If you moved from the United Kingdom to France, the answer to “will my estate still face UK Inheritance Tax?” is no longer found by looking only at your old domicile. Since 6 April 2025, the United Kingdom has used a long-term residence test for its domestic Inheritance Tax rules. A person who has been UK tax resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years can remain within the UK charge on worldwide assets, including after moving to France. That domestic test does not, however, replace the separate France–UK inheritance tax convention, which still requires a careful analysis of domicile, the situs of each asset and the credit available for tax paid in the other country. France also applies its own rules: a French tax resident can be taxed on worldwide inherited assets after six years of French residence in the previous ten, while French-situs property can remain taxable even where the deceased lived in Britain. This article explains the 2025 UK change, the French territorial rules, the treaty mechanism, the evidence an executor should assemble, the filing deadlines and the route for challenging an incorrect assessment. It is a legal framework for a British reader settling in France; the result for a particular family depends on the deceased’s dates, assets, beneficiaries, residence history and estate documents.

I. Does the UK 10-year inheritance tax rule still apply if I live in France?

A. How the 10-out-of-20-year test works after 6 April 2025

The first distinction is between a domestic UK charging rule and the treaty rule used to allocate taxing rights between France and the United Kingdom. They are connected, but they are not the same question. A move to France may change your UK domestic status without, by itself, answering the treaty question or the French question.

HM Revenue and Customs states that “From 6 April 2025 the domicile and deemed domicile rules were replaced by new long-term UK resident rules.” For a chargeable transfer or a death on or after that date, the central UK domestic test is whether the person is a long-term UK resident. Broadly, that means UK tax residence for at least 10 of the 20 tax years immediately preceding the relevant tax year. The count is a tax-residence count, not a count of British passports, years of National Insurance contributions, years of property ownership or years during which a person held a French carte de séjour (residence permit).

Suppose a British national lived and worked in England for 12 UK tax years, moved permanently to France in 2025 and died in 2026. The French move does not erase the 12 years. The person will normally fall within the long-term UK residence analysis for the death, subject to the detailed statutory conditions and any transitional point. If the person had been UK resident for only eight of the relevant 20 years, the domestic UK worldwide-assets rule may not apply on that basis, although UK assets can still be chargeable and other rules can matter.

Leaving the UK also creates a tail period. HMRC’s guidance explains that a former long-term UK resident can remain within the regime for a period after departure, with the length depending on the person’s previous UK residence history. A person who had accumulated more years of UK residence is not in the same position as someone who crossed the 10-year threshold only briefly. The dates must therefore be reconstructed year by year rather than estimated from the date on a French residence card.

The words “tax resident” must be tested under the UK rules applicable to each year. A person can have a French tax residence, a French home and a French social-security number while still being treated as UK resident for a particular tax year under the UK statutory residence rules. Conversely, a British citizen can spend time in the UK without becoming UK tax resident for every year. The residence schedule should record arrival and departure dates, available accommodation, workdays, family ties, split-year treatment and any exceptional statutory rule.

Do not confuse this with French domicile fiscal (tax domicile). Under Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code, French tax domicile is assessed through factors such as the household or principal stay, professional activity and the centre of economic interests. That rule helps determine the French tax starting point; it does not mechanically decide the meaning of domicile in the 1963 inheritance convention or the number of UK residence years.

A British person living in France should keep two separate timelines:

• a UK tax-residence timeline for the 20-year look-back and any post-departure tail;
• a French tax-residence and treaty timeline showing the home, habitual life, family, work, business and financial connections in each country.

The distinction matters because “I have lived in France for years” is not a complete answer. It may be powerful evidence in a treaty domicile analysis, but it does not necessarily defeat the UK domestic long-term residence test. The reverse is also true: falling within the UK domestic test does not automatically mean that the United Kingdom has the final right to tax every asset after the France–UK convention has been applied.

The reform also makes old estate advice potentially unreliable. A document prepared on the assumption that “non-dom” status or an old deemed-domicile period was the only UK risk may not address the 10-out-of-20-year test. The review should be dated to the death or transfer in question. A conclusion for a death before 6 April 2025 cannot simply be copied into a conclusion for a later death, and a conclusion about a lifetime gift may use a different relevant tax year from a conclusion about the eventual estate.

