2021 French forced heirship law: government steps up efforts to publicise rules

More public information is being made available by the French government regarding its clarifications of France’s 2021 inheritance law rules.

The European Commission recently closed a multiple complaint case against France for potential breach of EU law, after the French authorities explained to it that forced-heirship rules created by a 2021 law do not apply to successions governed by English and Welsh law. 

The French authorities added that the same applied to the settlement of estates governed by comparable ‘Anglo-Saxon’ laws, thought to include, for example Australia and New Zealand.

The laws of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland are also among those thought to qualify due to the clarifications which extended to any law containing rules in it that are protective of the inheritance rights of children – even if these are not the same as France’s own réserve héréditaire.

The commission further stated it was closing the case as, in its view, the clarifications had received publicity, citing France’s lettre de la DACS (a newsletter to legal professionals) and Service-Public website, as well as the commission’s own e-justice portal.

The clarifications revolve around successions that are governed by a foreign legal system due to either the testator’s residence abroad or their choice in a will of the law of their nationality, with these rules both stemming from an EU regulation. 

A 2021 French law said that where a foreign law without protections for children comparable to France’s reserved portions applies to an estate, and the children are left less than they would receive under French law, the notaire should contact them to offer the option to claim a ‘compensatory levy’ out of a French-situated estate. 

Notaires until recently assumed this included all laws without obligatory forced heir’s portions, but the French government says that was not the intent. 

Since we reported on the complaint closure earlier this week information to the public about the clarifications has increased.

There has been no new publication in the monthly lettre de la DACS, after one in June which was limited to a footnote in a ‘Ressources’ section.

However, Service-Public’s page ‘Can we disinherit our children?’ has been added to with new wording and a link in the introductory paragraph as well as a new ‘Take note’ section in the part for residents abroad and successions opened since 2021.

Both of these are now shown in both the French and English language versions of the site and they both link to the commission’s pre-closure notice in which the clarifications were explained.

As yet, Service-Public does not acknowledge the fact that foreign people who live in France may also benefit from the new clarifications. 

The introductory paragraph also, for the first time to our knowledge, confirms publicly that the explanations provided in the commission’s pre-closure letter represent “how the right to [a] levy is interpreted and applied by the French authorities”.

In the letter, the European Commission stated that it would also publicise the information in the inheritance in France section of its e-justice portal.

The portal has now been updated with information in bold inside the Related Links section of the main introductory chapter on Inheritance in the English-language version of this page.  

However, it is not so far referred to in the France-specific section of the site.

As public information increases, it is hoped that more notaires will be aware of the clarifications and feel confident to apply them when working for their foreign clients.

The Connexion has a help guide to Inheritance law and wills in France.