A British citizen who has settled in France may expect an English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish will to settle the estate. That assumption is unsafe. After a death, at least four questions must be separated: which country’s succession law governs, whether the document is formally usable in France, whether children have a protected share, and which authority can release or transfer each asset. A grant of probate in the United Kingdom answers only part of that chain.
For a French notary (a notaire, the public legal professional who administers many French estates), the decisive facts include the deceased’s habitual residence at death, any express choice of law in the will, the UK territorial system concerned, the location of assets, the family structure and the date of death. Brexit did not turn every French estate into a French-law estate, nor did it make a UK will self-executing in France.
This guide examines the position of a British resident who dies in France with a UK will. It explains the European succession rules still applied by French authorities, the French réserve héréditaire (reserved portion protected for certain heirs), the quotité disponible (the portion that can be freely left by gift or will), the practical notarial file and the remedies available when a beneficiary or child is told that the will cannot be used. The estate must be reviewed as a whole: a will, a French home, UK accounts, pensions, debts and tax declarations cannot safely be handled as isolated files.
I. Which law governs a British resident’s succession in France?
A. Does a UK will automatically make UK law govern the estate?
The starting point is the deceased’s situation at death, not the nationality written on the first page of the will. Under Article 720 of the French Civil Code, “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. That provision identifies an important French connecting factor, but a cross-border estate is then governed by the applicable conflict-of-laws rules.
For deaths covered by it, Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 is applied by French authorities even though the United Kingdom did not opt into the regulation and is no longer an EU Member State. Its Article 20 states that “Any law specified by this Regulation shall be applied whether or not it is the law of a Member State.” Article 21 normally points to the law of the State in which the deceased had his or her habitual residence at death. A person who was genuinely settled in France will therefore often fall within French succession law if there is no effective choice of another law.
The regulation also permits a person to choose the law of a country of which he or she is a national. Article 22 allows a British national to choose the law of the relevant UK legal system, provided the choice is made expressly in a disposition on death or is demonstrated by the terms of that disposition. A clause saying that “this will is made under English law” is not necessarily the same as a carefully drafted choice governing the whole succession. The wording, the date of the will, the testator’s nationality and the territorial law intended must be checked together.
“UK law” is not one single succession code. England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have different rules on wills, executors, family provision and the treatment of property. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man also have their own systems. A solicitor’s description of the will as an “English will” may be accurate for its formal drafting but still leave an avoidable question about which law the French notary must apply to the estate as a whole. The will should identify the intended system with enough precision for a French reader and should be reviewed when the family, residence or nationality changes.
Article 23 of the regulation is especially important because the law selected under Articles 21 or 22 governs the succession as a whole. It covers beneficiaries, their shares, the surviving spouse’s succession rights, disinheritance, the transfer of assets, the powers of executors, debts, reserved shares and the division of the estate. That unity is why a British owner should not assume that a French house is automatically dealt with under French succession law while every bank account follows the will under UK law. The outcome depends on the regulation, the chosen law and the rules governing the particular asset’s registration or enforcement.
There is a separate distinction for tax. The regulation expressly leaves taxes and administrative matters to national law. A French notary can therefore reach one conclusion on the civil law governing the will and another conclusion on which country taxes a French property, a UK account or a beneficiary. The inheritance-tax analysis must be run separately in France and the UK, with double-tax relief considered where both systems charge the same transmission.
French domestic law still matters for the assets and acts carried out in France. Article 3 of the Civil Code provides: “Les immeubles, même ceux possédés par des étrangers, sont régis par la loi française.” That sentence does not by itself override Regulation 650/2012 on the civil succession as a whole. It does explain why a French property transfer, land-register filing, notarial deed and certain public-law formalities remain a French operation even when the succession law selected is that of England and Wales or another UK system.
The practical test is therefore cumulative. The notary should record the habitual residence at death, any unusual closer connection with another country, the exact choice-of-law clause, the relevant UK territorial law, the assets and any mandatory French rules affecting their transfer. If the family supplies only the will and a UK probate order, the file is incomplete. If the family supplies only a French address, the file is also incomplete.
