For a British citizen who has settled in France, the question “will the UK still tax my estate?” has changed materially since 6 April 2025. Nationality does not decide the answer. The decisive questions are where the deceased lived for UK tax purposes, how many of the previous 20 UK tax years were UK-resident years, where each asset is situated, and whether the family has already paid French tax on the same property.

The new UK long-term-resident test can keep overseas assets within the scope of UK Inheritance Tax after a move to France. France applies its own territorial rules, including a six-year residence condition for some inheritances received by a French tax resident. The 1963 France–United Kingdom estate-tax convention then has to be read asset by asset. A French home, a UK pension, shares in a company, bank accounts and a trust interest do not necessarily follow the same route.

This guide is for a British family living in France that needs a practical map before a death, after a death, or when a tax authority asks for evidence. It separates tax from succession law, explains the French filing timetable, identifies the documents that support treaty relief, and shows where an incorrect assessment can be challenged. It does not replace a review of the deceased’s residence history, family status, will, trust arrangements, valuations and previous tax filings.

For the civil-law question of who inherits, see our guide explaining who inherits in France after Brexit when a British resident dies without a will. The present article addresses the separate tax question: how the United Kingdom and France may assess the same worldwide estate and how the family can document relief.

I. What do the 2026 UK long-term-resident rules mean for a British resident in France?

A. Does moving to France remove UK Inheritance Tax from a worldwide estate?

Moving to France is not, by itself, an exit from UK Inheritance Tax. The UK tax is a charge on transfers of value, including a death estate, and the new test is built around residence rather than a permanent assumption based on domicile. The starting point for a British family is therefore a year-by-year residence schedule, not a passport check and not the address printed on a French residence card.

HM Revenue & Customs explains the change in its official guidance on Inheritance Tax for long-term UK residents. From 6 April 2025, a person is generally a long-term UK resident when they have been UK-resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years. For that person, overseas assets can fall within UK Inheritance Tax. The calculation is tied to tax years and statutory residence rules, so a family should preserve travel records, work records, home availability, split-year correspondence and earlier self-assessment material rather than relying on an approximate count of calendar years.

The practical effect is easiest to see with a British retiree who spent 12 of the 20 preceding tax years resident in the UK and then moved permanently to France. A French address does not erase the UK history. If death occurs while the person is within the long-term-resident regime, the UK analysis can reach the French home, French bank accounts and other assets outside the United Kingdom, subject to exemptions, reliefs, the available nil-rate bands and the treaty position. The family must then identify the value and location of each asset instead of assuming that the French estate is outside the UK return.

The rules also have a tail after departure. HMRC’s Inheritance Tax Manual guidance on the long-term-resident test gives the framework: a person who has accumulated 10 or more UK-resident years can remain within the relevant overseas-asset regime for a period after leaving, with the period depending on the number of UK-resident years in the preceding 20-year history. HMRC illustrates the progression: 10 to 13 qualifying years can produce a three-year tail, 14 years a four-year tail, and 15 years a five-year tail, with the table continuing for longer histories. A family should obtain the precise year count from the records; an estimate such as “I left five years ago” is not a legal conclusion.

There are several traps in that calculation. First, a split tax year may be treated as a full year for this particular test, so the date of the move must be read with the residence rules rather than counted informally. Secondly, the test can apply regardless of what the family believes the person’s common-law domicile to be. Thirdly, trusts and assets held jointly can require separate analysis. A transfer into a trust, a retained benefit, a life interest, a pension arrangement and a company holding property may each have different reporting consequences.

That is why a British resident in France should create an evidence pack before a death. It should contain the dates of UK and French homes, employment and pension records, travel calendars, council-tax or utility evidence, French tax returns, UK tax returns, notices of assessment, the purchase and valuation documents for major assets, trust deeds, pension statements and any advice on domicile or treaty relief. The purpose is not to choose a favourable label. It is to let the executors prove the factual sequence on which the statutory test depends.

