France has a complicated and somewhat prescriptive system of inheritance law, which uses ‘forced heirship’ to ensure that parents cannot disinherit their children. Foreigners in France had previously been able to specify that they wanted their wills dealt with under the rules of their home country, which are generally less regulatory. However a legal change in France in 2021 seemed to throw this exemption into doubt – after a long-running dispute involving EU law, France has now clarified its position. In a pre-closure letter dated
June 4th, 2026, the European Commission said it would close its investigation into several complaints that French forced heirship law contradicted the European directive on succession (that directive is the thing that allows foreigners in France to choose the succession law of their nationality rather than the country of residence). Specifically, the EC published France’s explanation, which it found satisfactory. France told the EC: “The réserve héréditaire as provided for in French law is intended to apply only if the foreign law normally applicable to
the settlement of the succession does not allow any reserve mechanism protective of children. “The Family Provisions provided for in Anglo-Saxon law are a ‘functional equivalent’ of the hereditary reserve (. ) Thus, if English law is applicable to the settlement of the succession, the court should not apply the right to compensation.” Note how it mentions the switch from “Anglo Saxon law” to “English” (not UK) law – we’ll come back to that later in the article. So what does this mean in practice?
The Local spoke with some experts in the field of inheritance laws to get an understanding of what the pre-closure letter could mean for cross-border successions moving forward. What were the complaints about? The EU passed its succession regulation, known as Brussels IV, in 2012. Brussels IV simplified cross-border succession matters, making it possible for foreign nationals to opt for the succession law of their home country, rather than their country of residence. READ MORE: Explained: What is ‘Brussels IV’ and how could it affect
your French property? “In practice, this meant that foreign nationals could disinherit their children if their national law permitted it,” Christophe Dutertre, a French-qualified notaire at France Tax Law told The Local. Under the French system, children are guaranteed a share of the estate. They cannot be disinherited (even if you are estranged), and there is a minimum share of your estate (réserve héréditaire) that you must leave them. However, in 2021, France passed its loi separatisme, aimed at defending French secularism and tackling radicalisation.
The legislation added Article 913 to the country’s Civil Code, which was intended to protect girls from discriminatory inheritance regimes, with Sharia Law cited as an example of this. Hilary B. Miller, an international lawyer who practices in the US, England and France, told The Local: “The purpose of the law was to give the disinherited children an optional claim for damages in lieu of the ‘lost’ inheritance.” While testators can still choose to apply the law of their home country, disinherited children have the
right to make a claim on the French portion of the estate, even if their parent(s) had opted for a non-French will. “From 2021, the practical consequence was that notaires began warning disinherited children that they might have a claim, even where the deceased had elected English law. This created legal uncertainty, inconsistent practice among notaires, and complaints to the European Commission,” Dutertre explained. READ MORE: EXPLAINED: The difference between a notaire and a lawyer in France So what was clarified? The exact wording of
France’s clarification has caused some confusion, because it refers first to ‘Anglo Saxon law’ and then to ‘English law’. Fortunately we don’t have to go back and study Medieval texts concerning the inheritance rights of the Anglo Saxons (residents of Britain between roughly 400AD and 1066) – France regularly uses ‘les anglo saxons’ to mean the English-speaking world. Likewise French people frequently use anglais and britanniques interchangeably. But their use in a legal text has created confusion – does this clarification only cover English law
(and not Scottish?) or does it cover other English-speaking countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand? English wills – this bit at least is clear. Dutertre, who specialises in cross-border French/UK succession and estate planning, told The Local: “The letter confirms that France has accepted that English law contains a protective mechanism for children (the Family Provision regime). “Therefore, Article 913(3) should not apply where English law governs the succession. In other words, English-law wills are not subject to French forced
heirship rules.” The Brussels IV directive requires a “genuine connection” to another country, which citizenship easily fulfils, even for people who later take French citizenship as well. English citizens can therefore still opt to have their wills dealt with under English law, even if they live in France. Other non-French wills – But questions remain as to whether France’s clarification to the European Commission applies to include all common-law countries, such as the United States. Legal experts and notaires have different interpretations of the clarity
