French inheritance law campaigner Trish Miller reports her disappointment over a low signature rate of less than 400 for a petition to the European Parliament that will help highlight the impact of France’s 2021 law on foreign people in France. She has urged more people to respond.
Anyone who is aged 18 or more and an EU citizen or resident can sign the petition by creating a free account.
Campaigner Trish Miller has called the law "frightening"Trish Miller
Many readers have told how they are considering selling up to ensure their wishes are respected, notably so as to be able to leave their estate entirely to their surviving spouse.
It comes as campaigners are exploring further avenues, including letters to senators, and the potential for a court case by someone affected by France's 2021 law, which seeks to enforce French-law ‘reserved portions’ for children even in cases where people have opted under European law for the inheritance law of their country to prevail.
Many foreign people moved to France and wrote wills on the understanding they could make use of an EU regulation for their future wishes; the 2021 law does not affect French people who are used to the concept of reserved portions for bloodline children – which dates to the time of Napoleon in its current format – and French-law mechanisms such as buying with a tontine clause that may be used to mitigate it if taken out in time.
Ms Miller said: “I beg all readers who have not taken the trouble to sign, to please do so. It takes five minutes. French inheritance law is frightening, and since November 2021 it has loomed large over our lives.
A high number of petition supporters may trigger discussion in the European Parliament, a potential route to the overturning of Article 913, paragraph 3, of the Code Civil [which sets out the 2021 rules].”
Ms Miller is thought to have been the first to lodge an official complaint to the European Commission against the 2021 law, in December 2023, and she and Mr Bennett have been coordinating a campaign for those affected, launched through our pages in July 2024.
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The EU regulation, known as Brussels IV, allows foreign people living in an EU country, to choose in their will the law of their nationality to apply to their whole estate.
However, France’s 2021 law states that when a French notaire settles an estate, and a foreign inheritance law is set to govern the share-out, the notaire should contact any bloodline children and offer a ‘compensatory levy’ out of any French-situated estate up to the value of the French-law ‘reserved portion’: half for single child, two-third for two or three-quarters for three or more.
One avenue that remains open for a challenge is a court case, which Franco-British honorary avocat and retired solicitor Gerard Barron said would need to involve a person affected (eg. surviving spouse facing a compensation claim from a stepchild), suing the other party (eg. stepchild).
“There have to be at least two parties (other than the state) in disagreement in order for the case to get to trial.
"That will, in this context, involve the applicant challenging the legitimacy of the law France has seen fit to impose on the EU regulation, but that does not make the state a party to the litigation,” he said.
“The state would, however, intervene in the case at the appeal stage and would also do so before the Cour de Cassation [final appeal court, if the case goes this far].
"It would also have to explain itself if the courts at any stage refer the matter for a preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice or perhaps to the Conseil Constitutionnel for a ruling on constitutionality.
“All that of course means that the case will drag on for possibly years and become expensive to keep going for the aggrieved applicant.”
He added that even if the defendant [eg. stepchild or stepchildren] lives abroad, only French courts have the right to deal with contentious issues arising over the administration and distribution of assets comprised in a French estate.
“So, the applicant [who may also be non-French resident] would have no choice but to issue proceedings against all concerned, wherever they may live, in a French court.”
Mr Barron said all potential beneficiaries of the ‘compensatory levy’ would have to be sued as part of the action, and potentially also the notaire dealing with the estate, for example if the plaintiff wants to ask the court for an order to stop him or her distributing the estate.
As to which court should be used, he said where real estate is involved in the case it would usually be the court in the same local area.
However, if the deceased died resident in France, the court in the district of his/her place of permanent residence would usually be appropriate.
“The grounds of the case would be to contest and to prevent the distribution of the estate in accordance with French law and to enforce the testator's wishes to apply a foreign law to his/her estate to favour someone who would otherwise under [French] civil law rules, have less or no entitlement.”
He said the outcome would likely depend in part on whether the 2021 law was deemed unconstitutional.
“If the ECJ or the Conseil Constitutionnel or Cour de Cassation considers that the EU regulation overrides the 2021 law, the government would not need to repeal the law; it would in effect be cancelled and become ineffective.
"The government might look at ways of amending it to implement the result it originally wanted (to prevent Shariah law applying) without further infringement of EU law, but that may be beyond their draftsman's' abilities to achieve.”