UK residence and French residence are also different questions from the civil-law rules governing who inherits. A person may be French tax-resident for French income-tax purposes and still have a UK Inheritance Tax exposure. Conversely, a UK charge does not automatically determine whether a child, spouse or civil partner inherits under French or English succession law. The tax file and the succession file should be opened together, but they should not be merged.

Finally, the 2026 position must be checked against the date of death and any transitional rule that applies. The relevant HMRC guidance and the IHT417 foreign-assets schedule are useful starting points, but an executor should not complete a worldwide estate schedule without confirming the long-term-resident status, the asset situs and the available reliefs. The question is not simply “am I British?” or “do I live in France?” It is “which legal connection applies to which asset on the date of death?”

B. What does France tax when a British family member dies?

French inheritance tax is commonly described in English as droits de succession. The wider statutory expression is droits de mutation à titre gratuit, meaning duties on transfers without consideration, including inheritances and gifts. France does not apply one simple “French property only” rule. Its tax jurisdiction can follow the deceased’s French tax residence, the heir’s French tax residence, the location of French assets, and the special conditions in the France–United Kingdom convention.

The territorial starting point is Article 750 ter of the French General Tax Code (Code général des impôts, or CGI). The article begins: “Sont soumis aux droits de mutation à titre gratuit :” It then covers, in particular, worldwide movable and immovable assets where the deceased was fiscally domiciled in France. If the deceased was not fiscally domiciled in France, French assets can still be within the French charge. A third limb can bring worldwide assets into the French base when the heir or beneficiary is French tax-resident and has been so resident for at least six of the ten years before receiving the assets.

The six-year rule should not be confused with the UK ten-out-of-twenty test. They answer different questions. The UK rule can determine whether overseas assets are within UK Inheritance Tax by reference to the deceased’s UK residence history. Article 750 ter, third limb, asks whether the recipient has had French tax residence for at least six years in the preceding ten. The dates, the relevant taxpayer and the tax consequence differ. A family that has lived in France for four years should not assume that all worldwide assets are taxable in France under that limb; a family that has lived there for seven years should not assume that the United Kingdom has lost every claim.

French territoriality also reaches beyond a building registered in France. Article 750 ter can address shares, claims, securities and certain indirect real-estate holdings. A French SCI is a civil property company; its shares are not automatically treated like the direct ownership of a French house for every tax question. The balance sheet, the shareholder’s rights, the location and composition of the underlying assets, and any applicable treaty rule must be reviewed. The same caution applies to a UK company holding a French property, a family investment company, a trust and a life-insurance policy.

Where the French statute taxes an inheritance and foreign death tax has also been paid, Article 784 A CGI provides a statutory credit in the cases covered by Article 750 ter. Its operative text states: “Dans les cas définis aux 1° et 3° de l’article 750 ter, le montant des droits de mutation à titre gratuit acquitté, le cas échéant, hors de France est imputable sur l’impôt exigible en France.” The credit is limited to the French tax attributable to movable and immovable property situated outside France. It is not a general refund of every foreign tax paid and it does not remove the need to establish what the foreign tax relates to.

The bilateral layer must then be considered. France and the United Kingdom signed a convention concerning estate taxes on 21 June 1963, published in France by Décret n° 64-789 du 27 July 1964. The UK publishes the corresponding convention in its official treaty material and HMRC explains the interaction with foreign property in its Inheritance Tax Manual guidance for France. The convention is not a blanket exemption for a British resident in France. It allocates taxing rights and relief by reference to the asset, the deceased, the beneficiary and the tax already imposed.

For example, a French home may be taxed in France because it is French-situated property, while UK-situated assets may be within the UK estate-tax analysis. A French tax residence can make the worldwide estate relevant under French domestic law, but the treaty can alter the final burden and the mechanism for eliminating double taxation. A UK executor who simply pays the first demand without recording which country taxed which asset may lose the ability to claim the correct credit or treaty relief.

