French justice deprived them of 68,195 euros; two heirs in Morocco overturn the penalty

The case dates back to an estate opened following a death in 1986. The assets notably included a property located in Bouches-du-Rhône. Disagreements between the various heirs led the courts to order liquidation and partition proceedings in 2008.

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Between April 1998 and May 2005, one of the heirs had collected 68,195.22 euros in rent from this property. When she died in 2006, her own heirs, a woman and a man now domiciled in Morocco, became involved in the dispute.

The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal held that the penalty for “concealment of estate assets” should apply. The two heirs were required to return the 68,195.22 euros to the estate and, above all, were deprived of any rights to that sum.

In other words, they could be required to return the money collected by their mother without then being able to claim their own share of those rents.

The Court of Cassation overturns the penalty

The two heirs challenged the decision all the way to the Court of Cassation. Their argument concerned the very nature of the money: the rents had been collected several years after the estate was opened.

In its ruling of February 4, 2026, the Court of Cassation ruled in their favor. It held that rents from an undivided property collected after an estate is opened do not constitute “assets” of that estate to which, in this case, the penalty prescribed for concealment of estate assets could be applied.

The ruling depriving the two heirs of their share of the 68,195.22 euros is therefore annulled. The Court went further: it ruled on this point itself, without referring the case back to another Court of Appeal, and rejected the request seeking to deprive them of their rights to these rents.

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The opposing party must also pay them a total of 3,000 euros toward their legal costs. Nearly forty years after the estate was opened, the two heirs living in Morocco thus retain their right to their share of the disputed rents.