EU gives France two months to set solution to 2021 inheritance law

The European Commission has given France two months to address concerns over its 2021 inheritance law, which can override foreign-law wills to grant bloodline children a share of French-based estates. The commission says it has proposed undisclosed “solutions” to France to the “problem”.

France’s law obliges notaires who are settling inheritances in France where a foreign inheritance law has been chosen to offer any bloodline children not provided for in a will, a ‘compensatory levy’ out of any French-situated estate.

In effect, the law seeks to impose traditional French inheritance law rules giving substantial obligatory shares to children (from half to three-quarters of the estate depending on the number of children).

This may happen, notably, where a testator opted in their will for the law of their nationality, based on a 2012 EU regulation, which allows for this. Many Britons, Americans and other nationalities living in France chose this option, often, on the advice of lawyers, as a means of protecting the surviving spouse. In many cases they did not take up French law options such as a home purchase with a tontine clause (sole ownership to the survivor), as a result. 

Dozens of complaints have been received by the European Commission, which monitors respect of EU law, since the passing of the 2021 French law, and in particular since affected Connexion readers launched a campaign. The law was originally aimed at protecting daughters who, some lawmakers said, might get less in share-outs under Sharia law. 

Most of those affected, however, are people who chose one of the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ legal systems, such as English or that of many US states: an outcome that was predicted by senators who voted against it originally.

A petition was also launched to the European Parliament on the issue and court cases are also now under way. Several affected readers have told us of their fears of future hardship, or plans to sell up and leave France due to the law.

In an update, which refers to a "possible violation by France of EU inheritance rules", the Commission clarifies that since receiving a letter from the French government in February 2024, it has undertaken preliminary discussions with it prior to possible launch of a formal infringement procedure – this is where the Commission rules that a state has broken EU law and demands that it rectify it.

Following the discussions, it said: “On July 23 the Commission proposed to the French authorities a number of solutions aiming to remedy the problem. The French authorities must provide their response to the Commission within 10 weeks starting from the date of receiving the proposals.” 

We calculate this to be by October 1.

The comments give the strongest indication so far that the Commission is taking the matter, which it has already referred to as a “possible breach” of EU law, seriously as it now describes the French law as a “problem” in need of “solutions”.

Failure by France to indicate willingness to implement changes modifying the law and/or its effects would make the launch of an infringement procedure more likely.