Understanding different types of French wills and related EU regulations

Different types of will

It is possible to make a French will that is limited to assets located in France – and to have a separate will governing assets held elsewhere, for example in the UK.

The preparation of this kind of arrangement is best handled by a legal professional with cross-border expertise, as it may also require amendments to an existing UK will to ensure the two documents operate correctly together and do not inadvertently revoke one another.

A French will typically deals with the allocation of the quotité disponible (the freely disposable portion of the estate) and may assign specific French assets to particular beneficiaries.

Where there is a surviving spouse, it can also include provisions allowing them to choose between different options, such as inheriting the entire freely disposable share outright, or instead taking a usufruit (a right to use and benefit from the assets, for example by living in a property or receiving income) over all or part of the estate.

A UK will can, in principle, cover French assets. However, it will usually require an official translation for use in France and, because UK wills are generally drafted differently in structure and terminology, this can lead to delays or complications during the administration of the estate.

For this reason, it is often preferable to deal specifically with French assets through a separate French will.

Le fichier des testaments

Le fichier central des dispositions de dernières volontés (FCDDV), commonly known as le fichier des testaments, centralizes information about wills for the whole of France.

It contains details of the testator and of the notaire with whom the will has been lodged. Whatever kind of will you make it can be lodged with the fichier and this is always consulted after a death.

Costs for lodging a will with a notaire and registering it with the FCDDV are around €100 and, while this is not obligatory, it is recommended so as to make sure that the will is found in time.

l. Holograph will (testament olographe)

This is the most common kind of will in France and it is obligatory that it is written entirely in the testator's own handwriting and that it is for the testator only and not made jointly as a couple.

It is signed and dated (day, date, year) and if there are several pages each page should be numbered and marked with your initials at the bottom.

This does not need to be done in front of a notaire and there is no need for witnesses.

It can be written in English but it is usually better for it to be written in French, using the correct French legal expressions, which will avoid the need for translations and the risk of errors.

You can either do it entirely alone, or with advice from a notaire. You can also ask a notaire to keep a copy in their office and to register it for you with the FCDDV. 

2. Authentic will (testament authentique)

This is another common kind of French will, dictated to a notaire and written down by him or her in the presence of two independent, French-speaking witnesses or another notaire. It is considered to give greater legal security.

Usually the only requirement to be a witness is to be adult and to understand French. However a will of this kind can be made in front of an English-speaking notaire and be in English with English-speaking witnesses.

A married couple cannot be witnesses of the same will.

Invoking the 2015 EU inheritance regulation

If you want to make use of the EU inheritance regulation to choose the law of your nationality to apply to your whole estate instead of French inheritance law, this should be done in a will.

If you want to make use of the regulation, a testament olographe with suitable wording is one option for doing this.