Britons in France have welcomed confirmation that wills choosing the law of England and Wales are not affected by a French forced heirship law introduced in 2021.
Many told The Connexion the news brought long-awaited clarity to estate planning and inheritance arrangements.
However, reference was not made tolaws of US states, whose inheritance laws are expected mostly to remain subject to the 2021 provisions. Scottish law was already thought to be exempt.
Retired British engineer Christopher Larmer, 78, and wifeChristopher Larmer
Retired British engineer Christopher Larmer, 78, from Charente, who had put his home on the market due to the 2021 law because he was anxious to protect his wife, said: “We were thinking of leaving France but now this change has occurred we would like to stay because we love France and we've got friends here and we're very happy here.”
What the 2021 law says
Code civil article 913, paragraph 3, applies where the deceased or at least one of their children is, at the time of death, an EU citizen or resident, and where the foreign law governing the inheritance contains no mechanism protecting children.
In such cases, each child or their heirs may seek a compensatory levy from assets situated in France so as to restore the share they would have received under French law.
The provision particularly affects foreigners living in the EU, but also some non-residents with French property.
The 2021 law, which was added to France’s civil code at article 913 paragraph 3, states that children should be informed after a parent's death of their right to claim a ‘compensatory levy’ from French-situated assets where a foreign law governs the estate and lacks protections for children.
The announcement follows almost five years of Connexion coverage and a campaign launched through our media in summer 2024 by readers Ronnie Bennett and Trish Miller.
Ms Miller was also the first of many foreign residents in France to lodge formal complaints against the law, beginning in late 2022.
The information is also being published in an official monthly letter circulated to notaires and will be placed on Service-Public.gouv.fr and at justice.fr.
Clash of laws
The commission has been examining the law since confirming to us in December 2021 that it was aware of the issue.
It has been assessing complaints since at least March 2023, when it acknowledged receiving a “significant number” and noted the “wider public interest in the issue raised”.
Lawyers widely considered the 2021 law to clash with a 2012 EU regulation allowing people to choose in their will the law of their nationality to govern their entire estate.
Many foreigners used this to choose more flexible laws to benefit the surviving partner.
English law was previously thought unlikely to qualify for exemption because it does not contain fixed inheritance shares for children (réserve héréditaire) as French law does.
France has now assured the Commission that it does not expect foreign laws to contain protections identical to its own, citing English law as an example.
Ruth Melvin, from Haute-Vienne, said: “After all the stress and strain, I feel I can breathe again. I would like to say a big thank you. The work you, Ronnie and Trish have done is amazing.” However, the change came too late for others.
Andrew and Elaine Greener now live in Spain after Mr Greener previously said: “It’s had a massive impact on us because I have four children while Elaine has none, so if I died, she would be left beholden to my children”.
His children could claim up to three-quarters of his estate under French inheritance law.
“We are now fully ensconced in Spain and preparing our new house,” they said.
Ronnie Bennett
“Here, as long as you prepare a will correctly, you are covered and can leave your assets to your spouse – as you could in France before November 2021.
“Despite the inheritance law being the catalyst, we are very happy here so the change does not make us regret our choice. We wish everyone the best going forward and well done to you all on your victory.”
Risk of staying in France
Diana and Derrick Ryan, in their eighties, told us they had “packed up and left when the new law came into force”.
They both had children from previous marriages and “could not risk remaining in France if one of us had died”, they said.
Formerly living in Hérault since 2007, they added: “We were not prepared to take any chances regarding succession rights as we have five children between us, so, with a great deal of disruption we relocated to the UK.”
Ms Melvin is Irish but her English husband is 20 years older and in poor health.
One of the complainants to the EU, she had felt a sense of injustice about the 2021 law after learning of it through our media, joining Mr Bennett and Ms Miller’s ‘My Will My Way’ campaign in 2024.
“We felt a sense of panic that our freedom of choice had been taken away without warning. I couldn’t accept that – France is in the EU and accepts EU grants, so it has to accept EU laws, it can’t just pick and choose.”
The law was originally put before parliament as part of legislation on respect for the principles of the republic, aimed in particular at countering Islamic extremism.
It was intended to prevent discrimination against girls. However, several experts later questioned whether it would do so, noting that Sharia law is often interpreted as requiring provision for children, albeit with sons receiving more than daughters.
Senate vote
Trish Miller
The French Senate originally voted against the measure ultimately adopted by MPs, arguing that France already had laws against blatant sex discrimination and that the new provisions were more likely to affect estates governed by ‘Anglo-Saxon’ laws, “such as the US, UK, Canada or Australia, which do not seem to traditionally practise discrimination against women”.
It was largely nationals of these countries who later faced uncertainty.
The law also caused wide concern among notaires, who lacked definitive guidance on which foreign laws were exempt but believed they were obliged to contact children where a chosen law lacked a fixed hereditary reserve, potentially undermining the plans of clients who had prepared ‘EU regulation’ wills.
The new clarifications now show that France is taking a broad interpretation, which likely reassured the commission the article 913 rule will have limited effect.
The justice ministry cited English law's ‘family provisions’, which allow needy children left unprovided for to ask a court after a parent's death for a share of the estate.
The ministry told The Connexion: “As indicated in the commission’s publication, the right to a levy is limited to cases where the foreign law permits absolutely no protective mechanism for children.”
We asked about Scottish law, which we pointed out includes a hereditary reserve over moveable property, though not real estate.
The ministry replied: “The French Justice Ministry does not have precise information on Scots law, but we are nonetheless able to indicate that if the foreign law provides for example, a hereditary reserve limited to moveable property, it is a mechanism that protects children which prevents the application of the levy.”
Campaigners say most members satisfied
Mr Bennett and Ms Miller, who are English and whose campaign members – many of them Connexion readers – are also mostly from the UK, are accepting the position publicised by the commission after several years of pressing for a decision on whether it would take action for infringement of EU law.
Their efforts included correspondence with commission officials, a European ombudsman, MPs and senators, a petition to the European Parliament and regular updates to several hundred members.
They encouraged others to complain to the commission and crowdfunded an investigation into whether the French-law mechanism préciput might help.
Mr Bennett said: “The vast majority of members are over the moon with this result which lets both France and the European Commission off the hook in, in their eyes, a favourable light. I am delighted Trish and I have won our mutual battle.
“We feel relief and joy in having achieved this result after so much hard work, disappointment and even anger at how France can wilfully disregard an EU directive and how the commission is not capable of correcting that. Our thanks for the support you have given since the start.”
Ms Miller said: “Having over three and a half years hammered our brains and typing fingers, we feel it marks a significant triumph after our relentless battle with the commission.
"We have received tear-jerking emails from people who were in potentially desperate circumstances.”
She added that, while some people assume the two to be a couple, this is not the case: they live 500km apart and have never met in person, but hope in due course to do so to celebrate.
