A British will does not become useless merely because the person who made it moved to France, and Brexit did not create a rule under which every UK will is automatically rejected by a French notaire. The difficult question is more precise: which law governs the succession, is the will formally valid, has the deceased chosen the law of the relevant part of the United Kingdom, and does the result interfere with French rules protecting certain heirs? A French notaire is a civil-law notary and public legal officer, not the same institution as an English executor or the UK probate registry.
For a British owner, the document must therefore be read in two layers. The first layer concerns the will itself: signature, witnesses, handwriting, codicils, capacity, translation and apostille. The second concerns the estate: habitual residence, nationality, the choice-of-law wording, children, spouse, French assets, UK assets and the steps required in both countries. A will can be valid in form yet produce a distribution that a reserved heir can challenge. Conversely, French law may govern the succession even though the will was signed in England.
The practical answer is to preserve the original will and every codicil, identify the intended succession law expressly, and obtain a coordinated review before a death or immediately after one. The following plan separates the conflict-of-laws analysis from the French administration and challenge process.
I. Does a UK will work in France after Brexit?
A. Which law governs a British person’s estate after moving to France?
The first distinction is between the formal validity of the will and the law governing the succession. Formal validity asks whether the document was made in an acceptable form: for example, whether an English and Welsh will was signed and witnessed as required by the law applicable to its form. The law governing the succession asks who inherits, what each beneficiary receives, whether a child has a protected share, how the executor or administrator acts, and how the assets are transferred. These are related questions, but they are not the same question.
Brexit changed the institutional position of the United Kingdom, not the ability of a British national to make a will recognised by a French authority. France is bound, as an EU Member State, by Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 on international successions. The Regulation applies universally in the French legal order: the law designated by its conflict rules may be the law of a non-Member State. It is therefore relevant to a British person who is habitually resident in France even though the UK did not opt into the Regulation. Its purpose is to avoid treating each asset as a separate succession whenever possible.
The default connecting factor is the deceased’s habitual residence at death. In practical terms, this is a factual assessment of where the person’s settled centre of life was, not merely the address printed on a residence card, the location of a bank account or the country in which a tax return was filed. Time spent in France, the family home, healthcare, social life, work or retirement arrangements, and the reasons for any continuing links with the UK may all matter. Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 expresses the rule by providing that, subject to its exceptions, the law applicable to the succession as a whole is the law of the State where the deceased had habitual residence at death. The same text also allows an exceptional escape where the deceased was manifestly more closely connected with another State.
The Regulation states that “A person may choose as the law to govern his succession as a whole the law of the State whose nationality he possesses” in the conditions of Article 22. A British national living in France can therefore consider a choice of the law of the relevant UK legal system, provided the choice is made correctly. “UK law” is not a single succession law for this purpose. The will must identify the legal system intended: the law of England and Wales, the law of Scotland, or the law of Northern Ireland, according to the person’s nationality and the legal connection relied upon. A vague sentence saying “I choose British law” can create an avoidable dispute, particularly where the testator has lived in more than one part of the UK or holds more than one nationality.
The choice must be express in a disposition of property on death, normally in the will itself or in a valid codicil. It should not be left to an executor’s covering letter. The wording should also be checked against the form and substantive validity rules applicable to the will. A choice of law does not mean that the deceased can choose an adviser, a bank or an executor and thereby choose a succession law indirectly. It is a deliberate legal choice with consequences for children, a spouse, gifts, debts and the administration of the whole estate.
Article 23 of the Regulation is important because the chosen or default law governs the succession as a whole. It covers the beneficiaries, their shares, the rights of a surviving spouse or partner, disinheritance, the powers of heirs and executors, liability for succession debts, the disposable part of the estate and reserved shares. This is why a clause dealing only with “my property in England” may not answer the question for a French home, a French bank account, a UK pension death benefit or a share portfolio. The will should be drafted on the assumption that a French notaire will need to map the entire estate, not just read the clause about one asset.
The French courts have applied the Regulation in disputes involving a British connection. In Cass. 1re civ., 21 September 2022, no. 19-15.438, the Court of Cassation held that a French court had to examine its subsidiary jurisdiction where the deceased’s habitual residence was in the United Kingdom but there was a relevant French nationality and property in France. The official case summary records that the French court could not simply declare itself incompetent without addressing the Regulation’s subsidiary jurisdiction rule. That decision does not mean that every British estate must be litigated in France. It does mean that habitual residence and the location of French assets must be analysed under the Regulation rather than assumed from the place where the will was signed.