B. Which French and UK assets are caught?

French law starts with the location of the deceased, the location of the asset and, in some cases, the French residence of the beneficiary. Article 750 ter of the French General Tax Code contains the key territorial rules.

Where the deceased had French tax domicile, French inheritance tax can apply to movable and immovable assets in France and abroad. “Movable assets” is a broad category: it can include bank accounts, shares, securities, receivables and other rights, subject to the applicable treaty and statutory qualifications. French real property is an obvious example of an asset situated in France, but a cross-border estate cannot be reduced to the French house. The bank account, investment portfolio, insurance arrangement, trust interest and debts must each be classified.

Where the deceased did not have French tax domicile, France can still tax French-situs assets. A house in Dordogne, a Paris flat, French business rights or other assets treated as situated in France can therefore create a French filing and payment issue even where the deceased lived in Manchester or London. The treaty may alter the final charge or provide a credit, but it does not mean the French asset can be ignored at the declaration stage.

There is a further French rule that is often missed. If the heir, legatee or beneficiary is tax resident in France on the date of the transfer and has been resident in France for at least six of the previous ten years, French tax can reach inherited movable and immovable assets in France and abroad. The six-year test belongs to the beneficiary, not to the deceased. A British parent who dies outside France can therefore leave a French-resident child with a French reporting and tax analysis that is different from the analysis of a child who lives in Britain.

The treaty must then be placed over the domestic rules. The official France–United Kingdom inheritance convention signed on 21 June 1963 remains the principal bilateral text for succession taxes. The French tax administration’s BOFiP commentary on the convention’s double-tax relief explains how the convention’s asset-location rules operate. “BOFiP” is the official French tax administration bulletin, not a private blog.

For a British resident in France, the broader France–UK succession and double-taxation guide provides the wider cluster context; this article focuses on the post-2025 long-term residence test and its evidence. The asset inventory should be divided at least as follows:

• French land and buildings, including a second home and any shareholding whose value is principally represented by French property;
• UK land and buildings, including a retained family home or buy-to-let property;
• UK bank accounts, ISAs, shares, investment portfolios and business interests;
• French bank accounts, securities, businesses and receivables;
• pension rights, life policies and death benefits, each checked under its own tax and contractual regime;
• trusts, nominee arrangements, family companies and loans, where legal ownership and economic control may differ;
• debts, mortgages, guarantees and administration costs that may be deductible in one country but not in the other.

For French property held through a company or an SCI (société civile immobilière, a French civil property company), the wrapper does not make the underlying issue disappear. Article 750 ter expressly addresses indirect ownership of French real property in defined circumstances. The company’s articles, accounts, shareholder register, loans, occupation arrangements and valuation should be reviewed together. A title showing shares rather than a deed to a house does not by itself prove that French tax is irrelevant.

France then calculates tax according to the relationship between the deceased and the beneficiary. Article 777 of the French General Tax Code contains the progressive direct-line scale and other tariffs. Article 779 includes the €100,000 allowance for a child or ascendant and other relationship-based allowances. These rules are not the same as the UK estate-based calculation. A British family cannot take the UK nil-rate band and apply it as if it were a French beneficiary allowance.

A simple illustration shows why the calculation needs both jurisdictions. Assume a French-resident parent leaves a French home worth €600,000 and a UK investment portfolio worth €400,000 to one child. Under the domestic French framework, the child’s relationship and any French residence conditions matter; under Article 750 ter, the deceased’s French domicile can bring worldwide assets into the French starting calculation. Article 779’s allowance and Article 777’s bands then affect the French amount. The United Kingdom may make its own calculation under the long-term residence rules. The treaty credit is not a promise that the lower bill will be paid: the credit is limited by the treaty and the tax attributable to the same property.

Previous gifts also matter. Article 784 of the French General Tax Code requires earlier gifts to be disclosed and applies a 15-year look-back for the relevant tax computation. A lifetime gift made in Britain, a transfer to a child, a family loan later forgiven or a French donation may affect the available allowance and the rate bands. The estate file should therefore include gifts made in both countries, even if the family considers them “finished”.

French tax paid abroad can sometimes be credited. Article 784 A provides for foreign death duties to be credited in defined cases under Article 750 ter, subject to a limit linked to the French tax on the foreign assets. The treaty has its own relief mechanism and may produce a different result. An executor should not claim the domestic credit and the treaty credit as if both were unlimited deductions.

