Who Inherits your Estate in France if you do not have Children?

Our Head of French Legal Services, Matthew Cameron, answers a common question about French property.

Question: I am British and 81 years old. I have been divorced for nearly 40 years, and I do not have any children. Who would be the beneficiaries in the event of my death?

Answer: The devolution of a person’s estate depends on where they die and whether they leave a will.

Under the EU Succession Regulation 650/2012, the law applicable to a person’s estate is that of the state in which they die habitually resident. Presuming you died habitually resident in France, French law would apply to your worldwide estate.

However, it is not possible to apply pure French law in the UK. As such, if you had retained assets in the UK, it would be necessary to refer to English private international law.

Under these rules, in theory, your English movable assets (e.g., bank accounts) would be subject to the law of your domicile (i.e., French law) and your English immovable assets would be subject to the law of their situation (i.e., English law). That said, this is a complex area of law, and these concepts would require careful analysis to be sure of the outcome.

If you died without a will, your assets would be subject to the relevant jurisdiction’s intestacy rules. In the absence of any spouse or children (and presumably parents or grandparents), the first in line to inherit in both countries would be your siblings (or their children in their place). Failing any siblings, nieces or nephews, the next in line to inherit would be your aunts/uncles (or their children).

These rules can be varied by preparing a will. Where an individual is married or has children, their testamentary freedom is restricted by the French forced heirship rules. However, in the absence of a spouse or children, you would be able to prepare a will leaving your estate to whomever you wished.

If you intended to leave your estate to an unmarried partner, or someone else unrelated to you by blood, I would simply recommend that you take some estate-planning advice from an expert, as this class of beneficiaries is subject to inheritance tax at 60% over a very small tax-free allowance of €1,594.