The older French conflict rule remains relevant when analysing historic deaths and the transition before the Regulation applied. Article 3 of the French Civil Code states: “Les immeubles, même ceux possédés par des étrangers, sont régis par la loi française.” In a modern case, that sentence cannot be used mechanically to recreate a split succession where the Regulation requires one law to govern the estate as a whole. It remains a warning that French immovable property creates a serious French-law connection and that the notaire must test the chosen law against mandatory French rules and the applicable date.
Form also requires separate attention. Article 970 of the French Civil Code provides that a French holographic will is not valid unless it is written entirely, dated and signed by the testator. Article 971 provides: “Le testament par acte public est reçu par deux notaires ou par un notaire assisté de deux témoins.” Those are French forms, not a statement that every British will must be handwritten in French or signed before two French notaries. International private-law rules on testamentary form can preserve a will made in another country when it complies with an applicable form law. A will signed in England may therefore pass the form test while still requiring a French analysis of the succession law and its effects.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Cass. 1re civ., 14 November 2007, no. 06-16.636 concerned the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on the conflicts of laws relating to the form of testamentary dispositions. The official summary explains that the form may be valid under the law of the place where the testator had a domicile or habitual residence when making the will or at death. The decision is a useful safeguard against the simplistic idea that a foreign-language will is automatically void in France. It also shows why evidence of domicile and habitual residence at the date of signature should be retained with the original document.
The safest drafting method is to state the intended succession law in plain, jurisdiction-specific language, add a secondary clause explaining the testator’s nationality, and have the final wording reviewed for consistency with the relevant UK law and French succession procedure. If the testator later acquires French nationality, changes habitual residence, marries, divorces, has a child, sells the French home or signs a new codicil, the choice must be reviewed rather than assumed to continue unchanged.
B. Can a UK will disinherit children when French assets are involved?
The phrase “reserved heir” needs a French explanation. A reserved heir, or héritier réservataire, is a person whom French law protects by reserving part of the estate against excessive gifts or testamentary legacies. Article 912 of the Civil Code defines the reserve in these words: “La réserve héréditaire est la part des biens et droits successoraux” which the law protects for certain heirs who are called to the succession and accept it. The rest is the quotité disponible, the disposable share that the deceased may leave freely.
Where French succession law governs, children and their descendants are generally the protected heirs. Article 913 sets the ordinary limits: one child leaves a disposable share of one half; two children leave one third; and three or more children leave one quarter. In other words, a will can organise the distribution and can favour a spouse or another beneficiary, but it cannot simply ignore a French reserved share when the applicable law protects it. The calculation is made on the net estate and must account for lifetime gifts and the legal rules governing their treatment, so a quick comparison of the French house with the words in the will is not enough.
Article 913 also contains a specific compensatory mechanism in certain international situations where the foreign law applicable to the succession has no protective mechanism for children. The provision refers to the deceased or at least one child being a national of an EU Member State or habitually resident in one, and it allows a child or successor to seek a levy on assets situated in France to restore the French reserved rights, within the statutory limit. A British family must not assume that this mechanism applies simply because the deceased owned a French house. The nationality and habitual residence of the deceased and the children at death must be established, and the foreign law must be examined.
This is where the choice of English and Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish law becomes practically important. A valid choice may produce a different result from French law, particularly because the legal systems of the UK do not reproduce the French reserve in the same way. That does not give a will a licence to defeat every claim. The chosen law may contain its own protections for dependants, and French public policy, the Regulation’s rules and the location of assets may still matter. The correct conclusion is conditional: a UK will can govern a French-connected estate, but neither the will’s language nor the testator’s passport alone determines the final distribution.
The leading French decision is Cass. 1re civ., 27 September 2017, no. 16-13.151. The official English summary states: “A foreign law designated by the conflict rule which ignores the reserved share is not in itself contrary to the order public international français.” The Court then requires a concrete examination of the result. In that case, the fact that Californian law did not provide a French-style reserve was not enough, by itself, to displace the foreign law. The decision prevents two opposite mistakes: a French child cannot always demand French reserve rights merely by pointing to French public policy, but a testator cannot treat the absence of an automatic reserve as proof that every result will be accepted.