Tax is only one part of the family’s exposure. For civil succession, Article 720 of the French Civil Code states: “Les successions s’ouvrent par la mort, au dernier domicile du défunt.” The law governing the devolution of the estate may be selected or determined under the European succession framework and the deceased’s will. That issue should not be inferred from the tax residence alone.

French law also protects certain close descendants through the réserve héréditaire, the reserved portion of an estate, and leaves the remainder as the quotité disponible, the freely disposable portion. Article 912 of the Civil Code defines those concepts. Article 913 sets the reserved share for descendants and includes a special protective mechanism in certain international situations. If a beneficiary believes a will or gift infringes the reserved portion, the tax calculation does not resolve the civil claim.

The limitation period matters. Under Article 921 of the Civil Code, the action for reduction of excessive gifts is generally brought within five years from the opening of the succession or two years from the date the heir learned of the infringement, subject to the statutory ten-year long-stop from death. That civil deadline is different from the six-month French inheritance-tax filing deadline. A family can be late on one file and still be within time on the other, or face both problems simultaneously.

II. How should a British family file, calculate and challenge French and UK inheritance tax?

A. What must be filed in France, by when, and how can the bill be paid?

The first French question after a death is not “which rate applies?” It is “which declaration is due, which office receives it, and what evidence will support the territorial position?” The French tax administration’s English explanation of how and where to declare an inheritance in France confirms that a French-resident heir receiving an estate from a non-resident may have to declare French assets and, where the statutory residence condition is met, assets situated outside France. The death certificate, will, family documents and the deceased’s residence history should be gathered before figures are entered.

For the formal filing, the principal form is form 2705-SD, together with the schedules required by the composition of the estate. The French administration’s public guidance explains that a declaration is normally expected within six months when the death occurred in France and within twelve months when the death occurred abroad, subject to the statutory rules and exceptions. The same timetable appears in Article 641 CGI, which provides: “Les déclarations de succession doivent être souscrites dans les six mois du décès lorsque celui-ci s’est produit en France métropolitaine et dans les douze mois dans tous les autres cas.” The deadline is not extended merely because the beneficiaries live in the United Kingdom.

Who files depends on the estate and the family agreement. A French notary will usually prepare the declaration where the estate contains French real property, a complex family structure, an international will, a trust, or a dispute about the heirs. A beneficiary may still need to provide complete information and sign or review the forms. Under Article 800 CGI, “Les héritiers, légataires ou donataires, leurs tuteurs ou curateurs, sont tenus de souscrire une déclaration détaillée.” That obligation makes an incomplete asset list risky even when the notary is handling the submission.

The valuation file should be assembled asset by asset. For a French house, keep the deed, the latest market evidence, mortgage statements, insurance, and any valuation used for wealth-tax or sale discussions. For UK property, keep the title information, valuation evidence at the date of death, mortgage balance and any relief analysis. For shares, funds and bank accounts, preserve statements dated at death. For a pension or QROPS, obtain the scheme’s death-benefit statement and terms rather than treating the gross fund value as automatically part of the taxable estate. For trusts, provide the deed, amendments, trustee accounts, distributions and any retained-benefit facts.

Family status changes the calculation. The surviving spouse and the French civil partner, known as a partenaire lié par un pacte civil de solidarité, are exempt from French death-transfer duties under Article 796-0 bis CGI, which states: “Sont exonérés de droits de mutation par décès le conjoint survivant et le partenaire lié au défunt par un pacte civil de solidarité.” The exemption from tax does not automatically settle the question of who owns the property, who inherits, whether a will is effective, or whether UK tax is due.

Children and other beneficiaries are assessed under the French relationship-based scale. Article 777 CGI states: “Les droits de mutation à titre gratuit sont fixés aux taux indiqués dans les tableaux ci-après, pour la part nette revenant à chaque ayant droit :” The direct-line scale is progressive, and the relevant allowance must be applied before the rate table. Article 779 CGI provides the major direct-line allowance for each parent and each child, subject to the conditions and amount in force on the date of the transfer. The family should record the relationship, prior gifts and any allowance already used rather than applying a rate to the gross estate.

