PENNANEAC'H tHIBAULT

Diverses explications peuvent ¨ºtre donn¨¦es ¨¤ l'affaiblissement contemporain de l'ordre public successoral fran?ais. Celles-ci tiennent pour partie aux ¨¦volutions d¨¦mographiques, le vieillissement de la population venant modifier le cadre g¨¦n¨¦ral des relations entre g¨¦n¨¦rations. Elles rel¨¨vent aussi d'une modification des rapports entre la propri¨¦t¨¦ juridique et le capital ¨¦conomique, qui implique une d¨¦mat¨¦rialisation de l'h¨¦ritage et une difficult¨¦ croissante de sa r¨¦gulation. Enfin, la lib¨¦ralisation relative des cadres juridiques de l'institution familiale vient ¨¦galement perturber la r¨¦gulation des transmissions gratuites, traditionnellement assise sur la d¨¦volution ab intestat. De mani¨¨re g¨¦n¨¦rale, ces ¨¦volutions tendent ¨¤ favoriser le d¨¦placement de la contrainte d'ordre public en droit des successions, qui d¨¦laisse progressivement le mod¨¨le traditionnel de l'h¨¦ritage imp¨¦ratif et tend ¨¤ lui pr¨¦f¨¦rer une ambition de protection individuelle de l'h¨¦ritier. Le constat des indices de cette ¨¦volution dans le droit positif doit donc amener une r¨¦flexion sur la transformation de la protection successorale de la famille au regard des principes de l'ordre public alimentaire. Devant la r¨¦sistance que rencontre une telle id¨¦e dans le contexte fran?ais, la pr¨¦sente th¨¨se vise ¨¤ d¨¦tailler les raisons qui pourraient justifier de la consid¨¦rer comme une piste d'¨¦volution ¨¤ la fois pertinente et coh¨¦rente au regard de l'¨¦volution contemporaine de la r¨¦serve h¨¦r¨¦ditaire.

Various explanations can be given for the contemporary weakening of French public policy on inheritance in the field of civil law. They are partly due to demographic changes: population ageing is altering the general framework of intergenerational relations. They also stem from a change in the relationship between legal ownership and economic wealth, which involves a dematerialisation of the estate and increasing difficulty in its regulation. Lastly, the relative liberalisation of legal frameworks of the family institution is also disrupting the regulation of gratuitous transfers, traditionally based on intestate succession. These changes generally tend to favour displacing the constraint of ? public order ? in civil inheritance law, which is gradually shifting its focus away from the traditional forced heirship model to the individual protection of the heir. The evidence of this development in positive law should therefore provoke thought and discussion about the transformation of family protection in succession law, particularly with regard to the principles of family maintenance. In view of the resistance against such an idea in the French context, the aim of this thesis is to detail the reasons that could justify considering it to be a path forward that is both relevant and consistent with the current course of the forced heirship portion.

Mots-cl¨¦s : Successions, lib¨¦ralit¨¦s, libert¨¦ testamentaire, ordre public successoral, r¨¦serve h¨¦r¨¦ditaire, prohibition des pactes sur succession future, quotit¨¦ disponible, r¨¦duction, r¨¦duction en valeur, protection successorale de la famille.

Keywords : Inheritance, gifts, testamentary freedom, civil law public order regulation of inheritance, forced heirship portion, prohibition of agreements on a future succession, disposable portion of estate, reduction of excessive gifts and bequests, family protection in the field of civil inheritance law.


Directeur(trice) de th¨¨se : Sylvie FERRE-ANDRE

Membres du jury :
- Mme Sylvie FERRE-ANDRE, Directrice de th¨¨se, Professeure des universit¨¦s, Universit¨¦ Jean Moulin Lyon 3,
- Mme Anne-Marie LEROYER, Rapporteure, Professeure des universit¨¦s, Universit¨¦ Paris 1 Panth¨¦on-Sorbonne,
- M. Bernard VAREILLE, Rapporteur, Professeur des universit¨¦s, Universit¨¦ de Limoges,
- M. G¨¦rard CHAMPENOIS, Professeur des universit¨¦s ¨¦m¨¦rite, Universit¨¦ Paris 2 Panth¨¦on-Assas,
- M. Hugues FULCHIRON, Conseiller ¨¤ la cour de Cassation, Paris.


Pr¨¦sident(e) du jury : G¨¦rard CHAMPENOIS