Some inheritance issues under French Law
Inheritance issues under French Law are highly complicated and it is suggested that individual and specialist advice adapted to your own personal situation be sought in all instances.
The following general considerations are therefore simply aimed at raising your awareness of certain important points and are neither intended to be exhaustive nor to be relied upon in a specific set of circumstances.
It is mentioned first that the question of the applicable law which would relate to a particular succession might be affected not only by the "domicile" (a complex legal concept under French Law) of the deceased but also the jurisdiction in which the assets are situated at the date of death.
It is however made clear that, as a matter of French public policy, French Law will usually always apply to real estate (houses, land etc) which are situated in France.
It should be noted though that if the real property were owned by a company, then (dependant upon certain French Law criteria applicable to movable property i.e. shares) it is conceivable that French Inheritance Law may not apply to the shares if the owner thereof were not a French resident and did not hold them in France.
It may thus be appropriate to lodge a separate will for assets in France and elsewhere and it might be advisable for the will dealing with assets on French territory to be lodged with the French National Registry of Last Wills and Testaments.
There are two principal areas of French Law which need to be carefully considered by those wishing to acquire real property in France:
· all offspring of the deceased, from whatever marriage or previous relationship, must be treated equally in the succession and together have an absolute right to inherit up to 75% of the succession. Thus, it is not only impossible to disinherit a particular child or children but also important to note that the spouse has very limited rights in regard to inheriting real property,
· France, like many civil law countries, determines the ownership of property as between the spouses either by formal agreement entered into prior to marriage by the couple (in French 'regimes matrimoniaux' or sometimes 'contrats de mariage') or by the statutory default regime.
Finally inter-vivos gifts between the spouses as well as inheritance tax issues and capital gains questions should also be envisaged with circumspection when envisaging the planning of one’s Estate relating to assets in France and specialist advice should be always be sought well in
advance.
For further information in this respect, please click here  .
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