B. How can a French notary recognise and administer a UK will?
Validity has at least two layers. The first is formal validity: was the document signed, witnessed or otherwise executed in a way recognised by the applicable law? The second is substantive validity: could the testator make the gifts, choose the law and exclude or limit a particular heir? A document can pass the first test and fail, or be limited by, the second.
The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on the Conflicts of Laws relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions assists with the form question. Its Article 1 begins: “A testamentary disposition shall be valid as regards form if its form complies with the internal law”. The Convention then lists connecting factors such as the place where the will was made, the testator’s nationality, domicile or habitual residence, and the location of immovable property. This can prevent a will from being rejected merely because its layout is unfamiliar in France, but it does not decide forced heirship or the substantive reach of a choice-of-law clause.
GOV.UK explains that a will must be formally witnessed and signed to be legally valid, and also warns that Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules. The official guidance on making a will should be read for the relevant UK jurisdiction. A British testator should preserve the original will, every codicil (a formal amendment to a will), evidence of the witnesses and any solicitor’s file. A scan is useful for opening the conversation with the notary; it is not a substitute for the original document where the UK probate process or the French administration requires it.
The UK executor and the French notary have different functions. GOV.UK states that an executor named in the will can apply for probate and that the original will must be sent with the application. Its probate guidance says: “You’ll need to send the original will with your probate application – you cannot use a photocopy.” The grant of probate can establish authority for the UK side of the estate, subject to the applicable UK procedure. It does not automatically transfer a French house, compel a French bank to release funds or decide a dispute about the law applicable to the whole succession.
In France, the notary usually builds the civil file around the French death certificate, family records, marriage or civil-partnership evidence, identity documents, proof of residence, the original will and codicils, the UK grant or equivalent evidence, the asset schedule and the liabilities. The notary may prepare an acte de notoriété, a deed identifying the persons entitled to the succession, and an attestation immobilière, the notarial deed used to record the transmission of French real estate. The European e-Justice portal’s French succession guidance describes the notary’s role in establishing the succession, preparing the property certificate and supporting the inheritance-tax declaration.
Documents issued in the UK may need a certified French translation. The notary must also say whether the particular document needs an apostille or another authentication. An apostille authenticates the signature, capacity or seal on a public document; it does not prove that the will’s gifts are valid under the succession law. The family should ask the notary for a document-by-document list rather than apostilling every paper without a purpose. A death certificate, probate grant, witness statement and solicitor’s certification may have different treatment.
French law contains its own procedures for a will that has to be used in France. Article 1000 of the Civil Code states that “Les testaments faits en pays étranger ne pourront être exécutés sur les biens situés en France qu’après avoir été enregistrés”. The registration rule is not a declaration that French substantive succession law always controls. It is a formal step that may arise when a foreign will is to be executed over French assets. The notary should identify the competent office and the order of filing for the actual estate.
Likewise, Article 1007 of the Civil Code provides that “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 a French testament olographe (a will entirely handwritten, dated and signed by the testator) or a testament mystique (a sealed will made under a specific French form). The point is that a French notary must receive and process the document before the French estate can be completed. The legal character of the UK instrument must be established rather than guessed from its appearance.
For comparison, Article 970 of the Civil Code says: “Le testament olographe ne sera point valable s’il est écrit en entier, daté et signé de la main du testateur”. That is the French domestic test for a holographic will. It is not a reason to reject a properly executed English or Welsh witnessed will. It is a reason to avoid rewriting a UK will into a French category without first checking the Hague Convention and the law applicable to form.
Language can create a second practical problem. If a new French notarial will is dictated in English, the French notary must ensure that the testator understands the act and that the formalities are satisfied. Article 972 of the Civil Code provides that, where the testator cannot express himself or herself in French, the dictation and reading may be carried out by an interpreter chosen from the relevant judicial-expert lists. An English explanatory letter attached to an old will is not a substitute for a valid testamentary disposition or a properly translated document.
