When a British relative dies in the United Kingdom and leaves assets, heirs or a home connected with France, the UK probate timetable is only one part of the problem. France has its own inheritance-tax return, its own filing deadline and its own rules on interest and surcharges. A Grant of Probate may be delayed by an incomplete will file, an overseas asset, an inheritance-tax calculation or a dispute between beneficiaries. That delay does not automatically stop the French clock.

The key question is therefore not simply whether the UK executor has received the Grant of Probate. It is whether the French return has been filed within the period running from the date of death, whether the taxable estate was reported honestly, and whether a payment solution was requested before the tax office treated the file as late. This article explains the practical distinction between the two systems, the steps a British heir or executor can take when the French return is late, and the evidence needed to ask for a correction, a payment facility or relief from a surcharge. It addresses the filing problem, not the purchase of French property or the creation of a French company.

I. What is the French inheritance-tax deadline after a UK death?

A. Why the French return runs from the date of death, not from UK probate

The French document is a déclaration de succession, meaning the French inheritance-tax return. It is the document through which the heirs, legatees or other persons required to declare the estate identify the deceased, the beneficiaries, the assets, the debts, the applicable exemptions and the tax due. It is distinct from a UK application for a Grant of Probate, from the UK IHT400 and from the eventual distribution of the estate.

The starting point is the date of death. Article 641 of the French Tax Code distinguishes between a death in metropolitan France and other cases. Its operative rule is that the filing period is six months for a death in metropolitan France and “D’une année, dans tous les autres cas.” The official text is available in the current wording of Article 641 of the Code général des impôts. A death in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland is normally an other case for this purpose, so the ordinary French period is twelve months from the death.

That twelve-month period is not a twelve-month period beginning when a British executor receives probate. Probate is an authority and administration process in the UK. The French tax return is a declaration triggered by the death and by the transfer of rights. The two processes often depend on some of the same documents, but they do not merge into one timetable. Waiting for the Grant of Probate may make the French file easier to prove; it does not, by itself, alter Article 641.

There are narrow rules for particular assets and circumstances. For example, the Code provides a special period concerning certain French real-property rights where the notarial certificate recording the transfer cannot yet be published. The statutory section containing Articles 641 to 645, including the exception in Article 641 bis, should be read carefully rather than treated as a general probate extension: Légifrance, Articles 641 to 645 of the Code général des impôts. The existence of a house in France, or a notary’s inability to finish one part of the file, does not automatically create a general right to wait for every UK document.

Article 800 of the Code général des impôts sets out the declaration obligation and certain limited thresholds. The relevant statutory section is available on Légifrance, Articles 800 to 808 of the Code général des impôts. The practical consequence is important for a British family: an heir should not assume that no return is required merely because the French assets appear modest, because the estate is still being valued in London, or because another beneficiary has instructed a solicitor. The threshold rules and the composition of the estate must be checked against the particular family relationship and the value of all relevant assets.

The scope of the French tax is also separate from the location of the probate court. Article 750 ter of the Code général des impôts contains the connecting rules for death-transfer duties, known in French as droits de mutation par décès. Depending on the deceased’s tax residence, the beneficiary’s residence and the location of the assets, France may need information about French and non-French property. The official provision is Article 750 ter of the Code général des impôts. A UK bank account is not automatically irrelevant to the French return simply because it is held in Britain. Conversely, a French return does not mean that every asset will be taxed twice: the France–UK convention and domestic credit mechanisms must be analysed, with proof of any UK tax paid.

French succession law explains why the return obligation can arise before practical administration is complete. Article 724 of the Civil Code states: “Les héritiers désignés par la loi sont saisis de plein droit des biens, droits et actions du défunt.” This describes saisine, the automatic vesting of the deceased’s assets, rights and claims in the heirs designated by law. It is not a statement that the heirs have already obtained cash from a UK bank. It is a reason why the tax declaration cannot be reduced to the moment at which an executor can finally distribute money. The statutory text is Article 724 of the Civil Code on Légifrance.