Payment normally accompanies the declaration. Article 1701 CGI states: “Les droits des actes et ceux des mutations par décès sont payés avant l’exécution de l’enregistrement.” It adds that payment cannot simply be reduced or deferred by private agreement. That rule explains why a family can face an immediate cash problem even when most of the estate is a French home, a business interest or an illiquid investment.

There may be a route to staged payment. The French tax administration explains that a request for fractioned or deferred payment can accompany the inheritance declaration, with conditions, security and interest. The form of the request depends on the assets and the type of payment facility. Do not assume that a request to the notary automatically suspends the tax deadline. Ask for written confirmation of the amount accepted, the security required, the instalment schedule and the consequence of a missed payment.

The practical deadline plan should therefore have four parallel tracks: obtain the death and civil-status documents; establish the UK residence count and UK estate-tax reporting position; map the French and foreign assets; and prepare the French declaration and any payment-facility request. A family that waits for the final valuation of every asset before speaking to the French tax office may lose time. It is better to identify provisional values, explain what remains outstanding, and update the declaration through the proper channel.

Keep a bilingual glossary in the file. “Succession” means the estate process, while “droits de succession” refers to inheritance tax. “Domicile fiscal” means tax residence for the relevant French rule, not a postal address. “Actif net taxable” means the taxable net assets after permitted deductions, not necessarily the same as the figure used for a UK probate account. Translators and advisers should use the same definitions in both countries so that the same asset is not described as a pension in one return and as a trust distribution in the other.

B. How do you use the treaty, prove double tax, and challenge an incorrect bill?

The France–UK convention works only when the family can show the facts behind the claim. A treaty submission should identify each asset, its legal owner, its location under the treaty, the country that assessed it, the amount actually paid or payable, the date of payment, and the provision relied on. A single sentence saying “the estate is double-taxed” is not enough. The competent authority or tax office needs to compare like with like.

Start with a two-column asset schedule. In the first column, describe the asset and its value at the date of death: French property, UK property, bank account, shares, pension, trust interest, loan, insurance policy or business interest. In the second, record the UK treatment and the French treatment, including whether the asset is included in the tax base, whether an exemption or relief applies, and whether the tax is a tax on the asset or a tax on the beneficiary. Add a third note for the treaty rule and the evidence supporting the situs. This structure prevents a credit for UK tax paid on one asset being wrongly used against French tax on another.

For French domestic relief, return to Article 784 A CGI. The text limits the imputation to the French tax due on foreign movable and immovable property. If UK Inheritance Tax was calculated by reference to a French home, the credit analysis cannot simply be copied across from a UK account containing shares and cash. The treaty may provide a different allocation or relief method. HMRC’s official guidance on Inheritance Tax double-taxation relief and the France-specific manual should be read with the convention, the French filing and proof of actual tax paid.

Proof is often the decisive issue. Keep the UK Inheritance Tax account, HMRC calculation, payment receipt, probate correspondence and any certificate confirming the tax position. Keep the French 2705-SD, the assessment or payment notice, bank evidence, the notary’s account, valuation reports and correspondence with the service des impôts des entreprises, the French business tax office that can receive certain inheritance filings. If one country has not yet issued a final assessment, record the provisional position and update the other authority rather than claiming a credit for an amount that has never become due.

Residence evidence must be equally precise. For the UK, prepare a table of each tax year in the previous 20 years, the residence conclusion, the source documents and any disputed day count. For France, record the dates on which the heir was tax-resident during the previous ten years and the returns or assessments supporting that result. Include the deceased’s last home, family life, work, health care, travel and tax filings. The residence history is a factual record; it should be capable of being checked by an executor who did not know the deceased’s movements personally.

