Can my children object to the sale of a plot of land?
Can my children object to the sale of a plot of land?
"My wife has died and I wonder whether one of my children could object to the sale of a plot of land acquired during the marriage from the couple's acquests, given that I am the only owner entered in the land register.
Tom, Chênes-Bougeries
According to the law applicable to the ordinary matrimonial regime of participation in acquests, assets acquired by means of acquests are themselves acquests.
In addition, there is a presumption of joint ownership where there is no proof that a property belongs to one of the spouses.
When one of the spouses dies, the matrimonial property regime must first be dissolved. Under the ordinary matrimonial property regime, to put it simply, each spouse takes back his or her own property and half of the acquests of the other. It is important to note that this is not so simple in practice.
Once the partnership has been dissolved, the next step is to deal with succession issues.
If your wife has not decided otherwise, for example through a will, her assets will be distributed according to the law. Your children will therefore receive a share of her acquests. Part of the land will revert to them, and they will therefore be able to object to the sale.
However, any right whose creation is legally subject to an entry in the land register only exists as a right in rem if that entry has been made. Otherwise, the right does not exist.
This is the case when it comes to acquiring land.
The Land Register benefits from public faith. This means that what is recorded in it is supposed to be correct and anyone who reads it can rely on it in good faith.
In the case in point, you are the only owner entered in the land register and, as a result, you could freely sell the land to a third party. The land would in fact be protected by the public faith recognised in the land register and the sale would be perfectly valid.
However, under the Civil Code, an heir may require one of his coheirs to pay into the estate an object because it belongs to the estate.
Your children could therefore take legal action to have the land declared an acquisition and included in the estate.
This way, they can object if they are aware of the sale.