The best file has a chronology. It states when the deceased left the UK, where the permanent home and family life were located, which country received tax returns, where work or business was carried out, when each will was signed, whether a later codicil changed the choice of law, when French residence began, and when each asset was acquired. The chronology does not decide the case on its own. It gives the notary and, if necessary, the court the evidence needed to apply the correct connecting factors.
II. Can French forced heirship defeat a UK will after Brexit?
A. What happens to children, the spouse and the reserved portion?
French forced heirship is not a simple nationality rule. It is a substantive protection that applies when French succession law governs, and a potential compensatory remedy in a narrower international situation. The first task is to identify the law governing the whole succession. Only then can the family calculate what a child, surviving spouse or other beneficiary can claim.
Under Article 912 of the Civil Code, “La réserve héréditaire est la part des biens et droits successoraux dont la loi assure la dévolution libre de charges à certains héritiers dits réservataires”. In English, the reserved portion is the part of the estate that the law protects for qualifying reserved heirs. The balance is the quotité disponible, which the deceased may leave to a spouse, partner, child, friend, charity or other beneficiary, subject to the full facts.
Article 913 of the Civil Code begins: “Les libéralités, soit par actes entre vifs, soit par testament, ne pourront excéder la moitié des biens du disposant”. Its current scheme gives a single child a reserved half, two children a reserved two-thirds, and three or more children a reserved three-quarters, leaving the corresponding balance available. These percentages describe the French-law calculation. They do not establish that French law governs a British resident’s estate in every case.
If the deceased validly chose the law of England and Wales, or if another conflict rule directs the French authority to that law, the absence of a fixed French reserved portion may change the result. English law does not operate with the same fixed reserve percentages. It can nevertheless give certain spouses, children or dependants a claim for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. That family-provision claim is not the same as a French reserved share, and its availability, forum, time limit and effect require advice under the relevant UK law.
There is also a French compensatory mechanism for certain successions opened from 1 November 2021. Service-Public’s current page on disinheriting children explains that, under conditions, a child excluded by a foreign law may recover an equivalent on assets existing in France at the date of death. Article 913 refers to the situation where the deceased or at least one child was an EU national or habitually resident in an EU Member State at death, and the applicable foreign law provides no protective reserved mechanism for children. A deceased person habitually resident in France may therefore satisfy one connecting condition even if he or she was British, but every other condition must be checked.
The compensatory levy is not a universal conversion of an English will into a French will. It is limited to French assets existing at death and to the rights recognised by the French reserve calculation. It may also be unavailable if the applicable foreign law already offers a protective mechanism of the kind contemplated by the provision. The children’s ages, nationality and habitual residence, the deceased’s status, the wording of the will, the location of assets and the content of the selected UK law all matter. The notary should calculate the estate and record the reason for accepting or rejecting the claim.
The Cour de cassation has warned against both extremes. In its First Civil Chamber judgment of 27 September 2017, no. 16-17.198, the court considered a Californian law that did not contain a French-style reserve. Its verified reasoning states: “qu’une loi étrangère désignée par la règle de conflit qui ignore la réserve héréditaire n’est pas en soi contraire”. The court continued, in substance, that the foreign law could be set aside only if its concrete application produced a situation incompatible with principles regarded as essential under French law. The decision is published on the Cour de cassation website.
That judgment did not concern a British resident and cannot answer an individual estate. It is still a useful warning. The fact that a French asset exists does not automatically produce a French reserved share, and the fact that a will names a foreign law does not automatically remove every French protection. A court examines the chosen law, the connecting factors and the concrete effect on the people claiming protection.
If French law governs and a disposition exceeds the available portion, the remedy is normally an action in reduction rather than an accusation that the entire will is void. Article 921 of the Civil Code provides: “Le délai de prescription de l’action en réduction est fixé à cinq ans à compter de l’ouverture de la succession”. The same article also gives a two-year period from knowledge of the infringement, subject to its long-stop limit. The beneficiary must obtain a calculation of the notional estate, prior gifts, debts and each child’s reserved share before deciding which action to bring.
