Can you check if someone has made a will in France?

Reader Question: Is it possible to see a list of wills in France? My wife is French and her cousin recently died. We think we might have been included in the will but did not speak to him before his death as he was in hospital. 

It is possible to search for information about a will, provided the writer of the will has died.

The best place to start is to contact the notaire charged with settling the inheritance of their estate. He or she will be able to let you know if you are included in the will. 

However, if you do not know the identity of the notaire and are not in touch with other close family of the deceased, anyone can make a request to find out if a will exists and which notaire it was lodged with.

This is done via a centralised register of wills, le Fichier Central des Dispositions de Dernières Volontés (FCDDV). 

This is a register of all known wills that have been lodged with French notaires.

Note the database only contains registered wills, so any testament olographe (handwritten wills) not formally registered with a notaire will not be included. 

This is why it is strongly advised to register a will as soon as you write one. 

First request made online

The registry is confidential and can only be accessed by notaires and relevant administrators, and you can not view a list of wills on the database. 

You can however make a request to find out if a will is registered on it and which notaire it is lodged with. 

To request this you will need a copy of the deceased’s acte de décès (not the certificat de décès which is medical proof that the person had died).

If necessary, this can be obtained online or from the mairie of the commune where the person lived or where they died, with information including their full name and date of death. 

To obtain information from the FCDDV, visit this website and identify yourself as a demandeur occasionnel then click Créer une demande.

You need to provide contact information for yourself, as well as information about the deceased (name, date of birth, commune of birth, date of death).

It costs €18 (including VAT).

Once you have paid, you will receive a request slip (coupon demande) with your request number. 

This must be sent by post – along with a copy of the death certificate – to the ADSN, 95 avenue des Logissons, 13107 Venelles Cedex, France. 

If you have queries, you can write to fcddvpublic@adsn.fr or serviceclient@adsn.fr or telephone on 0 800 306 212. 

Once your request has been granted, you will receive an email detailing how you can view the information online. You have one month to view the necessary information. 

The information you receive will only inform you if the deceased held a will, if it was registered, and who the relevant notaire dealing with the execution of the will is, giving contact information for them. 

You cannot see the contents of the will, and must contact the notaire about this. Notaires’ details can also be found in the directory at notaires.fr.