{"id":2121653,"date":"2026-09-15T05:59:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/09\/15\/british-heir-french-house-debts-option-inventory-declaration-challenge-brexit\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T05:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:59:48","slug":"british-heir-french-house-debts-option-inventory-declaration-challenge-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/15\/british-heir-french-house-debts-option-inventory-declaration-challenge-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"You Have Just Inherited a French House After Brexit \u2014 With Debts Attached? Accept, Cap Your Liability or Disclaim, File on Time and Challenge the Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your mother kept her stone house in the Dordogne long after she moved back to Kent. When she dies, the house is yours on paper \u2014 and so is everything attached to it: the mortgage she never quite cleared, two years of unpaid <em>charges de copropri\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em> if the property is a flat, the French tax bill that will follow, and a series of deadlines that start running whether you are ready or not. Since Brexit, British heirs are third-country nationals in France, and every step is examined more closely: the <em>notaire<\/em>, the public official who settles French successions, the <em>greffe<\/em>, the court registry where formal declarations are filed, and the tax office each expect you to act in the right form, in the right place and on time. The single most expensive mistake is also the most common: doing nothing, or handling the house as if it were already yours \u2014 clearing it out, selling furniture, collecting rent \u2014 before you have chosen, formally, what your legal position is. French law gives you three doors: accept the succession outright, accept it only up to the value of the net assets, or walk away by disclaiming. Each door has different consequences for the debts. This guide explains, in plain English with UK spelling throughout, how to choose between the three options, how to file the choice safely with an inventory of assets and debts, how the French succession declaration and its six and twelve-month deadlines work, how the tax on your share is calculated with a worked example, and how to challenge penalties and reassessments you believe are wrong. Every decisive rule is linked to its official French source so your adviser can verify each point. If you are still at the stage of the funeral, the death certificate and securing the property, read first our companion guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/15\/british-death-france-first-papers-funeral-repatriation-notaire-deadlines-challenge-brexit\/\">the first steps after a British death in France<\/a>; if you want the full calculation of allowances, rates and the 1963 treaty against double taxation, see our guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/12\/british-heirs-french-house-inheritance-tax-allowances-treaty-challenge-brexit\/\">who pays French inheritance tax and what relief applies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>I. Should You Accept the French Succession Outright, Limit Your Liability or Walk Away?<\/h2>\n<h3>A. What accepting outright, accepting up to the net assets and disclaiming really mean for the debts<\/h3>\n<p>French successions open with a choice, called the <em>option successorale<\/em>, and the Civil Code states it in one sentence: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431333\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431333\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 768 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;L&#8217;h\u00e9ritier peut accepter la succession purement et simplement ou y renoncer. Il peut \u00e9galement accepter la succession \u00e0 concurrence de l&#8217;actif net lorsqu&#8217;il a une vocation universelle ou \u00e0 titre universel. Est nulle l&#8217;option conditionnelle ou \u00e0 terme.&#8221; In ordinary language, an heir with a general claim to the estate \u2014 a child, for example \u2014 has three possibilities: accept purely and simply, disclaim entirely, or accept only up to the net assets. A conditional or time-limited choice is void, so you cannot accept only if the debts turn out to be modest. You must pick one door and walk through it properly. The right door depends almost entirely on one question: is the French estate solvent? A house worth 380,000 euros with a 120,000 euro mortgage and modest tax arrears is a very different inheritance from the same house with a 350,000 euro mortgage, major structural work ordered by the municipality and two siblings already arguing about who pays. Until you know the full picture of assets and liabilities, treat the choice as open and act accordingly \u2014 which means, above all, signing nothing that presents you as the owner.