The Cour de cassation has rejected the idea that a succession dispute automatically excuses a late tax return. In its judgment of 20 May 2008, no. 07-13.648, the commercial chamber held that the heir “a l’obligation de procéder à la déclaration dans les délais légaux”. The full decision is Cour de cassation, commercial chamber, 20 May 2008, no. 07-13.648. The case concerned a dispute about the succession, but the tax deadline remained a separate obligation. A British probate dispute can be more complicated because it involves another jurisdiction; it is not stronger merely because it is conducted in English law.

The same reasoning prevents a common misunderstanding about the notary. A notaire is a French civil-law notary who authenticates instruments and often coordinates the French succession file. The notary may request certificates, translations, apostilles, asset statements and evidence of family status. The notary may also prepare or transmit a return in practice. That does not mean the heirs can ignore a tax deadline while assuming the notary has accepted personal responsibility for every missing document. Written instructions, reminders and a clear record of who was asked to do what are essential.

The French administration’s own explanation is direct: the official impots.gouv.fr guidance on a succession declaration says that the return is generally required and that the period is six months for a death in France and twelve months in other cases. For a death in the UK, the family should calculate the French date from the date of death as soon as the death certificate is available. The calculation should be recorded in a file shared with the British executor, the French notary and any tax lawyer.

The deadline can be illustrated without treating the illustration as a tax assessment. If the death occurred in the UK on 10 April 2025, the ordinary French twelve-month period must be checked against 10 April 2026. If the return was not registered by then, the family should act immediately; it should not wait for a later bank release date, the sale of a house or the closing of the UK estate accounts. If the death occurred in France, the six-month period would normally be the relevant starting point instead. The place of death and the person’s tax residence are separate facts and both should be recorded.

The first operational question is therefore simple: has a French return been registered? A statement that the documents are with the notary is not the same answer as a registered return. Ask for a copy of the signed return, its registration or filing evidence, the calculation of the tax, the correspondence with the relevant French tax office and any request for payment in instalments or deferral. If no one can produce those items, treat the return as unfiled until the position is verified.

B. How British probate, an executor and an incomplete estate fit into the French process

The UK process can still be highly relevant. The GOV.UK probate guidance explains that an executor named in a will, or the closest living relative where there is no will, normally deals with the estate. Before probate, the personal representative assesses the estate and inheritance tax. Where UK inheritance tax is due, the estate may need to report it and make payment arrangements before the probate application can progress. The British executor is therefore often waiting for HMRC, a bank, a valuation or a co-beneficiary at exactly the time when French evidence is also required.

That practical dependency does not turn the Grant of Probate into a French filing requirement. The UK executor should instead separate the tasks into two tracks:

• the UK track: identify the personal representative, obtain the grant, submit any required IHT400 material, secure a payment reference, deal with HMRC and obtain authority to collect assets; and
• the French track: identify the persons required to declare, assemble the French return, value the estate at the death date, state what is provisional, pay or request a facility, and preserve the right to correct the declaration.

The tracks can exchange evidence. A UK will, a probate application, a Grant of Probate, an HMRC calculation, a bank statement and an executor’s sworn explanation may all assist the French file. They should not be confused with the French return itself. A Grant of Probate proves authority under the UK system; it does not prove that a French inheritance-tax return was filed on time.

Where UK inheritance tax is due, GOV.UK explains that the executor normally reports the estate using IHT400 material and usually deals with tax before applying for probate. The guidance on paying UK inheritance tax also recognises that a representative may need to pay before being able to release assets and that payment on account or other arrangements can be relevant. If funds cannot be released, the official grant-on-credit guidance explains how to ask HMRC to postpone the payment needed for the grant. That mechanism may solve a UK liquidity problem; it does not suspend the French deadline.

