tantièmes

Tantième (plural tantièmes) is a French legal term referring to a fractional share or entitlement in a larger whole. It expresses the proportion of ownership, rights or benefits allotted to an individual or entity within a defined group or asset. The concept is used in civil law contexts such as property, inheritance and corporate distributions.

In real estate and co-ownership (copropriété), each unit or co-owner is assigned a number of tantièmes. This number represents their share of the building’s common parts and determines their contribution to maintenance charges as well as their voting weight in general assemblies. The total of all tantièmes corresponds to the overall rights, and charges or votes are calculated proportionally to each holder’s tantièmes.

In inheritance law, tantièmes denote the fractions of an estate allocated to each heir. They are used to calculate the portion each beneficiary receives and to ensure compliance with reserved rights and the available portion. For example, an estate divided into 1000 tantièmes might assign 420 to one heir, 350 to another, and 230 to a third, reflecting their respective shares.

In corporate or financial contexts, tantièmes can refer to fractions used to distribute profits, assets on liquidation, or participation rights within partnerships or employee schemes. They appear in agreements where the distribution of benefits is expressed as a number of tantièmes rather than a percentage.

Because the exact meaning and calculation of tantièmes vary by legal regime and contract, precise rules are defined in applicable statutes, deeds, or articles of association.