<\/p>\n<p>Accepting outright, the <em>acceptation pure et simple<\/em>, makes you the continuation of the deceased for the estate&#8217;s debts: creditors can pursue you personally, beyond the value of what you inherited. That is the right choice where the estate is clearly solvent and you want the simplest, fastest settlement \u2014 one declaration, no inventory procedure, no court registry filing. But it is a dangerous default where doubts exist, because acceptance can happen without any paperwork at all. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431503\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431503\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 782 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;L&#8217;acceptation pure et simple peut \u00eatre expresse ou tacite. Elle est expresse quand le successible prend le titre ou la qualit\u00e9 d&#8217;h\u00e9ritier acceptant dans un acte authentique ou sous seing priv\u00e9. Elle est tacite quand le successible saisi fait un acte qui suppose n\u00e9cessairement son intention d&#8217;accepter et qu&#8217;il n&#8217;aurait droit de faire qu&#8217;en qualit\u00e9 d&#8217;h\u00e9ritier acceptant.&#8221; Selling the deceased&#8217;s furniture, pocketing the rent paid by the holiday tenants, or granting a lease over the French house are classic examples of acts that only an accepting heir has the right to perform. Purely protective or supervisory steps \u2014 changing the locks, paying the buildings insurance to keep cover alive, asking the <em>notaire<\/em> for an inventory \u2014 do not count as acceptance, but anything that disposes of estate property or takes its income does. British heirs who fly over for a week and &#8220;sort things out&#8221; by selling contents at the local <em>vide-grenier<\/em> or banking the season&#8217;s rental income have, in the eyes of French law, potentially accepted the whole succession with all its debts.<\/p>\n<p>The middle door, acceptance <em>\u00e0 concurrence de l&#8217;actif net<\/em> \u2014 acceptance up to the net assets, formerly called acceptance under benefit of inventory \u2014 is the protective helmet of French succession law. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431560\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431560\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 787 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides, in a single line, that &#8220;Un h\u00e9ritier peut d\u00e9clarer qu&#8217;il n&#8217;entend prendre cette qualit\u00e9 qu&#8217;\u00e0 concurrence de l&#8217;actif net.&#8221; You still become heir, you still receive the house, but the estate&#8217;s creditors can only be paid out of the estate&#8217;s assets, never out of your own pocket. If the mortgage and the debts turn out to exceed the value of the house, you lose the inheritance but keep your savings, your English home and your salary. The price of this protection is procedure: a formal declaration, an official inventory drawn up article by article, publication so that creditors are warned, and administration of the estate under the supervision the Code organises. For a British heir who cannot be sure what the deceased owed \u2014 an undisclosed loan, a guarantee given for a friend, arrears of French income tax or <em>taxe fonci\u00e8re<\/em>, the local property tax \u2014 this middle door is very often the sensible choice, and it costs far less than discovering a 90,000 euro debt after an outright acceptance. The Cour de cassation, France&#8217;s highest civil court, confirmed in a published ruling of 12 October 2022, appeal number 20-21.016, how this protection works for creditors in return: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courdecassation.fr\/decision\/63465ba8c024d1adffef7737\">&#8220;lorsque la succession a \u00e9t\u00e9 accept\u00e9e par un h\u00e9ritier \u00e0 concurrence de l&#8217;actif net, les cr\u00e9anciers de la succession doivent d\u00e9clarer leurs cr\u00e9ances en notifiant leur titre au domicile \u00e9lu de la succession&#8221;<\/a>, and unsecured claims not declared within fifteen months of the national publication of the declaration are extinguished as against the estate. In other words, the inventory procedure forces hidden creditors into the open, and those who stay silent in time lose their claim against the estate assets.<\/p>\n<p>The third door is disclaimer, the <em>renonciation<\/em>: you refuse the succession altogether. Two features make it powerful and strict at the same time. First, it is never presumed. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000033460712\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000033460712\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 804 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;La renonciation \u00e0 une succession ne se pr\u00e9sume pas. Pour \u00eatre opposable aux tiers, la renonciation op\u00e9r\u00e9e par l&#8217;h\u00e9ritier universel ou \u00e0 titre universel doit \u00eatre adress\u00e9e ou d\u00e9pos\u00e9e au tribunal dans le ressort duquel la succession s&#8217;est ouverte ou faite devant notaire.