The judgment must also be read with Cass. 1re civ., 4 July 2018, nos. 17-16.515 and 17-16.522. In that case, the Court stated that “Les règles de la réserve héréditaire sont d’ordre public interne” in the context of a succession opened before the European Regulation applied and French immovable property. The case is not a universal rule that every French asset always overrides the chosen succession law today. It is, however, a clear warning that the French property and the date of death must be examined, and that an old testamentary arrangement cannot be assessed without identifying the conflict-of-laws regime applicable to the succession.
A challenge can take several legal forms. An heir may argue that the will is invalid for a formal defect, that the testator lacked capacity, that consent was obtained by fraud or undue pressure, that a later will revoked it, or that the distribution exceeds the disposable share under the law applicable to the succession. These claims should not be collapsed into one generic “contest the will” letter. Each claim has different evidence, defendants, time limits and jurisdictional consequences.
Capacity is governed by the law applicable to the act and the relevant succession rules, but French Article 901 remains an important reference where French law is engaged: “Pour faire une libéralité, il faut être sain d’esprit.” The same provision says that a gift or testamentary disposition is void where consent was vitiated by error, fraud or violence. Medical records, contemporaneous correspondence, solicitor or notary notes, witness evidence and the chronology of a new codicil may be more valuable than a general assertion that the deceased was old or ill.
The recent decision Cass. 1re civ., 4 March 2026, no. 24-21.711 is useful on standing. The Court’s published summary says that an action for relative nullity of a will based on the testator’s insanity is open only to the deceased’s universal legal and testamentary successors; a beneficiary of a specific legacy revoked by a later will did not have standing to bring that action. The procedural lesson is immediate: before filing, identify the claimant’s legal capacity and the succession position that gives the claimant an interest to act.
If the complaint is excessive gifts rather than invalid consent, the remedy may be reduction, meaning that the excessive part is brought back within the disposable share. Article 921 of the Civil Code states: “Le délai de prescription de l’action en réduction est fixé à cinq ans” from the opening of the succession, or two years from the date on which the heirs knew of the infringement of their reserve, subject in every case to a ten-year maximum from death. The notaire must inform known reserved heirs when the rights appear to be affected, but a beneficiary should still obtain the will, estate accounts and valuations promptly rather than wait for a general settlement letter.
For a British family, the working test is therefore fourfold. First, establish the date of death and the applicable international regime. Secondly, prove the deceased’s habitual residence and nationalities at the relevant dates. Thirdly, read the choice-of-law clause against the actual UK legal system and the whole estate. Fourthly, calculate the consequence for children, spouse, dependants and French assets before deciding whether to accept, negotiate or litigate. That sequence is more reliable than asking whether a “UK will” is recognised in the abstract.
II. How is a UK will used in France after death?
A. What documents will the French notary and UK probate registry require?
The first practical rule is to protect the original. GOV.UK explains that a person named as an executor can apply for probate when there is a will, and that the original will is required for the application rather than a photocopy. Its guidance says: “You’ll need to send the original will with your probate application – you cannot use a photocopy.” A British family should keep the original will, every codicil, any revocation, the solicitor’s file, witness details and evidence of where the document was stored. A scan is useful for an urgent review but does not replace the original for proof.
The French process begins with the death certificate and civil-status chain. The family should assemble the deceased’s full birth certificate, marriage or civil-partnership certificate, divorce orders, the birth certificates of children, any adoption or parentage documents, proof of nationality, proof of the last habitual residence, and the death certificate issued by the relevant French authority. If a document was issued in the UK, the notaire may request a certified copy, a sworn French translation and an apostille. An apostille authenticates the signature or seal on a public document for international use; it does not translate the document and does not decide whether the will is substantively valid.
The notaire will normally need the original will or a formally acceptable copy, every codicil, any English or Scottish probate document already issued, and a clear chronology of testamentary documents. The notaire then checks whether a later document revoked an earlier one, whether the will contains an express choice of law, whether the named beneficiaries are identifiable, whether the form can be recognised in France, and whether any reserved-heir or public-policy issue affects implementation. A short covering note in English is useful, but it cannot substitute for a translation of the instrument itself.
Article 1007 of the Civil Code provides that a French holographic or mystic will must be deposited with a notary before execution, opened if sealed, and recorded in a report. The statutory wording begins: “Tout testament olographe ou mystique sera, avant d’être mis à exécution, déposé entre les mains d’un notaire.” A UK will is not automatically classified as a French holographic or mystic will merely because it is handwritten or sealed. The foreign form may be recognised under the applicable international rules, while the French notaire still undertakes the local opening, verification and estate administration steps.
