Is the insurance company obliged to disclose the insurance agreement to the notary?

The judgment of the first civil chamber of April 13, 2023 (n°21-20,272), which may at first seem harsh – because this lack of knowledge of the contracts by the notary and the deceased’s family had led to a tax adjustment – is explained by the subtle relationship between insurance legislation and inheritance law (the insurance company’s obligations are framed by several texts, including article L.132-8, last paragraph of the Insurance Act and L.292-A, point 2 of Annex II of the General Tax Act), but also by the circumstances of the case.

Remember that the last paragraph of Article L.132-8 of the Insurance Act stipulates that “when the insurance company is notified of the death of the insured, the insurance company is obliged to search for the beneficiary and, if this search is successful, to notify him of the condition made in his favor”. Article L.292-A, subsection 2 of Appendix II to the General Tax Law, in the previous version applicable to the dispute, provides for its part that: “All insurance contracts in the event of life or death, taken out from 20 November 1991 and concluded on the head of the same insured, according to which premiums have been paid after his 70th birthday, must be disclosed by the beneficiaries, upon the death of the insured on the conditions laid down for inheritance declarations. The declaration must indicate, for each contract, the date of subscription and the amount of the premiums paid after the insured’s 70th birthday. Insurance companies are obliged, at the request of beneficiaries, to provide them with the above information. »