On 1st November 2021 a new Inheritance law was adopted in France that potentially overrides the wishes of UK Nationals living in France who have previously created a will that elected their estate to be governed by their national law rather than France.
Article 24 of the new French Law adds a paragraph that states “when a deceased person or at least one of his or her children is at the time of death a national of a European Union Member State, and where the law applicable to the succession does not recognise the notion of “reserve”, each child or his or her heirs may make a compensatory deduction from the property situated in France on the day of death, in order to re-establish their rights under French law”
Under most of the Common Law systems, the deceased mostly has discretion as to who to bequeath his/her estate to, whereas French Law tends to “force” bequeaths according to heirship rules
The European Commission has been asked by private international law practitioners to study the compatibility of this new law with the European Regulation of 4 July 2012, however this may take a long time
If FBN Members feel that their current Inheritance planning wishes may not be adhered to as a result of the new French Law, we encourage them to contact us for assistance.