French forced heirship law: is ‘community’ marriage regime the solution?
A couple can change their marital regime by visiting a notaire
Children have a right to contest a change if it sees their inheritance affected
Freebird7977 / Shutterstock
Some Connexion readers, concerned over France’s 2021 inheritance law on children’s forced heirship rights* have wondered if a solution lies in a change of marriage regime.
Read more: French inheritance law: couples anxiously await EU decision as discussions continue
In France, whether or not a couple were married in France, all marriages are covered by a particular set of rules called a marriage or marital regime.
The applicable regime affects matters such as how property is owned between the couple within the marriage, and what happens in the event of death or divorce.
Read more: Foreign couples and French marriage regimes: key points to know
Some readers ask if a change of a couple’s marital regime to ‘universal community’ will help.
This is a regime where everything is held in common, including property the couple owned before they were married.
It is possible to include within it a clause saying on one member’s death, everything automatically goes to the survivor.
This works well, notably, to bequeath everything to a survivor who will leave the rest to the couple’s children, but its benefit is uncertain in the case of stepchildren.
Honorary avocat and retired English solicitor Gerard Barron said both adult children and creditors have a right to contest a change of marital regime, within three months of publication in a legal gazette and the notaire carrying out the formalities must also contact the children to inform them of their parents’ intentions and inform them of their rights to contest the change.
If any children are still minors, then a French juge des enfants must be consulted.
“If the adult children (or the judge) refuse to consent to the change and the parties are unable to find some sort of compromise, the matter is to be referred to the court, which has a wide discretion to consider all relevant facts.
“If the intention is purely and simply to disinherit children in favour of a second spouse, the consent of the court is unlikely to be forthcoming.”
Notaire François Trémosa of Trémosa Leschelles et associés, near Toulouse, also concurred that this procedure "can only work when the children are joint children of the spouses”.
He added: “If there are step children, they can oppose the new regime at the time of the succession, so that will lead nowhere.”
Read more: Taxes, forced heirship and property ownership: Understanding French succession law
The Connexion publishes a guide to Inheritance Law and Wills in France, priced €14.50.
* Who is affected by the 2021 law?
France's 2021 law on a 'compensatory levy' for children applies where a foreign legal system is set to apply to the estate of a person who died resident in France (it can also affect French-situated estate of a person who lived abroad).
It comes into effect if the deceased, or at least one of their children, was an EU resident or an EU citizen.
The levy can be taken off French-situated estates up to the value of the traditional French law reserved portion.
This is half for a single child, two-thirds for two, three-quarters for three or more.
If the deceased was a French resident, the amount of the levy is worked out based on the worldwide estate’s value, but it can only be taken off property (real estate or bank accounts etc) situated in France.
