French inheritance rules for Brits: forced heirship

Back home, you can leave everything to the donkey sanctuary if you like. In France, your children have a legal right to a share of your estate, and that comes as a shock to plenty of Brits.

The short version

French law protects children. Under the réserve héréditaire, half your estate goes to one child, two-thirds to two and three-quarters to three or more. Only the rest, the quotité disponible, is yours to leave freely [1].
Brits can opt out of this, by choosing the law of their nationality (English, Scottish or Northern Irish law) in a valid will, under the EU Succession Regulation [1][2].
But a 2021 French law lets children claim a share of assets in France if the chosen foreign law gives them no protected share at all [1][3].
French inheritance tax is separate from the choice of law. A spouse or PACS partner pays nothing; each child has a EUR 100,000 allowance; stepchildren and unmarried partners can be taxed at 60% [4].
UK inheritance tax may also apply, depending on how long you lived in the UK, under the residence rules in force since April 2025 [5].

The réserve héréditaire: who gets what

French succession law starts from the idea that children are owed something. Service Public sets out the shares [1]:

Your family	Reserved share	Share you can leave freely
Married, no children	1/4 to your spouse	3/4
Not married, no children	None	All of it
1 child	1/2	1/2
2 children	2/3	1/3
3 or more children	3/4	1/4

Service Public's example: with EUR 100,000 of assets and three children, you can only leave EUR 25,000 as you wish [1]. A child who receives less than their share can go to court to have gifts and legacies reduced (an action en réduction), and that can include gifts you made during your lifetime [6][7].

Two things surprise British families in particular. First, a surviving spouse isn't automatically protected as well as in the UK, where most people leave everything to each other. Second, children from a first marriage have the same reserved rights as children from a second, while stepchildren have none at all unless you adopt them.

Choosing UK law in your will

Since 17 August 2015, France has applied the EU Succession Regulation (650/2012). The basic rule is that one law governs your whole estate, and if you make no choice, that's the law of the country where you were habitually resident when you died [2]. For a Brit living in Paris, that means French law, réserve and all.

But the Regulation lets you choose the law of your nationality instead. Service Public confirms you can do this in a valid will, as long as you hold that nationality when you make the will or when you die [1]. It works even though the UK isn't in the EU: the Regulation applies to all international successions and the chosen law can be that of a non-EU state [2].

In practice, Brits in France often write something like "I choose the law of England and Wales to govern my succession" into their will. A few points:

The UK has more than one law. Pick the one that fits your connection: England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own fixed rights for children (legal rights), which matters for the next section.
Make the choice expressly and keep the will valid in both countries. A French notaire can draw up an authentic will before two witnesses or a second notaire, which Service Public prices at EUR 135.83 including VAT (about £113) [6]. A handwritten will (testament olographe) must be entirely in your own hand, dated and signed, and can be in English [6].
Register it. A notaire can register your will on the French central register of wills (the FCDDV), so it's found when it's needed [6].
Review your UK will. A UK will drafted for UK assets may not deal with French assets or choice of law. Get the two to fit together.

The 2021 change: the droit de prélèvement

France wasn't keen on people sidestepping the réserve. A law of 24 August 2021 added a "compensatory claim" (prélèvement compensatoire) to the Civil Code, applying to deaths from 1 November 2021 [1][3]. Children can claim a share of the assets located in France when all of these apply [1]:

you, or at least one of your children, is a national of an EU country or habitually resident in one when you die
the foreign law governing your estate gives children no protective reserved share, including any mechanism different from the French one
there are assets in France to claim against

For a Brit living in Paris, the first condition is usually met, because you're habitually resident in France. The big question is whether English law, with its system of letting family members ask a court for "reasonable financial provision", counts as a protective mechanism. Service Public doesn't say, and notes that the European Commission set out in a letter of 4 June 2026 how French authorities interpret and apply the claim [1]. Lawyers have also questioned whether the claim sits comfortably with the EU Regulation [3]. Under this law, notaires must also personally contact each known reserved heir to tell them their rights [7].

The upshot: choosing UK law is still valid, but it isn't the iron-clad way round forced heirship it once looked. If disinheriting a child, or favouring a second family, is your aim, take advice from a notaire and a UK solicitor together.

French inheritance tax

Whatever law governs who inherits, French inheritance tax (droits de succession) depends on the relationship between you and each heir. Choosing UK law doesn't change it. The allowances per heir are [4]:

Heir	Allowance	Rates above the allowance
Spouse or PACS partner	Fully exempt	None
Child	EUR 100,000 (about £83,300)	5% to 45% on a sliding scale
Brother or sister	EUR 15,932 (about £13,300)	35% up to EUR 24,430, then 45%
Nephew or niece	EUR 7,967 (about £6,600)	55%
Anyone else, including stepchildren and an unmarried partner	EUR 1,594 (about £1,300)	60% (55% for more distant relatives up to the fourth degree)

For children, the scale runs from 5% on the first EUR 8,072 to 20% on the bulk between EUR 15,933 and EUR 552,324, rising to 45% above EUR 1,805,677 [4]. Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002).

That 60% rate is the trap for blended families and cohabiting couples. If you live with a partner but aren't married or in a PACS, they're a stranger as far as the French taxman is concerned. Ways families plan around it include:

Marrying or signing a PACS, which makes your partner exempt (note: a PACS partner has no automatic inheritance rights, so a will is still needed).
Assurance vie, which sits largely outside the estate: premiums paid before 70 pass with EUR 152,500 (about £127,000) per beneficiary free of tax [8]; see our guide to assurance vie, PEA and ISAs.
Changing your marriage regime, for example to a community regime with full transfer to the survivor, which notaires can advise on.
Adopting stepchildren in certain cases, which can bring them into the child allowance.

And UK inheritance tax

The UK may want its share too. Since 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax on your worldwide estate depends on being a "long-term UK resident": broadly UK resident for 10 of the previous 20 years. After you leave, worldwide IHT follows you for a "tail" of three to ten years, depending on how long you'd lived in the UK [5]. UK assets, such as a flat in Leeds, stay in the UK net regardless.

So a Brit who moved to Paris recently could face French tax on the whole estate (as a French resident) and UK tax on it too. Double tax relief and treaty rules can stop you being taxed twice in full, but the interaction is complex. Our guide to inheritance tax for Brits abroad explains the UK side; for the French side, a notaire is the starting point.

A checklist for Brits in Paris

Make a will that works in France, ideally with a notaire, and register it [6].
Decide whether to choose UK law, and which UK law, knowing the 2021 claim may still apply to French assets [1].
Check your marriage regime and whether a PACS or a change of regime suits you.
Name beneficiaries on any assurance vie carefully.
Line up your UK will with your French one.
Tell someone where the will is.

It's a bit of a minefield, but once it's sorted you can stop thinking about it. A notaire and a tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case, and our community group for Brits in France has members who've been through it with their own families.

French inheritance rules: forced heirship, choosing UK law and what your heirs will pay