Like the gaming taxes from the Heritage Lottery, which it has waived since 2010, the State offers another valuable tax revenue in the name of preserving historic monuments: that from unclaimed estates. A large part of the millions of euros unclaimed or refused by heirs or potential creditors are thus used to finance renovation projects. Better still, this revenue has been steadily increasing for several years. The amounts paid to the foundation increased from 7.4 million euros in 2021 to 10 million in 2023. They should reach 12 million in 2024.
This increase is first of all mechanical. To be officially declared escheated, the estate was first declared vacant. This situation concerns people who died without known heirs. However, the number of vacant estates is steadily increasing. They amounted to 18,644 cases in 2023, or between 2% and 3% of total estates. Escheat procedures are following the trend.
Cases on the rise
Above all, the management of these lengthy and complex procedures by the National Directorate of State Property Interventions has improved considerably. Efforts on organization and IT tools have streamlined the process. The agents in charge of these sensitive files seem to be particularly motivated when it comes to saving old buildings. Some were even invited, in 2023, to visit a renovation site by the Heritage Foundation.
When a vacant estate is liquidated, the unclaimed sums are supposed to spend thirty years under the supervision of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, while waiting for potential heirs to come forward. Some cases attract the attention of the private estate management teams of deceased persons of the national directorate of state interventions, spread across the territory. They can refer the matter to a judge so that he can decide on the escheat without waiting for the thirty-year period. The amounts can then be released and paid to the Fondation du patrimoine. And if an heir claims his rights before three decades, a refund is not excluded.
“A large part of our mission is to liquidate the real estate and personal property assets of vacant estates. For 2023 alone, this represented 357 million euros, an increase of 47% over four years.”says Alain Caumeil, the director of the national directorate of state property interventions. This increase, like that of unclaimed estates, has not escaped Bercy. Today, the State keeps 25% of the proceeds of these estates and only pays 75% to the Heritage Foundation. In terms of public finances, nothing is ever set in stone.
