Donation-partage: complete guide

For many business-owning families, the key transmission tool is not only the will or the inheritance process. It is the donation-partage, which allows assets to be transferred and allocated during the donor's lifetime.

This is especially useful when a family business is involved and one child is the future operator while the others are not.

A donation-partage is a notarised lifetime transfer combined with a structured allocation of assets between heirs.

Compared with a simple gift, it is designed to organise the sharing itself, not only the transfer.

It can help:

• ▸transfer shares to the child who will run the business;
• ▸allocate real estate or financial assets to other heirs;
• ▸organise balancing payments;
• ▸reduce future conflicts about valuation and fairness.

• ▸Anticipation rather than emergency action.
• ▸Better management of family fairness.
• ▸Stronger governance continuity.
• ▸Ability to structure the right timing for business transfers.

• ▸It requires serious valuation work.
• ▸It needs coherent coordination with the notary and other advisers.
• ▸It should not be approached as a tax-only issue.

Take Marc, owner of a trading company worth EUR 1.8 million. One child works in the business and wants to take over; the other does not. A donation-partage may allow Marc to allocate the company to the operating child while balancing the family through real estate, financial assets and possibly a balancing payment.

Would you like to model this strategy for your business? Book a personalised review with our team.

Expert note

The most common mistake is not a lack of ideas. It is a lack of timing. Families often know roughly what they want, but wait too long to formalise it.

We do not replace the notary. We bring the economic, accounting, valuation and business perspective:

• ▸share valuation;
• ▸financial analysis;
• ▸scenario simulations;
• ▸coordination with tax and governance issues.

Donation-partage is a major tool for organising family and business transfers in a controlled way. It works best when approached as a combined civil, tax, patrimonial and strategic project.

Hayot Expertise in Paris 8 helps business owners prepare these decisions with clear numbers, coherent scenarios and coordinated advisers.