn’t open a wallet.
Crypto reporting
France transposed DAC8 in the 2025 finance act: platforms collect their customers’ transaction data from 1 January 2026 and report from 2027 (CMS).
Checklist for French heirs
- List every account and wallet (Finding crypto).
- Value each holding on the day of death; this becomes the heir’s purchase price.
- Go to the notaire early; the acte de notoriété is what exchanges need.
- File the déclaration de succession within six months.
- Tell the notaire about crypto you know of but can’t access.
Not tax or legal advice. Figures as of October 2026; check the linked sources.