The difference between an action in reduction and a compensatory levy is practical. The first tests whether French protected shares have been exceeded under the law governing the succession. The second responds to a defined international situation in which a foreign law lacking a protective mechanism has excluded a child and French assets can be used to restore the French measure. A letter that simply says “the will is illegal because France has forced heirship” is too imprecise. It should identify the legal basis, the estate assets, the calculation and the relief sought.
B. What should beneficiaries do if the notary refuses the will or assets?
The first response should be written and focused. Ask the notary to state whether the objection concerns authenticity, form, translation, apostille, registration, choice of law, reserved shares, the identity of an heir, a debt, a tax issue or the power to release a particular asset. Those are different objections with different evidence and remedies. Ask for the legal provision relied on and the document still required. Keep the request factual and preserve the date on which the refusal was received.
The document pack should normally include the original will and all codicils; the UK probate application or grant if one exists; the French death certificate and several copies; birth, marriage, divorce and civil-partnership records; passports; French residence evidence; a schedule of French and UK property, accounts, shares, pensions and insurance; mortgage and creditor statements; lifetime gifts; and a family tree signed by the people who can verify it. Add certified French translations where requested and evidence explaining the relevant law of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. A solicitor’s letter can be useful, but it does not replace the notary’s own assessment.
Do not treat a frozen bank account as proof that the named beneficiary has no rights. Under Article 724 of the Civil Code, “Les héritiers désignés par la loi sont saisis de plein droit des biens, droits et actions du défunt.” That rule concerns heirs designated by law and does not give every legatee immediate control of every French asset. It does show why the family must distinguish an heir, a universal legatee, a legatee by universal title and a specific legatee.
A universal legatee’s position can also depend on the existence of reserved heirs. Article 1006 of the Civil Code says that “le légataire universel sera saisi de plein droit par la mort du testateur” when there are no heirs with a legally reserved share. If reserved heirs exist, the universal legatee may need delivery from them or have to resolve their challenge before taking possession. That is one reason a bank or land office may wait for the notary’s deed rather than accept a UK probate grant alone.
The classification of the gift matters. Under Article 1011 of the Civil Code, “Les légataires à titre universel seront tenus de demander la délivrance aux héritiers auxquels une quotité des biens est réservée par la loi”. A légataire à titre universel receives a fraction or category of the estate, while a specific legatee receives a particular asset or right. For a specific legacy, Article 1014 states that “Tout legs pur et simple donnera au légataire, du jour du décès du testateur, un droit à la chose léguée”, but it also limits possession and fruits until delivery in the circumstances described by the article. The French effect of the clause must be read with the applicable foreign succession law.
Where a French notary has deposited a holographic or sealed will and the named universal legatee is claiming direct possession, Article 1007 provides a procedure for filing the will and the opening report with the court registry. The article gives interested persons a period to oppose the exercise of rights in the situation it covers. That is not a universal deadline for every inheritance dispute, so the family should not wait for a generic “probate period”. The nature of the will and the notary’s procedure must be identified first.
If the dispute is not resolved, the beneficiary may need proceedings before a French court with jurisdiction over the succession or the specific act, while also preserving any UK application or claim. The pleading should ask the court to determine the applicable law, the validity and scope of the choice of law, the effect of the UK will, the reserved-share calculation or compensatory levy, and the orders needed for the notary or asset holder. A claim about the interpretation of a French deed is different from a claim about the validity of a UK will. Filing the wrong case can waste the evidence and the limitation period.
Evidence is central. For habitual residence, collect leases or ownership records, utility bills, school and medical records, French tax returns, visa or residence documents, travel calendars, employment records and correspondence showing where the person’s settled life was based. For a choice of law, produce the original wording, any codicil and the solicitor’s drafting file. For a reserved-share claim, produce every child’s birth record, the family’s financial situation, lifetime gifts, debts and the value of the assets at death. For a challenge to authenticity, preserve witness evidence and the chain of custody of the original.
