French Wills: Making a Will in France as a Foreigner (2026)

A French will is not a legal obligation — France has a complete set of default rules that decide who inherits when there is no will. The problem is what those defaults do to an international family. French law reserves a fixed share of your estate for your children (réserve héréditaire), gives the surviving spouse a menu of options rather than everything, and completely ignores concepts your English or American will is built on — executors, trusts, discretionary powers.

For anyone who owns a house or apartment in France, the stakes are concrete : French real estate is always settled under French procedure, whatever your nationality and wherever you live. A clear, French-form will is the cheapest piece of estate planning available — the handwritten form costs nothing — and it is the document that decides whether your heirs deal with a tidy file or an international puzzle. This guide covers what a will can and cannot change, whether your existing English will works, the four French forms, and how to write and register one in 2026.

Die intestate and the French order of heirs applies to your French assets : your children inherit first, in equal shares. The surviving spouse — if all children are common to the couple — chooses between 100% of the estate in usufruct (a life interest : the right to use the property and its income) or one-quarter in full ownership. With stepchildren in the picture, the usufruct option disappears and the spouse takes one-quarter outright. Unmarried partners inherit nothing by default — and pay 60% tax on anything left to them by will.

These defaults surprise Anglo-American families in both directions : the spouse gets less than expected, the children more — and they get it immediately, as co-owners (indivision) of the French property with the surviving parent. Our guide to French inheritance law covers the full order of heirs, the spouse's rights and the 2015 EU rules ; the point here is that a will is how you replace this machinery with your own instructions — within one hard limit, covered below.

Formally, yes. France applies the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on the form of wills : a will validly made under the law of the place where you made it (or of your nationality or residence) is recognised in France. An English will signed before two witnesses, or a US will valid in your state, will not be rejected for its form.

Practice is another matter. The French notaire settling your estate will need a sworn translation, will have to interpret common-law drafting (executors and trusts have no French equivalent — a trust holding French property creates real tax complications), and the process typically adds months. Three traps are worth naming :

• The revocation clause. Nearly every English will opens by « revoking all former wills ». Sign a new English will after making your French one, and that boilerplate line can silently cancel your French will. Every will should carve out the other country's document explicitly ;
• Two wills, one estate. A French will limited to French assets and a home-country will for the rest is standard, clean practice — but the two must be drafted to coexist, not compete ;
• Tax is separate. A valid foreign will changes nothing about French inheritance tax : rates and allowances depend on your relationship to each heir, as explained in our guide to French inheritance tax.

French law recognises four forms. Two matter in practice for foreign owners :

Two French particularities to know. Joint wills are prohibited (art. 968 Civil Code) : a couple cannot sign one document together — each spouse makes their own. And the holographic will must be in your handwriting from first word to last : for non-French speakers, writing it in English is fine (a sworn translation will be made later), though the international will is often the better fit since it can be typed and professionally checked.

The hard limit of French succession law is the reserved share : one child is entitled to half your estate, two children to two-thirds, three or more to three-quarters. A French will can only freely dispose of the remainder (quotité disponible). Disinheriting a child, or leaving everything to your spouse, is not something a French-law will can achieve on its own.

The EU Succession Regulation (650/2012) offers the main way out : since 2015, you can elect the law of your nationality in your will — a British owner can choose English law, which has no forced heirship, and a US national the law of their state. The election must be written into the will itself, which is precisely why a properly drafted French (or international) will matters. Two caveats keep it honest :

• Since 2021, art. 913 of the Civil Code gives children a compensation right : when the chosen foreign law ignores the reserve and the deceased or a child is an EU national or resident, children can claim the equivalent of their reserved share out of the French assets. Its compatibility with the EU Regulation is contested, but notaires apply it — plan around it, don't ignore it ;
• The election changes who inherits, never the tax. French inheritance tax still applies to French property — including the 60% rate on stepchildren beyond the new €15,932 allowance created by the 2026 budget for stepchildren who were effectively cared for by the deceased.

For owners who want the spouse fully protected without fighting the reserve, French practice has its own tools — gifts between spouses, adapted marriage contracts, or buying through an SCI with cross-shareholdings. A notaire will match the tool to the family.

For a simple estate, the process fits in an afternoon :

• 1. Take stock. List the French assets (property, accounts) and decide what goes to whom, keeping the reserved shares in mind. If you intend to elect your national law, say so expressly ;
• 2. Choose the form. Handwritten if your wishes are simple ; authentic or international if you want the notaire's check and a document that cannot be lost or challenged for handwriting ;
• 3. Write it properly. For a holographic will : entirely by hand, dated (day, month, year), signed, no co-signature by your spouse. Name a person authorised to handle the estate if you wish (exécuteur testamentaire — narrower powers than a common-law executor) ;
• 4. Register it. Ask a notaire to keep the will and register its existence (never its content) in the central wills file, the FCDDV (€12.88). Every French succession starts with a FCDDV search, so registration is what guarantees the will is actually found ;
• 5. Keep it current. A later will revokes earlier ones to the extent they conflict. Revisit after a marriage, divorce, birth, or a property purchase — and coordinate every update with your home-country will.

There is no probate in France : on death, the notaire queries the FCDDV, establishes the heirs in an acte de notoriété and transfers title. Heirs abroad can be represented by power of attorney — the practical mechanics, including the sale of an inherited property from abroad, are covered in our guide to selling an inherited French property.

A will is one piece of the toolkit. The full checklist for a foreign owner in 2026 :

• One French-form will (holographic or international), registered in the FCDDV, with an express choice of law if you want out of forced heirship ;
• A home-country will that explicitly excludes the French assets, so the revocation clauses never collide ;
• The tax map : allowances of €100,000 per child, 60% on unrelated heirs and most stepchildren — lifetime gifts every 15 years are the classic mitigation lever ;
• The ownership structure : how you bought (joint ownership, tontine clause, SCI) already dictates part of the outcome — see our guide to buying property in France for the choices made at purchase ;
• A current valuation of the French property, because reserved shares, equalisation between children and the tax itself are all computed on market value.