Does property in UK come under French inheritance law?
I’m British, have lived and worked in France for more than 40 years, and have children and grandchildren here. Something I’ve been querying recently is, if I request French nationality and remain resident here in France, would property I own in England come under French inheritance law? I believe at present, as a British national, this would come under UK law? A.B.
France is bound by the 2012 EU Succession Regulation of August 2015.
This regulation applies to you and to all British nationals who own a French property or reside in France. The UK did not sign up to the regulation, so Brexit will have no impact on its application in France.
If you die while resident in France, the default position is that the notaire will apply French law to your worldwide estate, as this is the law of the country in which you had your habitual residence at the time of death.
As the UK has not ratified the EU Succession Regulation, “UK” law (ie English/Welsh, Northern Irish or Scottish law, depending on which country you have the closest connection with) will ultimately govern the succession of any UK immoveable assets, such as a house, flat or land.
This is because the rules of Private International Law state that it is the law of the jurisdiction in which the property is located which applies to the succession of the asset in question.
Your UK property will come out of the equation in terms of French inheritance law and will have to be dealt with via UK probate.
The UK property would potentially be subject to French inheritance tax.
However, if ownership was to pass to your spouse in the event of your death, there is a full inheritance tax exemption in France. If it was to pass to your children, they would each benefit from €100,000 inheritance tax-free allowance before any tax would be payable.
Adopting French nationality would therefore not change the fact that UK law governs your British property since the UK retains jurisdiction in such a scenario.
Question answered by Barbara Heslop of Heslop & Platt answers a reader query
Tel: +44 (0)113 393 1930 -www.heslop-platt.co.uk contact@heslop-platt.co.uk
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