My partner and I (both British) live in France and are in a French PACS together (not married). We have one child. We’ve been getting to thinking about making wills - which we really should have done before now!
We are learning about the possibility of having our wills applied under UK, rather than French law. We are also aware of French forced heirship rules. If one us were to die we would wish for all of our estate to go to the other partner and not the child (as he is very young) but we understand this may not be possible. At the moment it is worrying to me that if one of us died our estate would be totally tied up under the child’s name, it seems.
If anyone is or has been in a similar situation to us than I would really like to hear from you. Any advice, tips or contacts gratefully received. (We have a limited budget for legal advice unfortunately).
I agree. My son and his partner are only PACS’ed and have two kids together and a property in joint names. They have recently decided they should get married to protect each other and the kids for inheritance purposes. After all its only another bit of legal paperwork, no different to what they have already in terms of their relationship.
I obviously defer to your greater knowledge, but our Notaire explicitly told us that provided two PAC’d individuals had wills leaving their all assets to each other, they absolutely had a right to each others assets on death, and also benefited from the inheritance tax exemption similar to spouses. She said that without wills, there is no automatic right to the others assets. If she’s right, putting aside the issue of children, (and I appreciate that might change the situation).then marriage is not necessary - it’s doing proper wills that counts?
The Notaires de France site seems to agree, see below.
Helen the “wills lady” who goes to our business networking group is always (rightly ) banging on about the importance of having wills and also Lasting Power of Attorney (in a UK context).
She regularly tells us horror stories of being asked to sort out inheritance and tax etc for people who have died intestate or who became incapable without nominating anyone to handle their affairs.
Easy to do, go see a lawyer, and vital regardless of where you live.
I think Helen charged me about £300 plus VAT for drafting my will IIRC.
I have also heard about the inheritance tax exemption and that it is possible to pass on estate to a PACS partner, but that in the case that there is a child involved there is always a certain percentage that he/she will have the right to inherit. What I can’t seem to find out is 1. exactly what that amount is when there’s only one child involved and 2. to what extent applying English law and passing everything to a partner negates the French forced inheritance rules, if at all. Given that we are both British, the child is very young and all family would be on board with us passing 100 percent inheritance to each other there would be no conflicts arising and it would only every be enforced by a court - but I’m not sure they always get involved?
In high level terms, (and greatly simplified), you would each need a UK will explicitly electing for English law to apply (the relevant legislation is known as Brussels IV). I understand it is possible that if your child were to challenge this, a French court would quite likely support its entitlement to its ‘rightful’ share of the estate.
I know you said your legal budget is limited but you really would be best advised consulting a UK solicitor with cross-border expertise to consider and if appropriate to implement the above (see below for a possible suggestion)
One legal cost option is to consult - which can be done remotely - solicitors in Wales (ie same law as England) and depending on their location, potentially much cheaper, without sacrificing quality. From past personal experience, JCP Solicitors, for example, are more than happy to opine on wills matters, with a cross border flavour.
I think “advice” is always free. It’s actually doing something that costs. That said, I have only ever had positive experiences with notaires.
The one we used to buy our house back in the day had an austere/strict veneer, but when my wife passed away ten years later he couldn’t have been kinder and more accommodating with the succession. There are “views” that need to be taken and one soon realises if they are being taken, while within the law, sympathetically or not.
Strangely enough, I wouldn’t trust a solicitor as far as I could throw them, unless they were a relation or old friend. A dodgy, zero value add profession if ever there was one Apologies to all my pals and ex colleagues accursed with that metier
A treasure I’m sure, and well worth a plug. For every decent one there are innumerable indifferent money grabbers, so a personal recommendation is gold
Apologies to all my pals and ex colleagues accursed with that metier 