French succession tax is also an administrative matter, not only a final calculation. Article 800 requires a detailed declaration in the ordinary case. Article 641 gives a six-month period where the death occurs in metropolitan France and one year in other cases, subject to statutory exceptions. A death in the United Kingdom will normally fall into the one-year category for the French declaration. If French real property is transferred, a notaire (civil-law notary) will usually be needed for the property formalities even where the executor is appointed under a UK will.

The UK side requires an equally complete file. The executor should examine the deceased’s UK residence history, the date of each departure, the applicable year-end position, worldwide assets, UK situs assets, gifts, trusts, pension arrangements and any relief claimed. GOV.UK’s guidance on Inheritance Tax for a long-term UK resident should be read with the date of death and the legislation in force for that event. A French residence permit, a French tax return and a UK P60 are useful evidence, but none is a universal substitute for the full statutory analysis.

II. How does the France–UK inheritance tax treaty prevent double taxation?

A. Which country has priority and how is credit calculated?

The France–UK convention is not a general exemption for British people living in France. It is a set of allocation and credit rules. The first task is to identify the treaty domicile of the deceased at death, then to classify the situs of each asset. The domestic UK long-term residence test may bring an estate into the UK charge, while the treaty still requires the older treaty concepts to be applied to decide which country has priority over categories of property.

In practical terms, the country of the deceased’s treaty domicile generally has the broadest taxing claim over the estate. The other country can tax assets that the convention treats as situated in its territory. French land is normally situated in France. UK land is normally situated in the United Kingdom. Shares, bank accounts, business rights, debts and pension-related rights need a more careful classification under the convention and the relevant domestic rules.

The treaty’s residence tie-breaker is evidence-driven. The questions commonly encountered are: where was the permanent home, where were the closest personal and economic relations, where was the habitual abode, and what was the nationality? These are not boxes to tick from one document. A person with a French home, a UK home, a spouse in France, a UK business and regular stays in both countries may require a reasoned chronology and supporting records. Nationality is not automatically decisive; it appears at the end of the tie-breaker sequence and cannot replace the earlier factual questions.

The new UK rule creates an important two-layer problem. A person can be a UK long-term resident for domestic Inheritance Tax while the treaty analysis points to France as the treaty domicile. That does not mean the UK charge vanishes. It means the executor must calculate the UK charge, apply the treaty’s asset-location and relief provisions, and avoid charging the same property twice without the credit allowed by the convention.

HMRC’s public guidance says that “Treaties with France, Italy, India and Pakistan were in place before 1975 during the Estate Duty era and have different rules to eliminate double taxation.” France is therefore not a country to which a generic post-1975 treaty checklist can safely be applied. The France convention must be read on its own terms, including its definition of situs and its five-year route for a treaty-based reduction or repayment described in the French administration’s commentary.

The credit calculation must follow the same asset. Assume the United Kingdom charges Inheritance Tax on a worldwide estate that includes a French home. France also charges tax on that home because it is French real property or because the deceased was French tax resident. The executor must identify the French tax attributable to the home and the UK tax attributable to the same home. The credit cannot normally exceed the tax in the country granting the credit on that property. A credit is not calculated by simply subtracting the total French bill from the total UK bill.

A second example concerns a UK investment account left by a French-resident deceased person to a child who lives in France. French domestic rules may include the account in the worldwide starting base. The United Kingdom may tax a UK-situs asset or may not, depending on the legal nature and situs of the account and the applicable UK rules. If both countries tax the same property, the executor should preserve the assessment, payment evidence and asset schedule needed to claim the treaty or domestic credit. If only one country taxes the property, the fact that the other country did not tax it is not automatically a double-taxation event.

The French administration explains that, where the deceased was domiciled in France, relief for UK tax on UK-situs assets can be requested under the convention, subject to the convention’s limits. Where the deceased was domiciled in the United Kingdom, France can tax assets situated in France under the treaty. The exact path may be an immediate reduction when the declaration is filed or a repayment claim after tax has been paid. The file should state which article of the convention is relied upon and why the asset falls within it.

