When a British owner dies leaving a house or flat in France, the family often asks a deceptively simple question: can the executor put the property on the market before the French estate has been completely settled? Sometimes, a UK grant of probate is not, by itself, a French conveyancing authority. The deceased’s will, the identity and rights of the heirs, the form of ownership, the wording of the will, and the position of any protected heirs must all be checked under the rules that govern the French property.

In this article, “executor” means the person appointed to administer the estate under the will; “estate” means the deceased’s assets, rights, debts and liabilities. A French notaire is a civil-law notary who prepares the succession documents and the deed of sale. A French succession is the estate process itself. The practical question is therefore not simply whether the executor has probate in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. It is whether the executor, the heirs and the French notary can establish a lawful power to sell, complete the title evidence, protect the proceeds and deal with tax.

The safest route is to separate an agreed sale from a disputed sale. If all persons whose consent is required agree, a French notary can often organise a sale before the final partition of the estate, with the net proceeds held and allocated later. If one person refuses, the executor may need a court route. Since the 2026 reform of Article 815-6 of the French Civil Code, an urgent application can in certain circumstances seek authority for one co-owner to conclude the sale alone. That remedy is useful, but it is not an automatic power for every British executor.

I. Can the British executor obtain authority to sell a French property before the succession is settled?

A. Why a UK grant of probate is not the same as French ownership evidence

A grant of probate is important on the UK side. GOV.UK describes probate as the legal right to deal with a deceased person’s property, money and possessions, and warns applicants not to make financial plans or put property on the market until probate has been obtained. The executor should therefore establish the UK position, identify the correct grant and check any inheritance-tax filing before presenting the file to the French notary. The official UK guidance is available in the GOV.UK probate guide.

That grant does not replace the French title work for a French building. French succession law provides its own starting point. Article 720 of the Civil Code states, in the original wording, Les successions s’ouvrent par la mort, au dernier domicile du défunt. In English, the succession opens on death at the deceased’s last domicile. The text is found on Légifrance, Article 720 of the Civil Code. This rule does not by itself answer which person can sign a sale deed, but it explains why the notary must establish the deceased’s domicile, the applicable succession law and the people entitled to the estate.

Article 724 then provides that heirs designated by law are automatically vested in the deceased’s assets, rights and actions. The relevant French wording is Les héritiers désignés par la loi sont saisis de plein droit des biens, droits et actions du défunt. The full provision is on Légifrance, Article 724 of the Civil Code. “Automatically vested” does not mean that an executor can ignore the heirs. It means that the heirs’ legal position must be mapped before a disposition of the property is treated as valid.

The notary normally needs an acte de notoriété, meaning a French notarial deed identifying the heirs and the basis of their entitlement. Article 730-1 says that proof of heir status may result from an acte de notoriété dressé par un notaire, a deed drawn up by a notary at the request of one or more persons entitled to the estate. Read the provision on Légifrance, Article 730-1. For the wider question of whether a British will works in France after Brexit, see our guide to UK wills, choice of law, reserved heirs and the French notary process. For a British family, the file can include the death certificate, the will, the UK grant, birth and marriage certificates, evidence of renunciations or disclaimers, and any document showing a change of name or a previous death.

Documents issued in the United Kingdom may need a certified French translation. The notary may also request an apostille or another form of authentication, depending on the document and the authority that issued it. A scan of a will, a typed family tree or an informal email from an heir is not a substitute for the evidence needed to prepare an attestation immobilière, which is the French deed recording the transfer of the deceased’s property rights into the estate or to the beneficiaries. The executor should ask the notary for the document list at the start, rather than promising a buyer that the transaction can complete before the title file is ready.

The executor’s powers also require a separate analysis. Article 1025 of the Civil Code permits the testator to appoint one or more testamentary executors and provides the framework for that appointment. The text is available through Légifrance, Article 1025. The appointment is not automatically equivalent to an unrestricted power to dispose of French land. The will must be read with the rules on protected heirs, the form of the property ownership and any authority that the notary or court still needs to verify.