An estate can be incomplete without being impossible to declare. A British bank may refuse to confirm the date-of-death balance until probate. A pension provider may be deciding whether a payment falls inside or outside the estate. A French property may need a market valuation. A debt may be disputed. The answer is not to invent a final figure, but neither is it to leave the whole return untouched. The working method should be:

1. list every known asset and liability at the date of death;
2. identify the document that is missing and the institution holding it;
3. use the most reliable available valuation and identify it as provisional where necessary;
4. explain the uncertainty in a covering letter to the French tax office and the notary;
5. file the return and pay the amount that can properly be calculated, or request an authorised payment solution; and
6. correct the return when the UK evidence arrives, with a written record of the correction.

The return must not conceal an asset simply because its value is disputed. A provisional figure, accompanied by the bank correspondence, valuation instructions and an explanation of the calculation, is materially safer than silence. If the final value increases the tax, the family should calculate the balance and interest promptly. If the final value decreases the tax, the family should preserve the documents supporting a restitution or correction request.

The French form and recipient depend on the facts. For an international estate, the impots.gouv.fr guidance on when and where to declare explains the use of the succession forms and the role of the French tax office handling non-resident files. The place where the deceased lived, the beneficiary’s residence and the location of French property should be confirmed rather than guessed. A covering letter should identify the death date, the UK probate status, the French assets, the missing evidence, the provisional figures and the contact details of the executor.

Who signs or submits the return can also create risk. The legal obligation generally rests on the heirs, legatees or other persons covered by the tax rules, not on an unidentifiable estate. A British executor may act under authority or power of attorney, but the heirs should know exactly what has been filed in their name. If one heir has instructed the French notary and another has instructed a UK solicitor, both should receive the same version of the declaration and the same calculation.

Multiple heirs should not assume that disagreement over the split of the estate allows everyone to wait. The Service-Public page on inheritance-tax declarations explains the declaration and the consequences of delay, including the joint exposure of heirs in the situations covered by the rules. A dispute about who should bear a debt, whether a lifetime gift should be brought into account, or whether a will is valid may require later correction or litigation. It does not erase the need to put the tax office on notice.

The Cour de cassation addressed a death outside France in a judgment of 18 October 2011, no. 10-25.074. The decision records a return filed after the applicable date for a person who died abroad and analyses the one-year rule alongside the succession rules. It is available as Cour de cassation, commercial chamber, 18 October 2011, no. 10-25.074. The lesson for a UK executor is practical: the foreign location of the death is relevant to the length of the ordinary period, but the event that starts it remains the death, not the grant.

The judgment of 1 June 2010, no. 09-14.353, is another useful warning about timing. The commercial chamber considered the statutory six-month period and the tax consequences of the death; later questions about the devolution of the estate did not simply restart the clock. The decision is Cour de cassation, commercial chamber, 1 June 2010, no. 09-14.353. It should not be used to calculate a particular British family’s tax without reviewing the facts, but it reinforces the need to date every step.

Cross-border double taxation should be handled as a calculation issue, not as a filing excuse. If UK inheritance tax has been paid, retain the assessment, payment receipt, estate account and the document identifying the property on which the UK tax was charged. Ask whether the France–UK estate-tax convention, a domestic credit or another relief applies. Do not simply deduct the UK amount from the French assets or omit UK assets from the French return. The French tax administration’s international succession guidance is a starting point, but a material estate may require a written technical calculation.

The strongest file is one that shows initiative before the deadline, transparency after the deadline and a clear separation between known facts and estimated facts. That record may later support a request to reduce a surcharge, defend the valuation, establish the notary’s instructions or explain why a correction was made as soon as the Grant of Probate became available.

II. What should you do when the French return is late or probate is still pending?

A. How to limit interest, surcharges and the immediate payment risk

The financial consequences of delay have several layers. The first is the inheritance tax itself. The second is intérêt de retard, meaning late-payment interest. The third is a majoration, meaning a surcharge applied because a required declaration was late or was not filed after a formal notice. A fourth problem may be the cost and security required for a payment facility. These amounts should be modelled separately so that the family knows whether it is disputing the tax base, the deadline, the interest, the surcharge or only the ability to pay immediately.