&#8221; Silence, absence or living in Manchester is not a disclaimer; only a declaration filed at the court registry of the place where the succession opened, or made before a <em>notaire<\/em> who forwards a copy to that court within the month, counts against third parties. Second, a valid disclaimer wipes the slate clean retroactively: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431749\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431749\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 805 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;L&#8217;h\u00e9ritier qui renonce est cens\u00e9 n&#8217;avoir jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 h\u00e9ritier.&#8221; Your share passes to your own children by representation or, failing that, accrues to your co-heirs. Disclaimer is the right answer where the estate is plainly insolvent, or where accepting would drag you into litigation with co-heirs or creditors that the house is not worth. Note the interaction with the ten-year backstop: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431486\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431486\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 780 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;La facult\u00e9 d&#8217;option se prescrit par dix ans \u00e0 compter de l&#8217;ouverture de la succession. L&#8217;h\u00e9ritier qui n&#8217;a pas pris parti dans ce d\u00e9lai est r\u00e9put\u00e9 renon\u00e7ant.&#8221; Ten years of complete inaction therefore ends in deemed disclaimer \u2014 but no British heir should ever rely on that backstop, because creditors will force the issue years earlier through the summons procedure described below, and because an heir who has meddled with the assets may already have tacitly accepted.<\/p>\n<h3>B. How to make your choice official without accidentally becoming liable: declarations, inventory and the two-month trap<\/h3>\n<p>French law protects heirs from being rushed, then punishes those who sleep after being formally warned. The protection comes first: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431375\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431375\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 771 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;L&#8217;h\u00e9ritier ne peut \u00eatre contraint \u00e0 opter avant l&#8217;expiration d&#8217;un d\u00e9lai de quatre mois \u00e0 compter de l&#8217;ouverture de la succession. A l&#8217;expiration de ce d\u00e9lai, il peut \u00eatre somm\u00e9, par acte extrajudiciaire, de prendre parti \u00e0 l&#8217;initiative d&#8217;un cr\u00e9ancier de la succession, d&#8217;un coh\u00e9ritier, d&#8217;un h\u00e9ritier de rang subs\u00e9quent ou de l&#8217;Etat.&#8221; For the first four months after the death, nobody \u2014 not the bank holding the mortgage, not the <em>syndicat des copropri\u00e9taires<\/em>, the co-owners&#8217; association owed service charges, not even a co-heir \u2014 can force you to choose. After that period, any of them can serve you with a formal demand to take your position, a <em>sommation d&#8217;opter<\/em>, by extrajudicial act, which for a British heir usually means a <em>commissaire de justice<\/em>, the reformed title of the former <em>huissier<\/em> or bailiff, serving papers that must then be translated and reach you in England. The trap is the two-month clock that starts on service: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431358\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431358\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 772 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;Dans les deux mois qui suivent la sommation, l&#8217;h\u00e9ritier doit prendre parti ou solliciter un d\u00e9lai suppl\u00e9mentaire aupr\u00e8s du juge lorsqu&#8217;il n&#8217;a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 en mesure de cl\u00f4turer l&#8217;inventaire commenc\u00e9 ou lorsqu&#8217;il justifie d&#8217;autres motifs s\u00e9rieux et l\u00e9gitimes. Ce d\u00e9lai est suspendu \u00e0 compter de la demande de prorogation jusqu&#8217;\u00e0 la d\u00e9cision du juge saisi. A d\u00e9faut d&#8217;avoir pris parti \u00e0 l&#8217;expiration du d\u00e9lai de deux mois ou du d\u00e9lai suppl\u00e9mentaire accord\u00e9, l&#8217;h\u00e9ritier est r\u00e9put\u00e9 acceptant pur et simple.&#8221; An heir who receives the demand, puts it in a drawer and does nothing for two months becomes a deemed outright acceptor \u2014 personally liable for all the debts \u2014 without signing anything.