There is an important specific rule in Article 1030-1. Where there is no accepting héritier réservataire, meaning a protected heir entitled to a reserved share, the testator may authorise the executor to dispose of all or part of the estate’s immovable property. The article uses the words En l’absence d’héritier réservataire acceptant. It also states that, to avoid the sale being unenforceable against the heirs, the heirs must be informed before the sale. The official text is Légifrance, Article 1030-1.

This provision can make a pre-settlement sale possible, but it should not be read as a shortcut. The will must contain the necessary authority, the absence or acceptance of protected heirs must be established, the heirs must receive the required information, and the notary must be satisfied that the sale deed can be made opposable. If a child or other protected heir has accepted the succession, the executor’s freedom may be narrower. A British will that gives broad administrative powers in ordinary language may still need a French-law analysis before it is treated as an authority to sell a French building.

The UK and French roles should therefore be documented separately. The UK grant confirms the executor’s authority in the relevant UK probate system. The French succession file proves the identity and rights of the heirs for the French property. The will may grant a special power to the executor under French law. The notary checks the deed, title, marital-property regime, mortgages, planning information and tax position. If a buyer is already interested, the executor should tell the estate agent that the transaction is conditional on the notary confirming signing authority and the completion timetable.

Before marketing the property, the executor should obtain written answers to five questions. First, which law governs the succession and is there an election of law in the will? Secondly, who are the heirs and has each person accepted, renounced or remained silent? Thirdly, is the property held solely by the deceased, jointly, in indivision or with a split between usufruct and bare ownership? Indivision is French co-ownership by undivided shares; usufruit is the right to use property and take its benefits, while nue-propriété is bare ownership without that use. Fourthly, does the will expressly authorise a sale? Fifthly, where will the price be held until debts, tax and the beneficiaries’ shares have been calculated?

B. When an agreed sale can proceed before the final partition

A final partition is the operation that divides the estate between the beneficiaries. It is not always a prerequisite to selling an estate property. A family may agree to sell the house first, allow the notary to repay the mortgage and estate expenses, and divide or invest the net price when the rest of the succession has been established. This can be sensible where the property is vacant, expensive to maintain, exposed to damage or difficult to insure from abroad.

Consent must be analysed by reference to the act being signed. Article 815-3 of the Civil Code allows holders of at least two thirds of the undivided rights to carry out certain acts of administration. It also preserves a requirement of unanimity for a disposition that does not fall within the statutory exceptions. The current text is available on Légifrance, Article 815-3. A sale of the whole property is not treated as an ordinary maintenance decision merely because the sale price will ultimately be shared between the heirs.

In a consensual case, every required signatory should give the notary a clear written instruction. The instruction should identify the property, approve the proposed price or valuation method, authorise the estate agent if one is being used, and state how the proceeds will be held. It should also address whether the buyer’s offer is subject to a mortgage, whether the property is occupied, and whether repairs or diagnostics must be completed before the final deed. For a British executor living outside France, a notarised power of attorney may be more efficient than a trip to France, but the French notary must approve the form and signing formalities.

The executor should not confuse agreement to sell with agreement to distribute. A beneficiary may agree to the sale while reserving a dispute about valuation, debts, gifts made during life or the applicable tax treaty. The sale deed can record that the price is deposited with the notary and that each beneficiary’s final entitlement remains subject to the succession accounts. That arrangement reduces the risk of paying one person too early and then discovering that a creditor, tax authority or another heir has a better claim.

Practical completion often involves more than the executor’s signature. The French notary may need the property title, land-registry details, mortgage statements, planning documents, energy reports, insurance information, local-tax records and evidence that the seller is entitled to dispose of the property. If the deceased was married or in a civil partnership, the matrimonial or partnership regime may affect the surviving person’s rights. If there is a usufruit, a bare owner may not be able to sell full ownership without the usufructuary’s participation or a court order.

The executor should also distinguish three documents that are frequently confused. The UK grant of probate proves the UK personal representative’s authority within the relevant probate system. The French acte de notoriété identifies the heirs and the devolution of the succession. The French attestation immobilière records the property position in the estate and allows the notary to prepare the conveyancing chain. A buyer’s solicitor, a bank or a land registry may need different documents from each of these three categories.

