UK Expat Will Guide: France (2026) — Forced Heirship, Brussels IV & Protecting Your Estate

Roughly 150,000 British nationals live in France — retirees in Provence and the Dordogne, professionals in Paris, families in Brittany. France is one of the most legally complex EU countries for British expats when it comes to inheritance, combining some of the EU's most stringent forced heirship rules with high inheritance tax rates, a 2021 safeguard clause that partially limits Brussels IV, and the UK's own Inheritance Tax applying in parallel.

If you own property or assets in France and haven't reviewed your will recently, this guide is essential reading.

French Forced Heirship: The Réserve Héréditaire

France's réserve héréditaire is enshrined in the French Civil Code (Code Civil) and represents one of the most protective forced heirship systems in Europe. Under French law, children of the deceased are héritiers réservataires (protected heirs) who cannot be disinherited:

• One child: entitled to 50% of the estate (the réserve)
• Two children: entitled to 66% of the estate collectively
• Three or more children: entitled to 75% of the estate collectively

The remaining portion — the quotité disponible (freely disposable share) — can be left to anyone: a spouse, a partner, a charity, a friend, or distributed differently among children. A surviving spouse is not a forced heir under the réserve system but may elect to take a life interest (usufruit) over the entire estate instead of their outright share.

What This Means in Practice

If you have three children and want to leave your French house entirely to your spouse, French law will not allow it — your children have an absolute right to 75% of the estate's value. Even if your will says otherwise, a French notaire must respect the réserve. This catches many British retirees completely off-guard.

Brussels IV and the 2021 French Safeguard Clause

Under Brussels IV (EU Succession Regulation No. 650/2012), a British national in France can elect for English (or Scottish/Northern Irish) law to govern their estate. English law has no forced heirship rules, so a Brussels IV election should, in theory, completely override the réserve héréditaire.

However, France took a significant step in 2021. The Loi du 24 août 2021 amended Article 913 of the Civil Code to include a new safeguard clause: if the applicable foreign law deprives a child of their réserve and that child habitually resides in France or is a French national, a French court may apply the réserve héréditaire regardless of the Brussels IV election.

What This Means for British Expats

If your children live outside France and are not French nationals, your Brussels IV election for UK law should stand. The safeguard clause is targeted primarily at situations where children are closely connected to France. For a British family with UK-based children, the election should still be effective — but it is now a contested area, and you should take specialist legal advice.

French Inheritance Tax: Droits de Succession

French inheritance tax (droits de succession) applies to French assets regardless of where the deceased was domiciled. The rates and allowances are:

Children and Parents

• €100,000 allowance per child or per parent
• 5% on the first €8,072 above the allowance
• 10% on €8,072–€12,109
• 15% on €12,109–€15,932
• 20% on €15,932–€552,324
• 30% on €552,324–€902,838
• 40% on €902,838–€1,805,677
• 45% above €1,805,677

Spouses and Civil Partners (PACS)

Spouses and PACS partners are completely exempt from French inheritance tax since 2007. This is a significant planning tool — if you're an unmarried couple in France, consider whether a PACS (civil partnership) would make sense from an estate planning perspective.

Non-Family Beneficiaries

Unrelated beneficiaries (friends, charities, stepchildren without formal adoption) pay inheritance tax at 60% with very limited allowances. This is a strong incentive to plan carefully if you wish to benefit non-family beneficiaries.

UK Inheritance Tax Interaction

If you remain UK-domiciled (which most British expats in France do unless they take deliberate steps to acquire French domicile), you remain subject to UK IHT on your worldwide assets. The UK-France double taxation agreement on inheritance ensures you are not fully double-taxed — credit is given for French droits de succession paid on French assets. However, the interaction is complex, and the effective combined rate on French assets can be substantial.

French Will Types: Testament Olographe vs Testament Authentique

France recognises several will forms:

• Testament olographe: Entirely handwritten by the testator, dated, and signed. No notary required, but it must be deposited with a notaire for registration in the national FCDDV (Fichier Central des Dispositions des Dernières Volontés) registry.
• Testament authentique: Dictated to a notaire in the presence of two witnesses or a second notaire. More formal and harder to challenge.
• Testament mystique: A sealed will delivered to a notaire — rarely used today.

For most British expats, the testament authentique is recommended because it ensures the Brussels IV election is correctly drafted and registered, and it carries more legal weight in French courts.

The SCI: A French Property Holding Structure

Many British expats in France hold their property through a Société Civile Immobilière (SCI) — a French civil property company. An SCI allows you to hold shares rather than the underlying property, which can simplify succession (shares pass under company law rather than the full real estate succession rules) and allows lifetime tax-efficient transfers of shares to children using the annual gift allowance (€100,000 per parent per child every 15 years).

An SCI is not a magic bullet — the value of the underlying property is still included in the estate, and French inheritance tax still applies. But combined with careful lifetime gifting, it can significantly reduce the ultimate inheritance tax burden.

Practical Steps for British Expats in France

1. Make a Brussels IV election in a valid will, explicitly stating UK law governs your entire estate.
2. Have a testament authentique drafted by a French notaire to cover your French assets, incorporating the Brussels IV election.
3. Ensure your UK will covers non-French assets and does not revoke the French will.
4. Consider PACS if you're in an unmarried relationship — the inheritance tax exemption for PACS partners is significant.
5. Review the SCI option if your French property portfolio is substantial.
6. Register your French will in the FCDDV national registry.
7. Get cross-border tax advice on the UK IHT/French droits de succession interaction, especially if your estate is above the UK nil-rate band.

Frequently Asked Questions