<\/p>\n<p>A recent published ruling shows how brutally this mechanism bites, including for heirs living abroad. On 5 February 2025, in appeal number 22-22.618, the First Civil Chamber of the Cour de cassation upheld the condemnation of three children, resident in the United Arab Emirates and Belgium, to pay 91,545.25 euros of their late father&#8217;s co-ownership charges: served with demands to take position in July 2019 under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431375\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431375\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 771<\/a>, they had let the two-month period expire, and the court held that they had lost the right to disclaim from September 2019, so that their later disclaimers were inoperative and the creditor association could pursue them as heirs. The Court approved the appeal judges\u2019 finding that, the two months having run without any choice being made, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courdecassation.fr\/decision\/67a30986eaef5a22b443b3b7\">&#8220;ceux-ci avaient perdu le droit de renoncer \u00e0 la succession respectivement \u00e0 compter des 18, 19 et 20 septembre 2019, de sorte que les actes de renonciation \u00e9tablis par eux post\u00e9rieurement \u00e0 ces dates \u00e9taient inop\u00e9rants&#8221;<\/a>, so that the creditor association could pursue them as heirs for the debt. The practical effect is final: once the demand period expires without action, the heir can no longer switch to a disclaimer or to capped acceptance. For British heirs, the practical lesson is absolute: diary every demand the day it arrives, instruct a French adviser immediately, and if the inventory is under way but unfinished, apply to the judge for extra time before the two months expire rather than after. The suspension runs from the application, so filing early is itself the protection.<\/p>\n<p>The filing formalities differ for each door and must be followed exactly. Acceptance up to the net assets requires a declaration at the <em>greffe<\/em> of the <em>tribunal judiciaire<\/em>, the ordinary civil court, for the place where the succession opened, or before a <em>notaire<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000039368537\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000039368537\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 788 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;La d\u00e9claration doit \u00eatre faite au greffe du tribunal judiciaire dans le ressort duquel la succession est ouverte ou devant notaire. Elle comporte \u00e9lection d&#8217;un domicile unique, qui peut \u00eatre le domicile de l&#8217;un des acceptants \u00e0 concurrence de l&#8217;actif net, ou celui de la personne charg\u00e9e du r\u00e8glement de la succession. Le domicile doit \u00eatre situ\u00e9 en France.&#8221; A British heir therefore elects an address for service in France \u2014 typically the <em>notaire&#8217;s<\/em> office \u2014 at which creditors must notify their claims. The declaration is registered and given national publicity, and the official service-public.fr guide on the <em>option successorale<\/em> confirms the sequence in practice: publication in the <em>Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales<\/em>, the official civil and commercial announcements bulletin, a legal notice in a <em>journal d&#8217;annonces l\u00e9gales<\/em> within one month of filing at the registry, and an inventory to be lodged at the registry within two months of the declaration, with the possibility of an extension granted by the judge (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.service-public.gouv.fr\/particuliers\/vosdroits\/F1199\">service-public.fr, accepting or disclaiming a succession<\/a>). The inventory itself is a regulated document: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431580\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431580\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 789 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;La d\u00e9claration est accompagn\u00e9e ou suivie de l&#8217;inventaire de la succession qui comporte une estimation, article par article, des \u00e9l\u00e9ments de l&#8217;actif et du passif. L&#8217;inventaire est \u00e9tabli par un commissaire-priseur judiciaire, un huissier ou un notaire, selon les lois et r\u00e8glements applicables \u00e0 ces professions.&#8221; For the Dordogne house this means a professional valuation of the property, an item-by-item schedule of bank balances, vehicles and valuables on the asset side, and the mortgage statement, tax notices, invoices and guarantees on the liability side. Disclaimer follows the mirror route through the registry or the <em>notaire<\/em> under Article 804, and only that filing makes the refusal effective against creditors. In all three cases, keep proof of every filing, every publication and every translation: a British heir who must later prove, from England, that a declaration was lodged in Bergerac on a given date will be grateful for a complete paper trail.<\/p>\n<h2>II. How Do You File the French Succession Declaration on Time, Pay Only What You Owe and Challenge an Unfair Bill?