offered by the pre-closure letter, notably those references to ‘Anglo-Saxon law’ and ‘English law’. Miller explained to The Local that “the reference to ‘Anglo-Saxon law’ is a translation error. This is a term that francophones use to refer to ‘common law’. There was no shortage of non-English common-law complainers.” “[The pre-closure letter] clarifies two things that were previously unknown. First, France has acquiesced in the notion – and it will not enforce Article 913 under circumstances – when the applicable foreign law provides a mechanism
similar to that provided by the English ‘family provision’ statute. “Second, France will accept less than 100 cents on the dollar in recompense for disinherited children. This is huge. The English ‘family provision’ statute is actually much less protective of children than Article 913, because the former merely entitles the children to be relieved of economic precarity, not to recover the full amount of their ‘lost’ inheritance, as they would under the latter.” “The principal flaw in the logic underlying the pre-closing letter is the
presumption that the English statutory relief system is typical of common-law countries, which it is not,” he said. The experts largely agreed that if your home country has some sort of legal provision in inheritance law so that children are not left penniless, France will accept that and allows your will to be dealt with under that regime. The case for Americans – but when it comes to Americans, the experts differed, given that US inheritance laws do not contain a ‘family provision’ law. Miller
said: “For Americans in France: this leaves them exactly where they were before. Since Americans have no ‘family provision’ law applicable to them generally, there is nothing here for them. However, Pierre-Alain Conil – a registered notaire with a law degree from Boston College who regularly advises international clients, mainly US and UK citizens, on estate settlements – took a different view. He told The Local: “They say ‘Anglo-Saxon law’, but they mean common law. ‘Anglo-saxon law’ is not a precise notion, but broadly it
means common law, or all countries with non-codified systems based on precedent. “The US does have case law that has struck down the validity of wills based on children’s claims that a parent was not of sound mind, they were under the influence of the legatee, or they left the child without enough to live on,” he said. Conil interpreted the pre-closure letter as “France [saying] they did not think the 2021 law would be a problem for common law countries. So, far from providing
complete clarity, France’s explanation has left some holes. Conil said: “Right now, we are in the fog. Notaires are supposed to consider that Article 913 should not apply to common law countries because they have mechanisms to ensure children are not left without any means of subsistence. “But we still have to explain to the children that there is uncertainty. We still have the issue of verifying whether disinherited kids have enough money to provide for themselves, meaning children would have to provide that evidence.
“I don’t see how a French notaire at this stage could settle an estate without still sending a letter to the kids. The correspondence from the French authorities to the European Commission does not translate into law or an official interpretation by a judge,” Conil said. As for Dutertre, there is also the question of retroactivity. Dutertre said that it is still not clear “whether this interpretation will apply retroactively to successions opened between 2021 and 2024, as well as how courts will treat disputes
already initiated.” What’s next? The experts agreed that the pre-closure letter is not the last step. Interested parties still have time to comment, and France must still formalise its interpretation of Article 913 that it gave to the European Commission. “We still have to wait for France to adopt a decree formally confirming its position on the matter, and until then, the situation remains uncertain,” Dutertre cautioned. He explained that this step would involve instructing notaires on the proper application of Article 913 and providing
legal certainty. If you wish to contact the European Commission, you can find the information here. READ MORE: Death and taxes: What you need to know about estate planning in France One important thing to note is that even if you do successfully opt to have your will dealt with under the law of another country, French inheritance taxes will still apply. And these taxes are structured around the relationship between the deceased and the heir – so that spouses get a tax-free inheritance, children
get a generous tax free allowance, other relatives get a small allowance and then people who are not a relation of the deceased pay the top rate of 60 percent tax. So let’s say you have three self-sufficient adult children who you hate. You opt to have your will dealt with under English law and disinherit them all, leaving all your money instead to your attractive nurse. This is possible under English law, but now the nurse faces paying 60 percent tax on her inheritance.
On a more serious note, this top rate of tax can also apply to unmarried couples and step children who have not been legally adopted. Therefore if you intend to use the laws of your home country to sidestep French inheritance laws, it’s worth taking professional advice about the tax situation this will create for your heirs. READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How France’s inheritance tax system works
France inheritance law, forced heirship, Article 913, Brussels IV, European Commission pre-closure letter, English law wills, reserve héréditaire, family provision, cross-border succession, inheritance taxes France, notaire