“Alain Delon’s estate: how to contest a will?”
26th september 2025
Interview by Annabelle Pando, for Actu-Juridique
One year after the death of the French cinema icon, his heirs are fighting over his estate. One of Alain Delon’s children is contesting his will. Stéphane Micheli, a partner specialising in inheritance law at the Herald law firm, explains this action, which is open to all beneficiaries. Explanations.
Alain Delon, who died in August 2024 at the age of 88, leaves behind three children who are engaged in a fierce battle over his estate. The latest development: Alain-Fabien Delon, the star’s youngest son, took legal action last September to have a will drawn up in 2022 annulled. This action raises legal questions that frequently arise in inheritance law. Stéphane Micheli, a partner specialising in inheritance litigation at the Herald law firm, explains.
Actu-Juridique: What do we know about the latest developments in the Alain Delon inheritance case?
Stéphane Micheli: According to the main points revealed by the press (Le Monde, 2 September 2025), Alain Delon’s youngest son (Alain-Fabien Delon) is challenging two bequests: the star’s second will, signed on 24 November 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland, which assigns his father’s moral rights to his sister Anouchka Delon, and the donation of the shares in the company that owns the Alain Delon brand and image rights, granted to Anouchka Delon in February 2023.
AJ: What are the grievances against the gifts?
Stéphane Micheli: From what we understand, Alain-Fabien Delon considers that, following his stroke in 2019, his father did not have all his cognitive faculties to carry out such acts without measuring their scope. He therefore claims that these gifts are null and void on the grounds that their author was of unsound mind. Article 901 of the Civil Code stipulates that “To make a gift, one must be of sound mind”. Insanity is punishable by the relative nullity of the gift. This action for nullity is subject to a time limit: the heir has five years from the death of the testator to take action, unless he or she discovered the defect after that date (Article 2224 of the Civil Code). It is up to the heir bringing the action for nullity on these grounds to prove the existence of mental disorder at the time the will was drawn up (Article 414-1 of the Civil Code). If this proof is provided, the will is judicially annulled, the legacies are reintegrated into the estate and distributed according to the rules of legal devolution.
AJ: On what grounds is he basing his action?
Stéphane Micheli: Clearly, the contesting heir is relying on medical documents. After the death of their parents, the children of the deceased may, by operation of law, obtain their parent’s medical records, unless the deceased expressed opposition to this during their lifetime, in accordance with Article L. 1111-7 of the Public Health Code. Medical confidentiality cannot be invoked against them. The contesting heir believes that these documents reveal his father’s insanity. According to case law since 1941, insanity is understood to mean “all types of mental disorders that would have clouded the testator’s intelligence or impaired his or her judgement”. Today, we refer to impaired judgement and discernment.
AJ: How does the judge assess this circumstance?
Stéphane Micheli: According to the Court of Cassation, it is up to the trial judges to assess each case individually. Not all disorders lead to nullity. It must be demonstrated that they are so serious that they prevented the person from making provisions by will or donation. Furthermore, the disorders must be constant. The Court of Cassation recognises that the testator may have had “intervals of lucidity” during their cognitive disorders, including, for example, in the case of Alzheimer’s disease. It is up to the beneficiary of the will to prove that the arrangements were made during such a moment of lucidity. In practice, the court may appoint an expert – a geriatrician – to carry out a retrospective analysis of the medical records, taking into account the medication the person was taking, the disorders they were suffering from, etc. Statements from those around the person will also provide information about their condition (need for assistance, loss of bearings, failure to recognise loved ones, etc.). In these cases, it is all a matter of evidence. The contesting heir may also file a criminal complaint for abuse of weakness if they consider that their father was manipulated by those around him to draw up his will or make a donation (Article 223-15-2 of the Criminal Code). It will then be up to the criminal court to assess the evidence submitted to it and, if necessary, to convict and declare the provisions null and void.
AJ: What are the effects of implementing a judicial protection measure?
Stéphane Micheli: It all depends on the protection measure. A person placed under guardianship may only make a will with the authorisation of the protection judge or the family council (Article 476 of the Civil Code). A person under curatorship may, however, make a will freely, except, of course, in cases of insanity (Article 470 of the Civil Code). On the other hand, the fate of a will made before the protective measure was put in place is affected by this measure. Indeed, a will made in the two years preceding the judgment opening the protective measure may be suspected of having been made without the discernment necessary for its validity. This is why the law provides that it may be annulled if the testator’s mental faculties, which led to the guardianship being established, were notoriously impaired during this suspect period, and if the protected adult has suffered harm (Article 464 of the Civil Code). The same applies to family authorisation (Article 494-9 of the Civil Code).
AJ: Can a notarised will be contested?
Stéphane Micheli: Yes, always. When drawing up a notarised will for an elderly person, notaries are increasingly requesting a detailed medical certificate, which they attach to the will to prove the person’s capacity to make a will, express their wishes and communicate them. On this basis, a notarised will is certainly more difficult to contest, but it is not binding on the courts.
AJ: In your practice, have you noticed an increase in family disputes?
Stéphane Micheli: Yes, from my point of view, the issue of inheritance and its distribution is more likely to trigger conflicts, and therefore legal action, than before. I see several factors of different origins at play here. First of all, life expectancy; its increase does not necessarily mean that cognitive abilities are preserved in old age. Secondly, changes in family structures also explain this trend towards conflictual inheritance, which is particularly evident in blended families. It is common for men who are at the end of their lives and in declining health to seek to favour their new wife, or at least the person who serves as their “lifeline”, as geriatricians say, in this moment of physical and mental deprivation. Arrangements favouring this second wife are often poorly perceived by the deceased’s heirs, children from a previous union. Finally, it is also not uncommon to see relatives of the deceased taking advantage of, or even abusing, a certain generosity at the end of life.
AJ: How can these conflicts be prevented?
Stéphane Micheli: There are two types of advice we can give. The first is for children: do not hesitate to monitor your elderly parent’s living environment, by which I mean the people who surround them, whether closely or from a distance. Taking an interest in your parent’s life helps to avoid unpleasant surprises and detect bad intentions. In practical terms, don’t hesitate to set up power of attorney over your parent’s bank accounts; this allows you to monitor transactions and avoid entrusting them to anyone who might be tempted to misappropriate the inheritance.
Finally, for parents, conflicts can be avoided as far as possible by organising their estate in advance, for example by making a shared donation. This requires good relations between children and parents. It is true that in court cases, I often see a rift between the heir and their deceased parent.