Where the will contains the Article 1030-1 authority, the executor should ask the notary to confirm how the power will appear in the sale deed and how the heirs will be informed. Information is not merely a courtesy message. Article 1030-1 expressly links a failure to inform heirs with the sale’s enforceability against them. The executor should therefore keep proof of delivery, the text sent, the date, the address used and any response. If an heir cannot be located, the notary should advise on the correct procedural route rather than relying on a social-media message or an old email address.

For a British family, an agreed sale can therefore be realistic where the title evidence is complete, all necessary heirs or rights-holders consent, the will gives the executor a sufficient power or all beneficiaries sign, and the notary can control the proceeds. It becomes risky when the executor markets the property first and asks the French notary to find a legal basis later. A purchaser may lose patience, a reservation agreement may create liability, and a dispute about authority can delay the sale longer than the original succession.

II. What can a British executor do when an heir refuses or the sale is urgent?

A. The 2026 court routes: urgent sole sale and two-thirds licitation

Refusal by one heir does not always make a sale impossible, but it changes the process. The executor should first ask whether the refusal concerns the sale itself, the proposed price, the distribution of the proceeds, a debt, the applicable law or a separate allegation about the will. A court application that simply says “one heir will not sign” may be too thin. The evidence should show the property’s condition, the cost of keeping it, the offer or valuation, the messages exchanged, the ownership shares and the harm that delay is causing to the common estate.

The French Civil Code has several routes, and they are not interchangeable. Article 815-5 allows the court to authorise an indivisaire, meaning a co-owner of an undivided share, to carry out an act alone where the refusal of another person endangers the common interest. The official text is Légifrance, Article 815-5. The applicant must show more than inconvenience. The court examines the estate as a whole and the relationship between the proposed act and the common interest.

The Cour de cassation, France’s highest court for civil matters, illustrated that point in its judgment of 5 March 2014, first civil chamber, appeal no. 12-26.618. The decision criticised a failure to examine the argument that the refusal endangered the common interest of the whole estate. For an executor, the lesson is practical: collect evidence about the estate, not only about the single property. A blocked sale may be justified by insurance costs, urgent repairs, a mortgage, a tax liability, a rapidly falling value or an offer that is objectively favourable compared with the available valuation.

Article 815-5-1 creates a different mechanism where one or more co-owners hold at least two thirds of the undivided rights and want the property sold. The process begins with a notary notifying the other co-owners. They have a period in which to oppose the proposed sale; if the opposition remains, the matter can proceed to the tribunal judiciaire, the French civil court with jurisdiction over the application. The court may then order a licitation, meaning a court-supervised sale of the undivided property, subject to the statutory safeguards. Read the current provision on Légifrance, Article 815-5-1.

This two-thirds route should not be described as a simple majority vote. The shares must be calculated correctly, including the effect of a usufruit, a surviving spouse’s rights, a gift, a prior transfer or a disputed heirship. The notary’s notification must be made in the required form and within the statutory timetable. The court sale may also be less predictable than a negotiated private sale, so the executor should compare the cost of delay with the risk that a court-supervised process produces a lower price.

The Cour de cassation judgment of 20 November 2019, first civil chamber, appeal no. 18-23.762, is a useful warning about the Article 815-5-1 procedure. The court held, in the circumstances of that case, that the time limit for the notary’s notification did not carry the automatic sanction argued by the opposing co-owner, while the notified minority owner had had the opportunity to oppose the sale. The precise effect depends on the facts and the procedural history. The executor should not treat that decision as permission to skip a notification or to shorten the statutory period.

In December 2015, the Cour de cassation, first civil chamber, appeal no. 15-10.978, also addressed the effect of a licitation under Article 815-6. The court treated the sale price as substituting for the property within the undivided estate rather than automatically ending the entire partition process. That distinction matters to a British executor: a sale can turn a difficult French property into money while leaving the estate accounts, debts and final distribution to be completed afterwards.