An incorrect French assessment can arise from several different errors. The office may have treated the heir as French-resident for the six-of-ten-year rule without counting the years correctly. It may have included a foreign asset even though the relevant taxpayer was not within the statutory condition. It may have used the wrong relationship category or ignored an exemption for a spouse or civil partner. It may have valued a private company, a French SCI, a usufruct or a trust interest without analysing the underlying rights. It may have refused a foreign-tax credit because the payment evidence or asset allocation was not attached.

An incorrect UK calculation can likewise come from a wrong long-term-resident year count, a missed relief, an incorrect treatment of a trust or pension, or a failure to apply the treaty to French-situated property. The family should ask for the legal basis and calculation rather than arguing only that the deceased had “moved abroad”. A written schedule showing the disputed year, asset, value, statutory provision and requested correction gives the authority something it can answer.

The civil succession file can alter the tax facts. A will may leave a French home to a spouse, a child or a trust. A lifetime gift may have used a French allowance or changed the reserved portion. An election of applicable succession law may affect the beneficiary, and therefore the French relationship-based tax calculation. If a child claims that the disposition infringes the reserved portion, the family may need to preserve the limitation period under Article 921 while tax returns are being prepared. Probate, notarial work and tax compliance should be coordinated, but each deadline should remain visible in a separate calendar.

For a British family in France, the following working sequence is proportionate to the risk:

• Record the date and place of death, the last French and UK residence position, and the names of every heir, legatee and trustee.
• Build the 20-year UK residence table and the ten-year French-residence table, marking every uncertain year for evidence collection.
• List every asset at its date-of-death value, with ownership, location, currency, debt, beneficiary designation and supporting document.
• Apply the UK long-term-resident test, the French Article 750 ter limbs and the 1963 convention separately before calculating the final tax.
• Prepare the UK account and French 2705-SD in parallel, declaring uncertainty rather than omitting an asset.
• Claim the correct treaty relief or Article 784 A credit with proof of the foreign tax, the asset allocation and the payment.
• Check relationship allowances, spouse or PACS exemption, prior gifts, reserved-heir issues and any trust or pension-specific regime.
• Diary the six-month or twelve-month French filing date, the UK payment date, any instalment request and the time limit for challenging a tax assessment or a civil disposition.

This sequence also gives the family a defensible answer to the question that usually arrives first: “What should we do this week?” Secure the documents, notify the notary and the relevant tax advisers, freeze assumptions about residence and domicile, and preserve the evidence for each asset. Do not distribute the estate on the basis of a provisional tax estimate when a treaty claim, a trust analysis or an overseas-property valuation remains unresolved.

There is no single France–UK inheritance-tax percentage that can be applied to a worldwide estate. The final result may depend on the deceased’s UK residence history, the heir’s French residence history, the location and ownership of each asset, the family relationship, the will, the convention, statutory credits, reliefs and the date on which the transfer occurred. A family can reduce avoidable cost by getting the map right before it argues about the arithmetic.

Conclusion

The 2026 UK long-term-resident rules mean that a British person who has settled in France may still leave a worldwide estate within the UK Inheritance Tax analysis. France can also tax an estate under Article 750 ter CGI, including worldwide assets in the situations covered by the deceased’s French residence or the heir’s six-of-ten-year French residence. The 1963 convention and the French foreign-tax credit rules are designed to address the overlap, but they do not work without an asset-by-asset schedule and reliable evidence.

The immediate priorities are to count the residence years, identify every asset and owner, preserve date-of-death valuations, prepare the French 2705-SD within the correct deadline, and document any UK tax paid. A French tax return, a UK estate-tax account, a will and a treaty claim answer different legal questions. Treating them as one form is the quickest way to miss an exemption, lose a credit or allow a deadline to expire.

Need a quick opinion on your case

You can arrange a telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer from the firm. We can review the UK residence history, the French tax-residence evidence, the worldwide asset schedule and the treaty or inheritance-tax issue that needs an answer.

Call +33 6 46 60 58 22 for Maître Reda Kohen, or use the firm’s contact form to send the first documents and your deadline.