Settling a Succession in Monaco: The Procedure Step by Step

What this guide covers

This is the operational side of a Monegasque succession: what has to be done, by whom, in what order, and against which deadlines. The rules that decide who inherits and how much — forced heirship, the tax scale, applicable law for an international estate — are set out separately in inheritance law in Monaco. Read that one for the framework, this one for the procedure.

A Monaco succession is notarial, not judicial. There is no probate court, no grant of representation, no executor appointed by a judge. A notary opens the file, establishes who the heirs are, values the estate, settles the fiscal side and effects the transfers. The court only appears if someone contests something.

The first two weeks

Register the death. The death is declared at the Mairie of the commune where it occurred; for a death in Monaco that is the Mairie de Monaco, 8 rue de la Turbie. The civil registrar issues the death certificate copies (extraits d'acte de décès) that every subsequent step consumes — ask for a generous number, at least ten. The general procedure is covered in civil status and certificates.

Instruct a notary. Monaco has three notary offices, each headed by a notaire titulaire: Étude Henry Rey (2 rue Colonel Bellando de Castro), Maître Nathalie Aureglia-Caruso (4 boulevard des Moulins) and Maître Magali Crovetto-Aquilina (31 boulevard Charles III). Any of them can take the file; the heirs choose. See lawyers and notaries in Monaco.

Do not empty anything. This matters more than it sounds. Article 660 of the Civil Code protects purely conservatory acts — paying a utility bill, securing an empty apartment — but article 659 makes acceptance tacit as soon as an heir does something they could only do as heir. Selling the deceased's car, clearing a bank account or moving furniture out can lock you into an unconditional acceptance before you know whether the estate is solvent. Worse, article 673 strips the right to renounce entirely from an heir who has concealed or made off with estate assets.

The notary's file

The acte de notoriété

The first substantive document is the acte de notoriété: the notarial act that records the identity of the deceased, the date and place of death, and the identity and family relationship of each heir. It is what a bank, an insurer or the property administration will ask for before dealing with anyone. Expect to supply the death certificate, the family record book or equivalent civil-status documents, the marriage contract if there is one, and identity documents for every heir.

The notary simultaneously checks whether a will exists — including one deposited with another Monegasque notary or drawn up abroad.

The inventory

The estate is then inventoried: Monegasque real property, bank and securities accounts held in the Principality, company shares, vehicles, valuables, and on the other side the debts, the funeral costs and any tax due. The valuation date is the date of death.

An inventory is compulsory for an heir who wants to accept under bénéfice d'inventaire and, in practice, sensible for everyone else — it is the only defensible basis for the tax declaration and for dividing the estate later without argument.

Accepting, limiting or refusing: the heir's option

Article 656 of the Civil Code is blunt: no one is obliged to accept a succession. Each heir has three routes, and each heir chooses independently of the others.

Unconditional acceptance (acceptation pure et simple). You take the assets and the debts, without limit. It can be express — taking the title of heir in a document — or tacit, by conduct.

Acceptance under bénéfice d'inventaire. Your liability is capped at the value of the assets you receive. The declaration is made at the Greffe Général and entered on the register that also records renunciations (article 674), and it only has effect if it is preceded or followed by a faithful inventory (article 675).

Renunciation. Article 665: renunciation is never presumed, and can only be made at the Greffe Général on the register kept for that purpose. A renouncing heir is deemed never to have been an heir (article 666); their share accrues to the co-heirs, or passes to the next degree if they were alone.

The deadlines that govern the option

• Three months from the opening of the succession to make the inventory, and a further forty days to deliberate (article 676). During those periods an heir cannot be compelled to take a position and no judgment can be obtained against them (article 678).
• The right to accept prescribes only after thirty years (article 670) — and until then an heir who renounced may still accept, provided no one else has accepted in the meantime (article 671).

One rule catches families who try to arrange things in advance: article 672 forbids renouncing the succession of a living person, or selling the rights you might one day have in it, even by marriage contract.

The declaration of succession and the duties

The deadline

The déclaration de succession is filed with the Direction des Services Fiscaux. Article 25 of the Sovereign Ordinance of 29 April 1828 on registration — still the governing text, last amended by Law no. 1.285 of 15 July 2004 — fixes the period, running from the date of death:

The eight-month figure is the one most often got wrong: secondary sources routinely quote "twelve months for a death abroad", which is the French rule, not the Monegasque one.