Article 1727 of the Code général des impôts provides the general late-interest rule. Its concise wording says that an unpaid tax claim “donne lieu au versement d’un intérêt de retard”. The rate set out in the provision is 0.20 per cent per month, subject to the detailed statutory calculation and exceptions. The official text is Article 1727 of the Code général des impôts. The interest calculation should use the tax office’s dates and should not be approximated by treating the date of the Grant of Probate as the due date.

Article 1728 addresses failure to file or late filing. Under its current structure, a ten per cent surcharge can apply where the return is late without the circumstances that justify the higher rate, while a forty per cent surcharge can apply when the return is still not filed within the period following a formal notice. An eighty per cent rate is reserved for more serious concealment situations. The official wording is Article 1728 of the Code général des impôts. The result depends on the type of return, the date of filing, whether a mise en demeure (formal notice) was served and the taxpayer’s conduct. A family should not assume that an executor’s good faith automatically removes every surcharge, but it should document good faith and prompt regularisation.

The administration’s published guidance must be applied to the death date and the type of declaration. The BOFiP guidance on late filing of inheritance declarations explains how the tax authority treats the ordinary period, interest and surcharges in different situations, including a death outside France. Because the calculation is date-sensitive, preserve the version of the guidance consulted and ask the tax office to identify the exact day from which it has calculated each amount.

Payment and filing are connected but not identical. Article 1701 of the Code général des impôts states that duties are paid before registration and that “Nul ne peut en atténuer ni différer le paiement”, subject to the statutory mechanisms that follow. See Article 1701 of the Code général des impôts on Légifrance. A family cannot turn an ordinary letter saying that it is waiting for probate into a legally effective deferral. It must use the available procedure and obtain a written response.

Article 1717 creates the statutory framework for fractioned or deferred payment in the circumstances specified by the tax rules. The provision is available on Légifrance, Article 1717 of the Code général des impôts. The official French tax payment guidance explains that a request may be made when the succession return is filed. The ordinary maximum period for fractioning is generally one year after the due date, with a longer period possible where at least half of the estate consists of illiquid assets, subject to the legal conditions, guarantees and acceptance of the request. The same official guidance states that, from 1 January 2026, the interest applied to these facilities is 2 per cent in the cases described by the rules.

The request must be prepared as an application, not as an apology. It should include:

• the signed succession return or the draft ready for filing;
• the estate’s liquid and illiquid assets at the date of death;
• the amount of tax already paid and the balance requested to be deferred or fractioned;
• the UK probate stage and the reason assets cannot yet be released;
• the anticipated date of the Grant of Probate and the anticipated asset release;
• proposed instalment dates and amounts; and
• any security, guarantee or valuation evidence requested by the tax office.

The family should ask the notary or the relevant French tax office which form and guarantee are required. A payment request submitted after a formal notice is not equivalent to a request made with the return. Keep proof of transmission and ask for the decision in writing. If the request is refused, that refusal becomes an important document for the next step; it is not a reason to stop communicating.

UK liquidity solutions can be used at the same time. The GOV.UK guidance on paying inheritance tax explains that an executor may need to fund tax before the grant and can later recover the amount from the estate. Where assets cannot yet be released, the grant-on-credit route may allow the representative to move the UK process forward. A UK loan, sale of another asset or payment on account may also be considered by the family, but each creates evidence and repayment consequences. None of those choices substitutes for a French declaration or a French payment decision.

The safest response when the deadline has already passed is usually to file the French return promptly, make the calculation transparent and pay what is not genuinely disputed. A late return filed voluntarily gives the family a better factual basis for arguing about the remaining interest or surcharge than an absent return followed by a formal notice. Article 1728 contains mechanisms whose application may depend on spontaneous regularisation and the circumstances of the taxpayer. The family should ask for the tax office’s computation rather than promise itself a particular reduction.

