SCI: WHAT HAPPENS IF THE FAMILY BREAKS UP? The Société Civile Immobilière (SCI) is an ideal form of real estate investment when there are several of you. It is created by a family and offers tax and management advantages. But a question nevertheless arises: what happens if a family breaks up? Answers in the rest of this article.
SCI, presentation
A Civil Real Estate Company is a legal structure which is constituted by at least two people. Each has the status of associate, with the aim of managing one or more real estate assets and receives shares that will be proportional to their contribution. Like any company, the SCI has statutes determining its operation.
You should also know that the partners have the role of appointing a manager. It is he who will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the assets held by the company. If you have seen a property in Rueil-Malmaison or elsewhere in France and you plan to acquire it, here are the advantages of the SCI:
- The transmission of assets is simplified.
- Debts and profits and are divided between the partners.
What happens to an SCI in the event of a breakdown?
In general, an SCI survives despite divorces or deaths within a family. Two scenarios generally arise. In the event that spouses decide to remain partners despite their divorce, the SCI continues. It is only its family character that cancels out, transforming it into a classic SCI. If they decided to no longer be partners, the SCI would then be dissolved early via an extraordinary general meeting.
As for the goods, they are then resold or shared equitably. In the event that a contribution should be returned, they could be transferred to one of the former partners. But beware, a dissolution requires unanimous agreement.
what about the shares
It is the matrimonial regime chosen by the spouses that determines the qualification of the shares. Those which are specific to only one of the partners correspond to:
- Personal property brought during the marriage or real estate acquired by each of the spouses before the union, for the community regime.
- Assets that have been acquired by each of the spouses before or during the marriage, for the regime of separation of property.
And the family home in all this?
Finally, in the event that a dwelling has been purchased by an SCI, case law stipulates that the family home can only be granted to one of the partners by virtue of a joint decision or an occupancy agreement mentioned in the statutes.
If no agreement has been made, the spouse with the majority of the shares may evict his former partner or decide to sell the property. This point should not be overlooked when setting up a Société Civile Immobilière.