<\/h2>\n<h3>A. Which declaration to file, by when, and how the tax is worked out on a French house<\/h3>\n<p>Alongside the civil choice of accepting or disclaiming runs a separate tax obligation: the <em>d\u00e9claration de succession<\/em>, the detailed return the heirs must file with the French tax administration, prepared in practice by the <em>notaire<\/em> from the inventory and the valuations. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000041471327\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000041471327\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 800 of the General Tax Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;I. \u2013 Les h\u00e9ritiers, l\u00e9gataires ou donataires, leurs tuteurs ou curateurs, sont tenus de souscrire une d\u00e9claration d\u00e9taill\u00e9e&#8221;, with only narrow exemptions \u2014 direct-line heirs are dispensed only where the gross estate is under 50,000 euros and no prior unregistered gift from the deceased exists, and other beneficiaries only under 3,000 euros \u2014 so virtually every British heir of a French house must file. The deadlines are strict and depend on where the deceased died: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006305176\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006305176\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 641 of the General Tax Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;Les d\u00e9lais pour l&#8217;enregistrement des d\u00e9clarations que les h\u00e9ritiers, donataires ou l\u00e9gataires ont \u00e0 souscrire des biens \u00e0 eux \u00e9chus ou transmis par d\u00e9c\u00e8s sont : De six mois, \u00e0 compter du jour du d\u00e9c\u00e8s, lorsque celui dont on recueille la succession est d\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9 en France m\u00e9tropolitaine; D&#8217;une ann\u00e9e, dans tous les autres cas.&#8221; A mother who died in her Kent home leaves her children twelve months; a father who died in the Dordogne farmhouse leaves them six. These periods run fast when a British family must also obtain an English grant of probate for the UK assets \u2014 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/probate-estate\">gov.uk guide to dealing with the estate of someone who has died<\/a> explains the separate English procedure \u2014 have French documents translated, agree a valuation of the house and coordinate between siblings in two countries. Ask the <em>notaire<\/em> at the first meeting for a timetable working backwards from the six or twelve-month date, and treat that date as immovable: late filing attracts the surcharges described below automatically.<\/p>\n<p>The tax itself is computed per heir, per share, and children are the best-treated beneficiaries in the French scale. Each child deducts a personal allowance before any rate applies: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000026292566\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000026292566\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 779 of the General Tax Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;Pour la perception des droits de mutation \u00e0 titre gratuit, il est effectu\u00e9 un abattement de 100 000 \u20ac sur la part de chacun des ascendants et sur la part de chacun des enfants vivants ou repr\u00e9sent\u00e9s par suite de pr\u00e9d\u00e9c\u00e8s ou de renonciation&#8221;. The rates then apply in slices to the net taxable share: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000030061736\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000030061736\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 777 of the General Tax Code<\/a> sets, for the direct line, 5 per cent up to 8,072 euros, 10 per cent from 8,072 to 12,109 euros, 15 per cent from 12,109 to 15,932 euros, 20 per cent from 15,932 to 552,324 euros, then 30, 40 and 45 per cent for the higher slices. Take a concrete and very typical British case: a Dordogne house valued at 380,000 euros, a remaining mortgage of 120,000 euros, two children inheriting equally. The net estate is 260,000 euros, each child&#8217;s share 130,000 euros. After the 100,000 euro allowance, each child has 30,000 euros taxable. The slices give 5 per cent of 8,072 euros (403.60 euros), 10 per cent of the 4,037 euros between 8,072 and 12,109 euros (403.70 euros), 15 per cent of the 3,823 euros between 12,109 and 15,932 euros (573.45 euros), and 20 per cent of the 14,068 euros between 15,932 and 30,000 euros (2,813.60 euros) \u2014 a total of about 4,194 euros per child. Debts proved at the death genuinely reduce the bill, which is a second reason, beyond liability protection, to inventory the mortgage, the arrears and the professional fees carefully. Where the deceased chose English law for the succession in an English will \u2014 the limited choice the EU Succession Regulation (No 650\/2012) allows in favour of the law of one&#8217;s nationality, whose current text is on the EU Succession Regulation (No 650\/2012) as published in the Official Journal of the European Union \u2014 that choice governs who inherits, not whether France taxes the French house: the tax analysis above applies regardless, and