The treaty does not decide succession law. Taxation and civil succession are separate tracks. The 1963 convention may decide where an estate asset is taxed, while the applicable succession law may be determined by the deceased’s will, the EU Succession Regulation where relevant, French conflict rules or the law chosen in a valid testamentary clause. Article 720 of the French Civil Code states the domestic rule that succession opens at death at the deceased’s last domicile; it does not, by itself, answer every international jurisdiction question.

French case law shows why domicile and the real estate or asset structure must be documented. In First Civil Chamber, 18 May 2022, no. 20-20.609, the dispute concerned an estate connected with the United Kingdom, foreign entities and assets said to be held through trusts. The judgment considered the pleaded last domicile, the court’s procedural power and whether the apparent transfers of assets could be set against the heirs. It is not a tax-rate decision, but it illustrates the danger of treating a foreign address, a trust label or a formal transfer as conclusive without testing the actual circumstances.

In First Civil Chamber, 21 September 2022, no. 19-15.438, the Court of cassation considered an international succession involving a deceased whose habitual residence was in the United Kingdom and property in France. The decision concerned the court’s subsidiary jurisdiction under Article 10 of Regulation (EU) no. 650/2012 in a case involving French nationality and French assets. It should not be presented as an automatic jurisdiction rule for every British national after Brexit, but it is a useful warning: a French asset and the deceased’s nationality can affect the procedural analysis even when the habitual residence is abroad.

The French protected-share rules can also matter to the estate plan. Article 912 of the Civil Code defines the réserve héréditaire (protected share reserved by law for certain heirs) and the quotité disponible (the portion that can be freely given). Article 913 sets the ordinary limits of gifts and legacies where children are involved, subject to the international rules and amendments that apply to the case. A UK will can be effective for civil succession purposes and still leave a tax problem; a treaty credit can reduce double tax and still leave a dispute about a child’s protected rights.

B. What should a British resident do before death or after a tax notice?

The best time to deal with the 10-year count and the treaty is before a death, a major gift, a sale of a French home or a move back to the United Kingdom. The work should produce a dated file, not just a verbal conclusion.

1. Build the residence evidence. Prepare a table for every UK tax year in the relevant 20-year period. Record the number of days in the UK, the available homes, work and business activity, family location, split-year treatment and the evidence supporting the result. Add a separate French table covering the foyer (household), principal stay, work, economic interests and habitual life. Include council-tax records, tenancy or ownership documents, utility bills, employment records, travel logs, school records, medical registration and tax returns where relevant. The objective is not to produce a larger bundle; it is to show a coherent chronology that another lawyer, HMRC or the French tax administration can audit.

2. Map assets to legal owners and situs. List each asset, its owner at the date of death, its value, the governing contract or company document, its country connection and the evidence of valuation. For a French property, include the title deed, mortgage, valuation, occupation, rental history and any SCI documents. For a UK portfolio, obtain the provider’s statement and the account terms. For pensions and life policies, obtain the scheme rules and death-benefit nomination, rather than relying on the label “pension”. For a trust, identify the settlor, trustee, beneficiaries, governing law, revocability and any retained control.

3. Identify gifts and earlier transfers. Collect bank records, gift deeds, declarations, loan releases, transfers into trusts, insurance premiums and any transfer to a spouse or child. French Article 784’s 15-year period and UK gift rules do not line up automatically. A transfer that was not taxed when made may still influence the estate. A family spreadsheet should distinguish a genuine loan from a gift, and a gift from a change in legal ownership.

4. Review the will and the civil plan. The will should state which law is intended to govern the succession where a choice is available, identify the executor, deal with French property, and coordinate with any UK codicil, trust or pension nomination. It should not assume that the tax domicile, treaty domicile and civil succession law are identical. If there are children from different relationships, an unmarried partner, a civil partner, a French PACS or a family business, the protected-share analysis should be written down. The family should also know who will provide the French notary with the UK probate and asset evidence.

5. Calculate both systems before signing a gift or sale. Use current values and at least two scenarios: death while treaty-domiciled in France and death while treaty-domiciled in the United Kingdom. Show the UK domestic long-term residence result separately from the treaty result. On the French side, show the effect of Article 750 ter, the beneficiary’s six-of-ten-year status, the Article 779 allowance, Article 777 bands, earlier gifts under Article 784 and any foreign tax credit under Article 784 A or the convention. The output should show an asset-by-asset credit rather than one blended percentage.