The most significant recent change is Article 815-6 as amended by the law of 7 April 2026. Article 5 of that law added the ability for the president of the tribunal judiciaire, when acting for the common interest in an urgent situation, to authorise one co-owner to conclude the sale alone. The amending provision is published on Légifrance, Article 5 of Law no. 2026-248. The current Article 815-6 states, in the original wording, Il peut également autoriser un indivisaire à conclure seul un acte de vente d’un bien indivis. The consolidated provision is on Légifrance, Article 815-6.

This new route is not a general executor’s power. It is a court authorisation addressed to an indivisaire, and the applicant must establish urgency and the common interest. A British executor who is not personally an heir or co-owner may need to work with an heir, the surviving co-owner or another person with standing to apply. The application should explain why a normal unanimous sale cannot be completed, why the proposed transaction protects the estate and how the price will be secured pending the final accounts.

The procedural choice can be summarised as follows. Use the agreed notarial sale when every required right-holder can consent and the authority documents are sound. Consider Article 815-5 when a refusal creates a demonstrable danger to the common interest and a specific act is needed. Consider Article 815-5-1 when the two-thirds ownership threshold and its notification procedure are satisfied. Consider Article 815-6 when there is a genuine urgent situation and a court order authorising a sole sale is the appropriate protection. None of these routes excuses the executor from verifying the will, the heirs, the property rights and the tax consequences.

A usufruit requires particular caution. In its judgment of 13 June 2019, first civil chamber, appeal no. 18-17.347, the Cour de cassation refused to treat a full-ownership sale as something that could simply be ordered against a usufructuary under the relevant rules. The executor must identify whether the deceased owned full title, only bare ownership, or a share encumbered by a usufruit. A court route designed for undivided ownership cannot be used to erase another person’s legally protected enjoyment of the property.

B. How to protect the estate, tax position and UK beneficiaries

Even when the authority to sell is established, the executor remains responsible for protecting value. A French property can generate mortgage interest, insurance, security, utilities, condominium charges, local taxes and urgent repairs while the family is waiting for documents from the United Kingdom. Article 815-13 of the Civil Code addresses improvements and necessary conservation expenses in the accounts between co-owners. The text is available on Légifrance, Article 815-13. Keep invoices, payment records, photographs and correspondence with the notary so that a later account can distinguish necessary preservation from an optional improvement.

The executor should agree a price using evidence rather than urgency alone. Obtain an independent valuation or two local market opinions, disclose material defects, review any tenant or occupancy rights, and ask the notary whether a diagnostic or planning document has expired. A low price may harm protected heirs; an inflated price may leave the estate carrying months of avoidable costs. The sale file should record the reason for the selected price, the date of the valuation and any difference between the asking price, the accepted offer and the final deed.

The proceeds should normally remain under the notary’s control until the debts, taxes and entitlements are known. The executor should not distribute the whole sale price to UK beneficiaries immediately after completion. The notary may need to pay off a mortgage, settle condominium arrears, retain amounts for taxes or satisfy a creditor. The beneficiaries may also disagree about whether a lifetime gift, loan, funeral expense or repair cost belongs in the estate account. A written distribution schedule is safer than informal transfers based on a percentage calculated before the final liabilities are known.

Inheritance tax is a separate layer from the authority to sell. The French term droits de succession means inheritance tax. The estate may have a French filing obligation even if the deceased lived in the United Kingdom, owned other assets there or had a UK probate grant. The French tax authority’s succession guidance should be checked with the notary or tax adviser for the deceased’s domicile, the location of the property and the filing deadline. Do not assume that the sale itself replaces the declaration of succession.

There can also be a UK inheritance-tax and treaty analysis. HMRC’s guidance on the France–United Kingdom estate-tax convention explains that French tax paid may need to be evidenced when relief or credit is claimed in the UK, and refers to the French clearance certificate issued after the French succession tax position has been dealt with. The current official material is in the HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual. The executor should keep the French return, tax assessment, proof of payment and any certificat d’acquittement, meaning the French tax-clearance certificate, with the UK estate records.

A sale may also create a capital-gains issue. The French term plus-value immobilière means a gain on the disposal of real property. The calculation can depend on the deceased’s acquisition value, the date and price of acquisition, documented works, transfer costs, exemptions, the beneficiary’s position and the identity of the seller. A British executor should ask the notary to identify who is liable, what evidence of expenditure is accepted and whether a withholding or declaration is required. This is especially important where the property was a second home, had been rented, or was acquired many years before the death.

