French Inheritance Law: Forced Heirship and EU Rules 2026

The deepest difference between French succession law and the common-law world (UK, US, Ireland, most Commonwealth countries) is testamentary freedom. In England you can, in principle, leave your entire estate to anyone. In France, the Civil Code carves out a réserve héréditaire — a portion of the estate that belongs by law to your children (and, if you have no children, partially to your spouse). No will can override it.

For foreign owners of French property, everything turns on which law governs the succession. Before 2015, French real estate was always governed by French law. Since the EU Succession Regulation (650/2012, « Brussels IV »), the default is the law of your last habitual residence, and you can instead elect the law of your nationality — a genuine planning tool, with one important French caveat introduced in 2021.

If French law applies and there is no will, the Civil Code ranks heirs in strict order — each rank excludes the next :

1. Children (and their descendants), in equal shares — legitimate, adopted or born outside marriage make no difference. They share with the surviving spouse (see below);
2. Parents and siblings if there are no children;
3. Other ascendants (grandparents);
4. Uncles, aunts, cousins up to the 6th degree;
5. The French State, failing all the above.

Two features that surprise foreign families :

• Stepchildren inherit nothing by default — they are neither heirs nor favourably taxed (60% tax on any legacy). Blended families need active planning in France;
• An unmarried partner inherits nothing, however long the relationship. Even a PACS partner is not an heir by law — the PACS only grants tax exemption on what a will leaves them. Without a will, a surviving PACS partner receives nothing.

The reserved share (réserve) protects children: 1/2 of the estate for one child, 2/3 for two, 3/4 for three or more. The remainder — the quotité disponible — is yours to allocate by will.

The surviving spouse's position under French law depends on who else survives :

• With common children : the spouse chooses between 100% of the estate in usufruct (lifetime use and income, children get bare ownership) or 1/4 in full ownership;
• With children from a previous relationship : the choice disappears — the spouse takes 1/4 in full ownership only;
• No children : the spouse takes half, the deceased's parents the other half (a quarter each); if the parents are deceased, the spouse takes everything, subject to a right of return of family property to siblings in some cases;
• In all cases the spouse has a right to occupy the family home for one year (automatic) and can claim a lifetime right of use of the home under conditions.

Married couples can significantly improve this through a donation au dernier vivant (gift between spouses) or a change of matrimonial property regime — standard French planning that also works for foreign couples with French assets. Many British and American couples buying in France also use the tontine clause in the purchase deed, which passes the property automatically to the survivor outside the succession.

Since 17 August 2015, the EU Succession Regulation (« Brussels IV ») determines which country's law governs your entire estate, including French real estate. It applies to anyone with assets in the EU — including UK and US nationals, even though their countries never signed it :

• Default rule : the law of your last habitual residence governs the whole succession. A retired Briton living permanently in the Dordogne dies under French law — forced heirship included;
• The election (professio juris) : you may declare in your will that the law of your nationality governs your succession. An English national can elect English law and, in principle, leave the French house entirely to their spouse or to anyone else — bypassing the réserve;
• What it does not change : taxation. French inheritance tax applies to French assets whatever law governs the succession — the 60% rate on unrelated heirs remains (see our guide to French inheritance tax). The Regulation governs civil devolution only.

The election must be made expressly (or unambiguously) in a will. If you are a foreign national with French property and your estate planning assumes testamentary freedom, this clause is the single most important sentence in your will.

France partially neutralised the election mechanism with the law of 24 August 2021 (article 913 al. 3 of the Civil Code). When :

• the foreign law chosen (or applicable) ignores forced heirship, and
• the deceased or at least one child is a national or resident of an EU member state,

then the disinherited children may claim a compensation levy (droit de prélèvement compensatoire) on the assets located in France, up to the value of their French reserved share. In practice: an English will leaving everything to the surviving spouse can still be partially overridden by the children — but only against French-situated assets, typically the French house.

The rule is controversial (its compatibility with the EU Regulation is debated, and litigation is ongoing), but notaires apply it today. Families relying on an election of English, US or other common-law rules should treat it as a real constraint : children who cooperate can waive their claim, but a child who objects has legal leverage over the French property. Where the goal is to protect a surviving spouse, combining the election with French-law tools (tontine, matrimonial regime, usufruct structuring) is more robust than the election alone.

Options for a foreign owner of French property :

• A foreign will is valid in France as to form (Hague Convention 1961) : an English or American will properly executed at home will be recognised. But it must be translated, probated into the French system, and its concepts (trusts, executors) map poorly onto French procedure — expect delays and cost;
• A French holographic will — entirely handwritten, dated and signed — is the simplest instrument for the French assets, and can contain the choice-of-law election. It can coexist with your home-country will if the two are drafted to be consistent (each covering distinct assets, and neither revoking the other by a blanket clause — the classic drafting accident);
• A French notarised will adds certainty and automatic registration in the French central wills registry (FCDDV);
• Trusts do not work for French real estate : France does not recognise the trust as an ownership vehicle for civil-law purposes, and trust structures holding French property trigger punitive tax treatment. Keep the French house out of your trust planning.

The standard toolbox, in increasing order of complexity :

1. Check your marital situation : marriage or a registered partnership recognised as a PACS equivalent removes the 60% tax cliff for the survivor and unlocks spouse protections;
2. Insert the choice-of-law election in a will if you want testamentary freedom — while understanding the 2021 compensation rule's limits;
3. Use the tontine clause when buying as an unmarried or blended-family couple — it must be decided at purchase, not after;
4. Consider lifetime gifts of bare ownership to children (usufruct reserved) : it aligns everyone's interests and uses the €100,000 tax allowance per parent per child every 15 years;
5. Keep the succession valuation accurate : the declared value of the French property at death drives both the inheritance tax and the capital gains basis if the heirs sell — see our guides to selling an inherited French property and French capital gains tax for non-residents.

Every cross-border estate with French real estate ultimately passes through a French notaire. Involving one at the planning stage — not just at death — is the cheapest insurance available.