If a new French authentic will is made by an English-speaking testator, language must be handled carefully. Article 972 provides that the will is dictated to the notary and read to the testator; it also allows an interpreter in the conditions set out by the text when the testator cannot express himself or herself in French. The operative safeguard is exact understanding, not a superficial translation by a family member. The notary should record the interpreter’s role and the language used, and the testator should keep a copy with the other estate documents.
The UK and French systems then move on parallel tracks. In England and Wales, the executor may need a grant of probate to deal with assets within the UK. In Scotland, the procedure and terminology differ, and confirmation may be relevant. Northern Ireland has its own probate administration. France does not simply treat a UK executor’s appointment as identical to a French notaire’s powers. The French notaire may need the UK document, evidence of its effect, a legal opinion or formal certificate, and a translation before accepting instructions about a French asset.
That coordination matters particularly where the estate includes a French home, a bank account, an investment portfolio, a life-insurance policy, a pension death benefit or a business interest. The family should prepare an asset schedule showing the account or policy number, holder, approximate value, country, ownership form and beneficiary designation. It should distinguish assets passing under the succession from assets passing by a separate contract or nomination. A pension or life-insurance benefit may not follow the same route as a house, and a bank will usually ask for its own evidence of authority.
The French notaire will also prepare or coordinate the document establishing the heirs, commonly called an acte de notoriété. In plain English, this is a French certificate of inheritance identifying the people entitled to the estate and the evidence supporting that conclusion. The family should not assume that an English probate grant alone will perform this function in France. The French document must connect the death certificate, family status, will, choice of law and applicable succession law.
Where the will is in English, the translation should be performed by a translator whose status is accepted for French legal proceedings or by the professional requested by the notaire. Names must be identical across the will, passport, civil-status documents and asset records. A difference between “William James Smith”, “W. J. Smith” and a French transliteration can delay a bank or land-registration step. The family should preserve the original wording and provide a table explaining any change of name, marriage name or middle name.
The UK government’s guidance for British people living in France directs families to the official process for what to do after a death in France and warns that the embassy cannot provide personalised legal advice. The French public service also explains that a death abroad may require civil-status steps and supporting certificates. These public guides are valuable for the administrative sequence, but they do not decide the private-international-law question of which succession law governs the estate. That remains a file-specific legal analysis.
Finally, the family should record every request from the notaire, probate registry, bank and insurer in a dated evidence log. List the document requested, the person responsible, the date sent, the translation or apostille status, the answer received and any outstanding legal question. Cross-border succession delays often come from a missing original or inconsistent civil-status document rather than from a complex legal issue. A simple log makes it possible to distinguish a documentation gap from a genuine dispute about the law.
B. What can heirs do if the will is challenged or the French estate is delayed?
If the French notaire says that a UK will cannot be applied, ask for the reason in writing and classify it before responding. The reason may be a missing original, an absent apostille, an incomplete translation, uncertainty about a codicil, a disputed signature, a question about the choice of law, an alleged reserved share, a tax issue or a lack of evidence about habitual residence. Each problem has a different remedy. Sending the same document again without identifying the legal objection can add weeks without resolving the issue.
If the difficulty is formal validity, obtain the governing UK law and evidence of compliance with it. For an English and Welsh will, this may include the execution page, witness details and the law governing the will at the date it was signed. For a Scottish will, the legal analysis and documents may differ. The Hague Convention analysis may also require evidence of domicile or habitual residence at signature or death. The decision in Cass. 1re civ., 14 November 2007, no. 06-16.636 shows why the court must identify the relevant form law rather than reject a foreign document solely because it does not resemble a French form.
If the difficulty is the choice-of-law clause, obtain a certified translation and analyse the wording as a legal declaration, not as an informal preference. “I wish my family to receive everything under British law” may express an intention but may not identify the statutory choice required by Article 22. The clause should be read with the testator’s nationality at the date of the choice and at death, any dual nationality, the territorial legal system selected, the date of the will and later codicils. If a later codicil changes gifts but is silent about the choice of law, the earlier choice may need to be preserved or restated.