The cross-border document pack should be prepared as a transaction checklist, not as a collection of unconnected scans. A useful pack includes:

• the original or certified copy of the will, together with the relevant UK grant of probate or other grant of representation;
• the French death certificate and, where necessary, a certified translation and authentication;
• birth, marriage, civil-partnership and death certificates needed to prove the family chain;
• the acte de notoriété, the French succession calculation and any evidence of acceptance or renunciation;
• the property deed, cadastral information, mortgage statement, condominium records, insurance and local-tax documents;
• the written valuation, estate-agent mandate, buyer’s offer and evidence that the price is reasonable;
• powers of attorney signed in the form approved by the French notary;
• proof that heirs were informed where Article 1030-1 or another procedure requires it; and
• the proposed schedule for repaying debts, retaining tax, holding the balance and completing the final distribution.

The GOV.UK guidance for a British person who dies in France recommends obtaining extra copies of the local death certificate and explains that a local French certificate can usually be used in the UK for most purposes, including probate. The guidance is on GOV.UK: When someone dies in France. It also notes that documents are normally issued in French and that an official translator may be needed. The executor should still follow the French notary’s specific requirements for the property sale.

Communication with the refusing heir should be deliberate. Send a concise proposal with the valuation, the offer, the expected completion costs, the reason for selling now, and the method for safeguarding the price. Offer a notarial meeting by video where possible. If the disagreement is really about the division of money, a separate written reservation may permit the sale while preserving that accounting dispute. If the disagreement concerns the will, capacity, undue influence or the identity of the heirs, a sale application should not be used to conceal the underlying dispute.

If litigation becomes necessary, the executor should ask the French lawyer to define the remedy precisely. The court may be asked for authority to perform a particular act, an urgent protective measure, a licitation, or a direction concerning the proceeds. The application should identify the property, the legal shares, all affected parties, the urgency, the evidence of value, the proposed safeguards and the order sought. A vague request for “permission to sell” creates avoidable procedural risk, especially when the executor is relying on a UK appointment that does not itself determine French title.

The 2019 and 2014 Cour de cassation decisions show why the facts and the record matter. Appeal no. 18-23.762 concerns the safeguards and timing of an Article 815-5-1 procedure. Appeal no. 12-26.618 concerns the need to examine the common-interest argument in the estate as a whole. Neither judgment should be turned into a universal formula. They are authorities to be read with the current Civil Code, the precise ownership structure and the evidence in the particular estate.

Finally, a British executor should keep a dated decision log. Record when the death was registered, when the UK grant was issued, when the French notary received each document, when heirs were informed, when the property was valued, when offers were received, when the court route was considered and when the price was deposited. This log helps answer later questions from beneficiaries, HMRC, the French tax authority, a buyer or a court. It also protects the executor against the allegation that the property was sold hurriedly, without authority or at an unexplained discount.

Conclusion

A British executor can sometimes sell a French property before the estate has been fully settled, but the answer depends on the French title and succession file rather than on the UK grant alone. An agreed sale is usually the most efficient route where the heirs or other rights-holders consent, the will provides the necessary power, the French notary can establish authority and the proceeds are held pending the estate accounts. Article 1030-1 may assist an executor expressly authorised by the will, subject to the protected-heir and information safeguards.

Where an heir refuses, the executor must choose the correct French procedure. Articles 815-5, 815-5-1 and the amended Article 815-6 offer different remedies for danger to the common interest, a two-thirds co-ownership situation and genuine urgency. The 2026 Article 815-6 reform can support an application for one co-owner to conclude the sale alone, but it does not turn every UK executor into an automatic seller. The will, the heirs, the ownership shares, any usufruit, the evidence of urgency and the tax position should be reviewed before a buyer is given an unconditional promise.

For a cross-border family, the practical objective is to make the sale legally defensible and financially traceable: prove authority, inform the right people, secure the price, pay the estate’s liabilities, preserve evidence and complete the final distribution only when the notary’s accounts are ready.

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