Tax must be opened as a parallel file, not postponed until the civil dispute ends. Article 750 ter of the General Tax Code provides that, in defined cases, “Sont soumis aux droits de mutation à titre gratuit : 1° Les biens meubles et immeubles situés en France ou hors de France”. The article then distinguishes the deceased’s French tax domicile, the location of the assets and the beneficiary’s period of French tax residence. The civil choice of succession law does not decide the inheritance-tax base.
A British family should give the French notary a complete asset schedule even where the account is in the UK, held through a pension arrangement or connected with a trust. French tax law can require information about worldwide assets in particular residence situations, and UK rules may still apply to UK-situs assets or to the deceased’s UK residence history. GOV.UK’s guidance on Inheritance Tax when someone living outside the UK dies explains that UK Inheritance Tax depends on the assets and the deceased’s status, and points to double-tax relief where both countries tax the same assets. The new long-term-UK-residence rules from 6 April 2025 also make old assumptions about domicile unsafe.
In France, Article 800 of the General Tax Code states: “Les héritiers, légataires ou donataires, leurs tuteurs ou curateurs, sont tenus de souscrire une déclaration détaillée.” The declaration must be coordinated with the civil inventory, prior gifts and the applicable French filing timetable. Article 784 also requires earlier donations to be disclosed in the succession declaration and sets the rules for their use in the calculation. A beneficiary should not sign an incomplete declaration simply because the UK probate file is still being assembled.
If a French house, a UK bank account and a UK pension are all in the estate, make three lists: civil entitlement, control or administration, and taxation. The person entitled under the will may not be the person who can immediately operate an account. The executor may have duties but not beneficial ownership. A surviving spouse may have a claim that differs from a child’s reserve. The same asset may be valued for French inheritance tax, UK Inheritance Tax and the civil estate on different legal bases. A written reconciliation prevents the family from treating one authority’s document as a universal answer.
Before any distribution, ask the notary to record whether the estate is being administered under French law, a named UK law or another law; whether Article 913’s compensatory mechanism has been considered; whether an action in reduction could expire; whether an asset can be released without prejudicing a child’s claim; and whether a tax payment or filing is due before the civil disagreement is finished. If the notary refuses to explain, send a formal request through counsel and obtain advice on the court application. Do not sell or transfer the French property, withdraw funds or sign a waiver merely to unlock the file.
Planning before death is more efficient. A British resident in France should review every will after moving, marrying, divorcing, having a child, acquiring French property or changing UK nationality status. The document should state the chosen law clearly, identify the intended UK territorial system, coordinate with any earlier will, and leave the original in a place the French notary can access. A separate asset memorandum can explain accounts and family relationships, but it must not contradict the will or purport to make testamentary gifts without the required form.
The final review should involve the French notary and a lawyer able to analyse the relevant UK law. The aim is not to force one country’s vocabulary onto the other. It is to produce a coherent file: one chronology, one family tree, one asset schedule, one identified succession law, a documented form analysis, a reserved-share calculation and a tax plan. That is the material a court can test if the family cannot agree.
Conclusion
A UK will can be effective for a British resident who dies in France, but it does not answer every French question by itself. The result depends first on habitual residence and any valid choice of law under Regulation 650/2012, then on the applicable UK territorial system, the will’s formal validity and the French process for receiving and registering foreign documents. Brexit does not remove those conflict-of-laws rules from the French file.
French forced heirship applies when French succession law governs. Where a foreign law is selected or otherwise applies, French children may still need to examine the limited compensatory mechanism for French assets, while the Cour de cassation’s decision no. 16-17.198 shows why neither automatic French protection nor automatic foreign freedom is a safe conclusion. The family must calculate the actual estate and identify the correct remedy: delivery, reduction, a compensatory levy, a validity challenge or a court order.
The safest immediate steps are to secure the original will and codicils, notify the French notary, obtain a written list of missing documents, preserve evidence of residence and family status, separate civil entitlement from tax, and protect every deadline. A UK grant of probate may be essential, but it is one component of a French succession file. Early coordination is particularly important where children are excluded, a surviving spouse needs access to the home, or a French property and UK assets are administered at the same time.
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