6. Preserve a route for liquidity. Inheritance tax can be due before a French property is sold. The official French page on how to declare an inheritance in France explains the filing route for a non-resident relative and the French-situs and six-of-ten-year tests. The page on where and how death duties are paid records the non-residents office and describes possible instalment or deferred payment arrangements in defined situations. A family should identify cash, insurance, a loan facility or an authorised sale plan before the deadline arrives.

After a death abroad, the French declaration is normally due within twelve months. The executor should not wait for the UK probate process to finish if the French deadline is running. Request the death certificate, grant or equivalent authority, will, asset statements, valuations and UK tax correspondence immediately. If French property is involved, instruct the notary promptly; the title and land-registration steps can take time even where the estate is not ultimately liable to French tax.

If the French administration issues an assessment that wrongly includes an asset, omits a treaty credit or applies the wrong beneficiary residence test, the first response should be a written evidence pack. It should identify the asset, the legal rule, the treaty article, the calculation and the requested correction. Keep proof of filing and payment. A telephone conversation cannot replace a formal claim.

The procedural deadline must be checked against the type of claim. Article R*196-1 of the French Book of Tax Procedures, in the version in force from 30 July 2026, generally requires tax claims for taxes other than local direct taxes to be filed by 31 December of the second year following the relevant assessment, payment or event, with specific branches and exceptions. A claim based on the France–UK inheritance convention may have its own five-year period from the death or later chargeable event under the convention’s Article 7 as explained by the BOFiP commentary. Do not choose the shorter-looking deadline without checking which remedy is being used.

The French tax authority’s English guidance states that an inheritance declaration for a non-resident must be filed with payment at the Non-Residents Collection Office. The practical address and current contact details should be taken from the live official page when the file is filed, not copied from an old letter. Where a French bank is holding money, request the certificate of payment or non-payability if the bank requires it before releasing funds. The certificate process is separate from proving that no French tax is due.

A challenge can also involve the UK side. If HMRC treats the person as a long-term UK resident, the executor should request the computation and the residence-year basis. If the estate has French assets, the file should state how the French tax and treaty credit have been treated. If the UK charge is disputed, preserve the French assessment, the treaty analysis and the valuation evidence. A successful argument in one country can change the credit in the other, so the two proceedings should not be run in isolation.

Finally, do not describe the residence permit as a tax exemption. A Withdrawal Agreement residence card proves an immigration position. It can be valuable evidence of where a person settled, but it is not itself a treaty certificate and it does not displace the UK 10-year count. Likewise, a UK will is not a tax clearance certificate, a French tax return is not proof of every treaty fact, and a passport is not a residence chronology.

Conclusion

For a British person living in France, the post-2025 Inheritance Tax question has three layers. First, reconstruct the UK tax-residence history and test the 10-out-of-20-year long-term residence rule. Second, apply French domestic law to the deceased, the beneficiary and the assets, including the French six-of-ten-year beneficiary rule. Third, apply the 1963 France–UK inheritance convention asset by asset, using treaty domicile, situs and the correct credit or repayment route.

The practical risk is not simply paying tax in two countries. It is filing late, treating a foreign asset as invisible, relying on a pre-2025 domicile memo, claiming the wrong credit, or allowing a family document to blur civil succession and tax allocation. A residence timeline, a complete asset map, a gift schedule, a coordinated will and a documented calculation give the executor a defensible starting point. If a French assessment or a UK computation does not follow that evidence, obtain the underlying calculation quickly and preserve the applicable objection deadline.

Official sources and legal texts

• GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax if you are a long-term UK resident.
• GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax double-taxation relief.
• GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax where someone dies while based outside the UK.
• French General Tax Code, Article 750 ter; Article 4 B; Article 777; Article 779; Article 784; Article 784 A; Article 800; Article 641; Article 1709.
• French Book of Tax Procedures, Article R*196-1; Civil Code, Article 720; Civil Code, Article 912; Civil Code, Article 913.
• Cour de cassation, First Civil Chamber, 18 May 2022, no. 20-20.609; Cour de cassation, First Civil Chamber, 21 September 2022, no. 19-15.438.
• French tax authority: France–United Kingdom inheritance convention of 21 June 1963; BOFiP: elimination of double taxation under the convention.