Prompted by the “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women” Jersey law is set to be modified to remove the centuries old distinction between two types of immovable property – propres and acquêts.
A propre is immovable property inherited by someone on an intestacy (where there is no will) or transferred to them by an ancestor during their lifetime.
An acquêt is immovable property acquired through a will or by purchase on the open market from someone other than an ancestor.
Currently, the distinction is important because it means that the way in which a propre passes on the death of its owner on an intestacy when they are not survived by a spouse, civil partner or issue, can be different depending on whether the property was originally acquired by that person through the maternal or paternal side of their family, the law currently favouring the paternal side.
This might not seem very important but it can mean the difference between the property staying in the family of the deceased relative or being lost to the Crown, albeit that this is not a common occurrence.
The effect of the change in the law through the Wills and Successions (Amendment No.3 – Collateral Succession of Immovable Estate) (Jersey) Law 202- (expected to come into force during 2024) will mean that there will no longer be a distinction between propres and acquêts and therefore no difference in the way in which immovable property in Jersey can be inherited when the owner has not made a will and is not survived by a spouse, civil partner or issue. The property will stay in the family as long as there are heirs, however distant and regardless of whether they are heirs on the maternal or paternal side.