the treaty position is examined in our companion guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/12\/british-heirs-french-house-inheritance-tax-allowances-treaty-challenge-brexit\/\">inheritance tax, allowances and the treaty<\/a>. The deceased&#8217;s English will should still be shown to the <em>notaire<\/em> at once, since it may affect the shares \u2014 on wills, choice of law and the forced share of children, see our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/13\/british-english-will-french-house-reserve-choice-law-notaire-challenge-brexit\/\">English wills and French houses<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>B. How to deal with the mortgage and the creditors, then challenge penalties and reassessments<\/h3>\n<p>Debts do not wait for the family to agree, and French law organises a strict order of operations around them. Where you accepted up to the net assets, creditors must come to you, not the reverse: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431611\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006431611\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 792 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;Les cr\u00e9anciers de la succession d\u00e9clarent leurs cr\u00e9ances en notifiant leur titre au domicile \u00e9lu de la succession.&#8221; Creditors whose claims are not yet fixed in amount declare provisionally on the basis of an estimate, and unsecured creditors who have still not declared fifteen months after the national publication of the acceptance lose their claims against the estate. The fifteen-month guillotine is the heir&#8217;s best friend in this procedure: every unsecured creditor warned by the national publication \u2014 the bank&#8217;s consumer-credit arm, the builder owed for the roof, the co-owners&#8217; association \u2014 must declare within fifteen months or lose the claim against the estate, and the 2022 ruling quoted above confirms that even creditors paid under a provisionally enforceable judgment must reckon with these rules. Secured creditors are different: the mortgage lender holding a <em>hypoth\u00e8que<\/em>, the registered mortgage over the French house, keeps its security over the property regardless of declarations, so the practical discussion with the bank is about who continues the monthly payments, whether the loan&#8217;s death cover (<em>assurance emprunteur<\/em>) pays out, and whether the house must be sold. Keep paying the insurance and the essential charges from estate funds in the meantime, keep every receipt, and never pay a disputed creditor personally: payment from your own account is exactly the kind of act that can be read as tacit acceptance of the whole succession.<\/p>\n<p>On the tax side, two kinds of bad news must be distinguished: penalties for lateness, and reassessments of the substance. Penalties apply mechanically once the Article 641 deadline is missed: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000053546784\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000053546784\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 1728 of the General Tax Code<\/a> provides that &#8220;Le d\u00e9faut de production dans les d\u00e9lais prescrits d&#8217;une d\u00e9claration ou d&#8217;un acte comportant l&#8217;indication d&#8217;\u00e9l\u00e9ments \u00e0 retenir pour l&#8217;assiette ou la liquidation de l&#8217;imp\u00f4t entra\u00eene l&#8217;application, sur le montant des droits mis \u00e0 la charge du contribuable ou r\u00e9sultant de la d\u00e9claration ou de l&#8217;acte d\u00e9pos\u00e9 tardivement, d&#8217;une majoration de : a. 10 % en l&#8217;absence de mise en demeure ou en cas de d\u00e9p\u00f4t de la d\u00e9claration ou de l&#8217;acte dans les trente jours suivant la r\u00e9ception d&#8217;une mise en demeure d&#8217;avoir \u00e0 le produire dans ce d\u00e9lai ; b. 40 % lorsque la d\u00e9claration ou l&#8217;acte n&#8217;a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9pos\u00e9 dans les trente jours suivant la r\u00e9ception d&#8217;une mise en demeure d&#8217;avoir \u00e0 le produire dans ce d\u00e9lai&#8221;, with a specific timing rule for succession declarations. A British heir who files three months late without any reminder therefore pays 10 per cent on top of the duties; one who ignores a formal demand for over thirty days pays 40 per cent. If a demand arrives, file within the thirty days even if the valuation is provisional, and correct it afterwards through the <em>notaire<\/em> \u2014 the surcharge is computed on delay, and stopping the clock is the priority. Reassessments of substance \u2014 the tax office values the Dordogne house above your estimate, disallows a debt, or queries the allowance \u2014 follow the general tax litigation path: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000045917153\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000045917153\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L190 of the Tax Procedure Book<\/a> provides