If a French tax demand has already arrived, the correspondence must be read line by line. Identify whether it is:

1. a request for information;
2. a formal notice to file;
3. an assessment of inheritance tax;
4. a calculation of late interest;
5. an assessment of a ten or forty per cent surcharge; or
6. a refusal of deferred or fractioned payment.

Each document can carry its own response period. A letter that merely asks for the missing Grant of Probate may need a different response from a formal notice that threatens the forty per cent rate. Reply before the shortest clear deadline, state what is enclosed, identify what remains pending and request a written extension or clarification where the rules permit it. Do not rely on a telephone conversation alone.

The tax office’s Service-Public explanation of inheritance-tax declarations is useful for the general consequences of late filing. It should be read with the date-specific provisions of the Code général des impôts. A public information page cannot replace the calculation of the particular estate, especially where a treaty, a French property, a UK pension, a lifetime gift or an uncertain beneficiary is involved.

B. Which remedies, evidence and professional steps can protect the British heir or executor?

The first remedy is procedural regularisation: file, pay or request a facility, then correct. The second is substantive: challenge a valuation, an asset classification, the application of the France–UK rules or the calculation of a surcharge. The third may concern responsibility: if a professional received the information needed to act and failed to warn or transmit the return, the evidence may support a separate claim. These remedies should not be mixed into one vague complaint.

If the tax base is wrong, build a calculation that shows the disputed line. For a bank account, use the date-of-death statement, not only the later balance after bills were paid. For a French property, record the valuation method, comparable evidence and any debt secured on the property. For a UK pension or life policy, identify the contract, beneficiary designation, payment date and the reason for including or excluding it. For a gift, identify the deed, date, donor, recipient and tax treatment. A tax office is more likely to engage with a numbered schedule than with a general assertion that the estate remains in probate.

If UK tax has been paid, attach the HMRC assessment and proof of payment. Then request a France–UK double-tax calculation that identifies the asset, the country that taxed it, the legal basis for the credit or exemption and the residual French amount. The French administration’s international succession page should be used alongside the convention and the statutory rules. A credit cannot safely be calculated by simply comparing the two headline rates.

If the tax office’s correction or surcharge is disputed, ask which formal claim route and deadline applies to the document received. The Service-Public page on the control of a succession declaration explains that the administration can review and correct a succession declaration over a substantial period. That is not a licence to delay: it is a reason to preserve the estate file, the calculation versions, correspondence, translations and proof of payments. A challenge should identify the legal basis, the facts proved and the amount sought to be withdrawn or refunded.

A request for remise gracieuse, meaning discretionary relief from some penalties or charges, is different from a legal challenge to the tax base. It may be relevant where the principal tax is accepted but the family can demonstrate an exceptional administrative difficulty, a genuine probate blockage, prompt cooperation and no concealment. It is discretionary. The request should never replace filing, payment or a formal claim where one is required. Ask for a reasoned decision and keep the evidence of the exceptional circumstances.

The notary’s role must be assessed from the file, not from the title alone. Collect the engagement letter, the date the notary received the death certificate, the will, the family records and the UK solicitor’s contact details. Preserve messages asking whether the French return had been filed. Record every answer about the deadline, probate and missing documents. If a notary said that no return could be filed until probate, ask for that advice in writing and compare it with the statutory timetable.

The case law does not create automatic professional liability, but it shows why information and warning evidence matters. In Cour de cassation, first civil chamber, 14 November 2018, no. 17-20.946, the decision records a succession declaration “déposée tardivement le 16 janvier 2009” and considers the legal consequences of a late declaration and the professional information context. The judgment must be read with its facts; it is not a rule that every late return creates damages against a notary. It does, however, make a contemporaneous document trail important.

An older decision is also indexed around the warning duty in a succession-tax file: Cour de cassation, first civil chamber, 18 June 1996, no. 94-10.753. The reference should be used carefully and only after checking the full factual context. The point for a British executor is not to threaten the notary in the first email. The point is to establish whether the professional had the mandate, documents and time to warn the heirs about the French deadline, and whether the delay caused a quantifiable loss.

