EU inheritance petition progress frustrates foreign residents of France

Readers campaigning against France’s 2021 inheritance law have been disappointed by the limited response so far to their petition to the EU Parliament. We have been receiving more testimonies from people affected by the law.

Ronnie Bennett, a retired managing director from Pays-de-la-Loire, said people do not need to be directly affected by the 2021 law to support the petition. 

The campaign relates to inheritance rights of foreigners in France, and an alleged breach by France of an EU succession regu- lation, known as ‘Brussels IV’, allowing for a choice in one’s will of the inheritance law of the testator’s nationality.

A decision is awaited from the EU Commission about whether France’s possible breach is confirmed and will give rise to an infringement process to ask it to rectify this. 

Many people, including Mr Bennett and other supporters of his campaign, made complaints to the commission in 2022-24. 

The 2021 law comes into play when the maker of a will dies and has chosen a foreign inheritance law that does not have obligatory portions for bloodline children, as French law does. 

Why French inheritance law is causing stress: our stories

It states that the notaire dealing with their estate should contact their children and offer them the chance to claim compensation out of French-situated elements of the estate, which can be calculated by reference to French reserved portions, eg. half of a person’s whole estate to one child. 

The petition is available here by searching for 1122/2024. 

To support it, click on the name of the petition, then register your details to create an account.

'We are considering return to UK'

Olwynne Metcalfe, 71, a retired accountant from Sarthe, said she and her husband Brett, 77, had made simple wills under English law.

“He has two children from his first marriage and I have none. 

“We have a UK property and bank accounts, and two properties here, one with a tontine clause [full ownership to the survivor] and one not, which is rented to people on a long-term lease. 

"Our idea was that the first to die would leave everything to the other, then on the second death we would leave 50% to his family, 50% to mine – I have sisters, nieces and nephews."

If her husband’s children made a claim for two-thirds of his estate’s value, as allowed under French law, she said she “would suffer financially, as the rented house, and the monthly income, is a joint affair, plus we have substantial savings in his UK account.” 

She added: “We are thinking of moving back to the UK. We talk about it endlessly.” 

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A reader from the south-west, who asked not to be named, said: “Since the law passed, my wife has lived under a cloud. 

“She has lost her protection and feels betrayed by this law and by France. Unfortunately, the cost of moving back to the UK either now or in the future would be harmful at our age due to the drop in property values here and increase in the UK, together with the fees involved.

“If I were to die first, my wife would not be able to afford a suit-able home either here or in the UK.” 

The Connexion was also told of a situation in which a child from a previous marriage made a claim under the 2021 law, meaning that a bereaved foreign resident in France has been obliged to remortgage her home, leaving her struggling financially to meet expenses such as her heating bills.