Communauté Universelle and Inheritance: What couples living in France need to know

Question: My wife and I are married, dual-national British/French, and live full-time in France. We have two children living in the UK. In 2025, we made our last will via a French Notaire. We have been registered under Communauté Universelle since 2003 and obtained French nationality in 2012. We do have some separate bank accounts (for example, Livret A, Assurance Vie). The Notaire says our children cannot have access to any inheritance as long as one of us is still alive and that all goods/accounts transfer to the survivor upon the first death. Is this correct?

Your Notaire’s advice is broadly correct; however, I would add the following points for completeness.

First, the regime should include a “clause d’attribution intégrale”. The Communauté Universelle regime brings a couple’s assets into the matrimonial community, so they are treated as belonging to that community rather than to each spouse individually (or indeed jointly). However, the attribution clause ensures those community assets pass to the surviving spouse on the first death, rather than forming part of the deceased spouse’s estate. Your change of regime deed likely includes this clause, but it would be sensible to confirm.

The matrimonial regime effectively takes priority over the succession rules (including forced heirship rules) at the time of the first death. Unless a specific limited scope was included when the regime was adopted, it will most likely cover all assets that were already owned by you at the time you entered into it, as well as assets acquired or accrued in the future. This will include your Livret A accounts and any other assets held in France.

In theory, the regime may also extend to UK assets, including real property and bank accounts. In practice, however, this is a complex area of law, and it may be difficult to implement a French matrimonial regime in the UK. If you still hold UK assets, you may wish to ensure your French Wills deal with those assets clearly, or alternatively consider preparing separate English Wills.

Assurance Vie policies are dealt with outside of your succession and as such may not be covered by your matrimonial regime. Similar to UK pensions, Assurance Vie funds are paid directly to nominated beneficiaries on death. They will therefore usually be dealt with separately from assets held under the matrimonial regime, unless the regime expressly includes them. Where they are not covered by your matrimonial regime, the proceeds will only pass to the survivor of you if they are the nominated beneficiary of the policy.

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