The document pack for a late French succession return should normally include the following, adapted to the estate:

• the full death certificate and, where useful, a certified translation;
• the UK will, codicils, intestacy evidence and the probate application;
• the Grant of Probate when issued, or a written statement from the UK solicitor explaining why it is pending;
• the identity and address of each heir, legatee and executor;
• marriage, civil-partnership, birth and filiation records needed to establish tax relationship;
• bank, investment, pension, insurance and property statements at the date of death;
• evidence of debts existing at that date, including funeral and secured debts where relevant;
• French property titles, valuations, mortgage balances and any notarial certificate;
• HMRC correspondence, IHT400 material, UK assessment and proof of UK payment;
• copies of every French form, covering letter, email, registered letter and tax-office response;
• the payment record and any request for instalments, deferral or security; and
• a chronology with the death date, the six- or twelve-month date, requests for documents, filing date, payment dates and notices.

Translations and apostilles should be planned early. A French notary or tax office may need a sworn French translation of a UK death certificate, will, probate document or power of attorney. An apostille proves the origin of a public document; it does not translate the document or establish the tax value of an asset. Ask the receiving authority what it will accept before paying for a translation, and retain both the original and the final French version.

The file should contain two schedules. Schedule one is the estate schedule: each asset or liability, owner, date-of-death value, source document, currency and treatment in France and the UK. Schedule two is the deadline schedule: each request, recipient, date sent, response, missing item and effect on the filing. This structure allows the family to explain a genuine delay without suggesting that the entire estate was forgotten.

A British family dealing with several French questions may also need to distinguish the present filing problem from other succession issues. The firm’s article on accepting a French inheritance with the benefit of inventory after Brexit addresses the separate question of how an heir can limit exposure to unknown debts. The article on whether a UK will works in France after Brexit addresses choice of law, reserved heirs and the French notarial process. Those subjects may affect the estate, but neither changes the immediate need to check the French inheritance-tax deadline.

The most effective letter to the French tax office should be short, precise and supported. It should state: The deceased died in the UK on [date]. The twelve-month French period is calculated from that date. The return is enclosed or was filed on [date]. The following values remain provisional for the reasons explained in Schedule 1. The UK probate application is at [stage], supported by Schedule 2. We request confirmation of the tax calculation, the interest calculation and the procedure for payment in instalments or deferral. The letter can then ask the administration to identify any missing form or document. It should not state that probate suspends the French period unless a specific statutory rule has been identified.

Where a formal notice has already been served, send a complete response before its deadline, even if some UK evidence is pending. Explain what is available, file the return if it has not been filed and request a short period to supplement. If the tax office refuses, consider a formal claim and, where appropriate, a request for discretionary relief. The sequence matters: a well-documented late filing is easier to defend than an unrecorded telephone promise, and a calculation dispute is easier to resolve once the principal declaration exists.

The final decision should be based on the value at risk. For a small estate, the cost of a full cross-border opinion may exceed the disputed surcharge, although a short filing review can still prevent avoidable damage. For a French property, a substantial UK portfolio, a contested will, several heirs or both French and UK inheritance tax, obtain a written analysis before accepting the calculation. The analysis should name the assumptions, the documents still missing, the deadline, the likely interest and surcharge, the payment option and the next procedural step.

Conclusion

UK probate delay does not automatically excuse a late French inheritance-tax return. For a death in the UK, the ordinary French period is generally twelve months from the date of death, not twelve months from the Grant of Probate. A British heir or executor should therefore run the UK and French processes in parallel: identify who must declare, file a transparent return even if some figures are provisional, request a recognised payment facility if liquidity is the problem, and correct the figures when probate releases the missing evidence. Interest and surcharges should be calculated separately, and every notice should receive a timely written response. A dispute with another heir, a delayed notarial deed or a pending UK court process may explain the chronology, but it should be documented rather than treated as an automatic suspension.

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