What is taxable

Only assets situated in Monaco, whatever the domicile, residence or nationality of the deceased. A Monaco resident's London flat and Swiss portfolio fall outside Monegasque succession duty entirely; a non-resident's Monaco apartment falls inside it. The rate turns on relationship alone:

There are no allowances and no progressive bands — the applicable rate applies to the whole of the share. The scale is examined in detail, together with the ten-year condition attached to the 4% partner rate, in inheritance law in Monaco.

Where to file

Direction des Services Fiscaux — Le Panorama, 57 rue Grimaldi, MC 98000 Monaco; (+377) 98 98 81 21 or 98 98 81 22; open 9.30 to 17.00, Monday to Friday. The registration-duties counter now receives visitors at the Terrasses de Fontvieille, 24/26 rue du Gabian. In an ordinary succession the notary prepares and files the declaration and settles the duty out of the estate, but the obligation is the heirs'.

Transferring the assets

Real property. The transfer of a Monegasque apartment or villa is effected by notarial act and published; only the notary can do it. If the property is held through an SCI or another company, what passes is the shareholding, and the company's own formalities apply — see property law in Monaco and selling property in Monaco.

Bank accounts and securities. Monegasque banks freeze the accounts on notification of the death and release them against the acte de notoriété and, where the institution requires it, a certificat de propriété or certificat de mutation naming the entitled heir. Joint accounts and accounts subject to a foreign matrimonial regime take longer.

Vehicles. Re-registration in an heir's name goes through the Service des Titres de Circulation, on production of the notarial documents — see vehicle registration in Monaco.

The home for the year after. A surviving spouse who was actually living in the couple's home, or in one wholly belonging to the estate, has by operation of law one year's free enjoyment of it and of the furniture in it (article 650, restored on 27 June 2020). Article 651 gives the same one-year right to a surviving partner under a contrat de vie commune or a cohabitation contract. It is not conditional on the division of the estate being complete.

Where a succession gets complicated

Foreign assets and foreign heirs. The Monegasque notary settles the Monaco part. Everything abroad follows its own rules, and the two have to be reconciled — which is where the applicable-law question set out in inheritance law in Monaco becomes decisive.

French connections. France and Monaco are bound by a Convention of 1 April 1950 on succession duties, which applies only to nationals of the two States and does not cover lifetime gifts. Immovable property is taxable only in the State where it is situated. A cross-border estate of any size needs advice on both sides.

Trusts. A trust set up under Law no. 214 of 27 February 1936 is administered on its own terms and is not divided by the notary like the rest of the estate, but it does not escape the succession law that applies to the deceased. See Monaco trust structures.

A contested estate. If an heir attacks a will as infringing the réserve, or the identification of heirs is disputed, the Tribunal de Première Instance decides and the timetable stops being predictable.

What to do now, if you are planning ahead

Most of the pain in a Monegasque succession is avoidable, and none of the avoidance is expensive. Deposit your will with a Monaco notary rather than leaving it in a drawer. Keep an up-to-date list of accounts, policies and property, with the institutions named. If you hold assets in more than one country, get the interaction checked once rather than leaving your heirs to discover it. And if you moved to Monaco from a country whose succession rules you assumed would follow you, verify that assumption — it very often does not hold.

Related reading: inheritance law in Monaco for forced heirship and applicable law, wealth planning for the structuring options, and notary services in Monaco for what else a notary does.

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Sources: Monegasque Civil Code, arts. 640–651 (rights of the surviving spouse and of partners), 655–678 (acceptance, renunciation, bénéfice d'inventaire), 780–781 (disposable portion) — Legimonaco, consolidated text; Sovereign Ordinance of 29 April 1828 on registration, art. 25, as amended by Law no. 1.285 of 15 July 2004; Law no. 1.481 of 17 December 2019 on civil solidarity contracts; Franco-Monegasque Convention of 1 April 1950 on succession duties; Direction des Services Fiscaux — inheritance tax page, monservicepublic.gouv.mc. Last verified: September 2026.