that &#8220;Les r\u00e9clamations relatives aux imp\u00f4ts, contributions, droits, taxes, redevances, soultes et p\u00e9nalit\u00e9s de toute nature, \u00e9tablis ou recouvr\u00e9s par les agents de l&#8217;administration, rel\u00e8vent de la juridiction contentieuse lorsqu&#8217;elles tendent \u00e0 obtenir soit la r\u00e9paration d&#8217;erreurs commises dans l&#8217;assiette ou le calcul des impositions, soit le b\u00e9n\u00e9fice d&#8217;un droit r\u00e9sultant d&#8217;une disposition l\u00e9gislative ou r\u00e9glementaire&#8221;, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049635659\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049635659\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article R*190-1 of the same Book<\/a> requires that &#8220;Le contribuable qui d\u00e9sire contester tout ou partie d&#8217;un imp\u00f4t qui le concerne doit d&#8217;abord adresser une r\u00e9clamation au service territorial, selon le cas, de la direction g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des finances publiques ou de la direction g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des douanes et droits indirects dont d\u00e9pend le lieu de l&#8217;imposition.&#8221; In practice: first, a written claim to the local tax office for the place of taxation, attaching the inventory, the valuation evidence, the mortgage statements and the death certificate; then, if the administration maintains the assessment, an appeal to the court. Valuation disputes are won with evidence, so commission an independent French valuation early, keep comparable sales for similar village houses, and photograph any defect that depresses the price. Interest and penalties can be the subject of a separate request for leniency (<em>demande gracieuse<\/em>) based on the heir&#8217;s good faith, the cross-border difficulties and the speed of regularisation \u2014 requests that succeed most often when the principal duties have already been paid or secured.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>A French house inherited from England is never just a house: it is a three-way choice about debts, a formal procedure at the court registry with a professional inventory, and a tax declaration with six and twelve-month deadlines and automatic surcharges. The order of operations that protects a British heir is simple to state and must be followed exactly: secure the property without disposing of anything, take advice on solvency before the four-month shelter expires, choose the middle door of acceptance up to the net assets wherever the debts are uncertain, file the declaration at the <em>greffe<\/em> or before the <em>notaire<\/em> with election of a French address for service, publish and inventory on time, lodge the succession declaration within the Article 641 period, and answer every demand \u2014 from creditors, the <em>notaire<\/em> or the tax office \u2014 inside its stated days. The two published rulings of the Cour de cassation quoted in this guide carry the same warning from opposite directions: creditors who sleep for fifteen months lose their claims, and heirs who sleep for two months after a demand become personally liable for everything. Between those two clocks, the heir who files early, inventories carefully and challenges promptly keeps every remedy open. Keep this guide with the death certificate, the will, the mortgage statements and the <em>notaire&#8217;s<\/em> timetable in a single file, share it with every sibling wherever they live, and act while all three doors are still open.<\/p>\n<h2>Need a quick opinion on your case.<\/h2>\n<p>A telephone consultation within 48 hours with an avocat of the firm to review your option, your inventory, your succession declaration or any demand, reassessment or penalty before the deadlines expire. Call <a href=\"tel:+33646605822\">+33 6 46 60 58 22<\/a> or write via our <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/formulaire-de-contact\/\">contact page<\/a>. The firm advises British heirs on French successions, property and cross-border tax disputes from its Paris office, throughout Paris and the \u00cele-de-France region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British heir of a French house after Brexit: accept outright, accept up to the net assets or disclaim, file the inventory and succession declaration on time, and challenge penalties and reassessments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kj_source_type":"","_kj_official_id":"","_kj_official_url":"","_kj_judilibre_id":"","_kj_jur":"","_kj_lieu":"","_kj_chambre":"","_kj_rg":"","_kj_date":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[80312,80314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2121653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british-desk","category-decryptage"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>You Have Just Inherited a French House After Brexit \u2014 With Debts Attached? 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