Can I Leave My French House to My Grandchildren?

French succession law mandates that a portion of your estate must be reserved for your children. This principle, known as forced heirship, means you cannot freely dispose of all your French property.

If you have one child, you must leave them 1/2 of your assets. If you have two children they must inherit 2/3rds of your assets equally and if you have three or more children they must inherit 3/4 of your assets equally between them.

This means that you will have at least 1/4 of your assets available to dispose of as you wish, which you could leave to your grandchildren. However if you would like to leave your grandchildren more than your freely available portion then you will need to apply some thought to how you can achieve this:

• Renunciation – if your child/ren do not wish to inherit their reserved share, they can renounce. The effect of this is that their share will pass to their children equally (your grandchildren). It is worth noting that your children can’t be forced to renounce so this option will only work if your children agree to it.
• If you are British, then the European Succession Regulation 650/2012 (Brussels IV) could help you. Under this regulation you can include a statement in your Will, electing for ‘British law’ to apply to your succession in France.

Technically there is no such thing as British succession law, instead we have English and Welsh law, Scots law and Northern Irish law. But if you are British and most closely associated with England and Wales, it will be English and Welsh succession law which is applied. We don’t have forced heirship in English and Welsh law, meaning, broadly speaking, we can leave our assets as we wish when we die, including to our grandchildren.

If you have British nationality and are most closely associated to England and Wales, by electing ‘British law’ in your Will you can avoid the French forced heirship rules, and instead leave all your French assets as you wish*, which could be to your grandchildren.

*Article 913 of the French Civil Code

Despite the flexibility offered by the European Succession Regulation, the recent change to Article 913 of the French Civil Code can pose a significant challenge. In some circumstances, Article 913 ensures that where there is an election for British law to apply in a Will, children can still claim their reserved share of the estate situated in France.

Please note that if you, or any of your children, are EU resident or an EU national at the time of your death, then this change to Article 913 will apply. If it does apply, your children do not have to inherit their ‘reserved’ share of your assets but they will be asked if they want to inherit it.

Whether it is a good idea to leave your French house to your grandchildren will involve considering a few factors. As each person’s circumstances will be different, these will likely vary.

Putting individual family circumstances to one side, an issue that will be worth considering for all is French inheritance tax. Unlike children, grandchildren do not benefit from a €100,000 tax-free allowance when inheriting in France. The only time a grandchild will benefit from this tax-free allowance is if their parent (your child) has died before you.

Although grandchildren still benefit from the lowest tax rates, they don’t usually benefit from a high tax-free allowance. Soif you decide to leave your French assets to them when you die, they will likely pay French inheritance tax.

Another concern is that if your grandchildren are minors (under 18 years old), managing a French property can be difficult. For instance, selling a house that has been left to a minor, especially if the minor lives in the UK, is difficult as it will require the involvement of both the French and UK courts. This will certainly add delay and costs to any sale process.

If you would like to leave your French house to your grandchildren in your Will, it is important to get appropriate legal advice to explore what options are available to you.