What is French ‘forced heirship’ inheritance rule and does it affect me?

Reader Question: I often see people talking about ‘forced heirship’ rules in France. What does this mean, does something similar exist in English law? 

French inheritance law contains a concept known as réserve héréditaire, translating as forced heirship or reserved heirship. 

The principle states that children are legally protected to inherit at least a part of a deceased parent’s estate upon their death. 

This makes up a variable amount of the estate depending on the number of children, with the remaining amount – known as the quotité disponible – free to be bequeathed to others, including spouses and civil/Pacs partners, or to friends, charities, etc.

The rules state that if there is one child (bloodline or adopted) they should receive one half of the total estate, two children should receive one-third each (totalling two-thirds total) and three children one quarter each (so three-quarters of the estate overall).

For a higher number of children, this three-quarters total is split equally between them.

Grandchildren take over as a reserved inheritor if their parents have already died, up to the same reserved share.

If the deceased had no children, surviving spouses must inherit a minimum one quarter of the estate, however when children are present in the succession they are not considered ‘reserved’ heirs. 

In cases where property is jointly-owned, for example between a husband and wife, and the husband dies, inheriting children are only inheriting their portion from his half of the property. 

So, if a husband and wife own a house, which is their main asset, and the wife dies with two children succeeding her, they inherit at minimum a third each of her half, ie. one-sixth each.

Note that parents can choose to give more of their estate than the minimum required and it is common that the estate is simply split between the children.

Surviving spouses are often given usufruit (usage rights) of a property, meaning they can continue to live in a home that was jointly-owned by them and the deceased spouse until their death, even though ownership of the property nominally resides with the children..

Heirship can be controversial

This concept of forced heirship is particularly controversial in light of France’s 2021 inheritance law changes.

Originally, the position as to whether French or a foreign law system applied to a given person’s estate was subject to different rules depending on where they lived and where any real estate was situated.

From 2015 the EU sought to simplify the situation stating that the law of the deceased’s last place of residence applied to their whole estate, unless they opted in a will for the law of one of their nationalities to apply to the whole estate instead. 

It meant for example, English people living in France could choose English inheritance law – which does not contain forced heirship rules – for the entirety of their estate.

However, in 2021, France updated its legal codes to reinforce the primacy of French inheritance rules. 

A law states that if a legal system that does not include reserved amounts for heirs will apply to the estate, and the heirs stand to ‘lose out’ due to the way property is left, then the notaire dealing with the succession should invite them to claim compensation out of any French-situated estate up to the level of their French-law reserved portion.

It applies where the testator or at least one of their children was an EU or French citizen or resident. 

The government initially said it intended, in creating the rule, to avoid daughters losing out in certain legal systems such as those based on Sharia law. 

However it is widely reported to have mostly affected people of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ origin, including Britons, Americans, Australians, etc and it has led to many complaints. 

As of December 2025, a ruling from the European Commission on the matter is still awaited.

There is no simple solution if you are affected by the rule, but it is advisable to discuss possible inheritance planning options that may help with a notaire.