If the difficulty concerns children, the first task is a calculation. Identify the applicable succession law, the estate at death, lifetime gifts, debts, ownership shares, insurance and the value of the French assets. Then determine whether the complaint is a French reserve claim, a claim under the chosen UK law, a compensatory levy under French law, or a challenge to the will’s validity. A child should avoid signing a general release or acceptance before receiving that calculation. A beneficiary should likewise avoid distributing French assets as though an English probate grant settled the French reserved-share question.
An action for reduction is different from an action for nullity. Reduction accepts that the will exists but argues that its gifts exceed the disposable share. Nullity argues that the act should not be effective, for example because of a formal defect, lack of capacity, fraud, violence or a later revocation. The evidence and claimant may differ. Article 921’s five-year and two-year periods concern the reduction action; they do not create a universal deadline for every possible will dispute. A lawyer should identify the legal basis before calculating the limitation period.
The 2026 decision in Cass. 1re civ., 4 March 2026, no. 24-21.711 also illustrates the need to identify the correct claimant. The case concerned a beneficiary whose specific legacy had been revoked by a later authentic will. The Court limited the action for relative nullity based on insanity to universal legal and testamentary successors. The practical point is not that a specific legatee can never raise an objection. It is that standing, interest, the legal classification of the gift and the effect of the later will must be established before proceedings are issued.
Evidence should be preserved before the family relationship deteriorates. Keep the envelope, paper, staples, handwriting samples, earlier versions, solicitor correspondence, attendance notes, medical appointments, messages about the testator’s intentions, bank instructions and any evidence of pressure or dependency. Do not write annotations on the original will. Do not send the only original through ordinary post. If authenticity is disputed, ask the notaire or court how the document should be sealed, photographed, deposited and examined.
The French court’s involvement may depend on the type of dispute and the international jurisdiction rules. A French notaire may identify the applicable law without deciding every contested issue. A tribunal judiciaire, the French civil court of first instance, may be needed for a reduction claim, a validity dispute, an urgent protective measure or a disagreement over the transfer of an asset. The Regulation’s jurisdiction rules and the location of assets must be checked before filing. In Cass. 1re civ., 21 September 2022, no. 19-15.438, the Court required the lower court to address the subsidiary jurisdiction provided by the European succession rules instead of stopping at the deceased’s United Kingdom residence.
The UK probate process may continue while the French dispute is unresolved, but the two processes should be coordinated. An executor may have authority to collect UK assets while lacking the evidence required to transfer a French property. A French notaire may need to know whether the UK court has issued a grant, whether the will has been admitted, whether a caveat or challenge exists, and whether the UK court’s document is final. Conversely, a UK probate application may need a French death certificate, a French notarial certificate or evidence of the deceased’s foreign domicile. The answer is not always to wait for one country to finish first; it is to identify which asset and which legal question belongs to which process.
Before a dispute is filed, send a focused pre-action package. It should contain the will and codicils, the death certificate, the family tree, nationality and residence evidence, the asset schedule, a proposed chronology, the exact relief sought and the legal basis for it. If a reserved heir seeks payment, state the calculation and the assets against which the claim is made. If a beneficiary seeks recognition of the UK choice of law, identify the clause, the relevant nationality and the provisions that should govern. A clear package gives the notaire and the other beneficiaries a realistic opportunity to resolve a document problem or negotiate a lawful distribution.
For future planning, review the file after every material life event. Marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, a move between England and Wales and Scotland, naturalisation, a change from full-time residence in France to a UK care arrangement, the purchase or sale of a French asset, and a new pension nomination can all change the practical result. A will should be read with a separate asset register and a note explaining the choice of law. That note should not attempt to replace the will, but it can help the family and the notaire understand what was intended and where the original documents are held.
Conclusion
A UK will can work in France after Brexit, but “valid in the UK” and “effective for a French-connected estate” are not interchangeable conclusions. The file must establish the form law, the deceased’s habitual residence, the nationality-based choice of law, the distinction between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, French reserved-heir rules, and the evidence needed by the French notaire. A British family should protect the original will, translate and apostille documents when requested, coordinate UK probate with the French acte de notoriété, and obtain a written analysis before distributing or renouncing assets.
The best time to resolve the choice-of-law wording is before death. After death, the first priority is to preserve the documents and prevent a deadline or an irreversible distribution from overtaking the legal analysis. Where a child, spouse, executor or beneficiary believes the will is invalid or exceeds the disposable share, the correct remedy depends on the law, the claimant’s standing and the evidence. A focused review can turn an apparently blocked cross-border estate into a sequence of identifiable steps.
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