Our wills were made back in 2013 …we opted to have our wills done under UK law. I recently lost my spouse so had reason to contact the Notaire. He informed me that since 2021 the French Government has changed this arrangement which goes against EU rules. The Notaire said that it is causing huge problems for UK citizens who have residency in France. I would be interested to hear from any persons now finding the will which they made is causing problems particularly if you have step- Children. Thank you for reading. ian
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So sorry Ian to hear of your loss. These must be difficult times for you. Unfortunately I have no experience of this, but just wanted to say. I am sure you will get some good practical advice here.
Commiserations. I believe this is ongoing in the courts.
Of course, having your French estate distributed under a UK will never changed the French tax liability. A step child would still have had to pay the 60% inheritance tax.
Hello Sandcastle, thanks for your reply. The reason we went for the UK option was to ensure my wife’s 2 children would receive my wife’s share particularly if I was the first to die. The Notaire is looking at options.
Ian
I know the tax implications for step children… I don’t agree with it, it is a terrible rule.
Ian
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I sympathise but at the end of the day, whether or not you agree with a country’s laws is irrelevant. There are Brits who were attracted to living in France but chose not to move here because they did not wish to be bound by certain national laws. Such as this one.
But it is the other side of the coin of the legal obligation for children to support their blood parents, which does not exist for step children. So there is a balance of rights and obligations. Shifting the balance would be complex.
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Normally this is exactly what would happen automatically as long as you had an appropriate marriage regime?
Yes we have an appropriate marriage regime. We came to France knowing that it’s laws are different but when the opportunity arose to possibly have our wills administered under UK law we went for it. France is going against EU rules changing this, or aspects of it. We love living here , I love living here, so this really is a little pothole to negotiate.
Not sure if it would be helpful in this case… but I’m sure I read years ago about a Step-parent Adopting the Adult Step-children so that they could inherit (as and when) without the extra high taxes applied to non-relatives …
Been there, tried that. France does not recognise adult adoptions 
I thought it was complicated, but still possible… if the various criteria were met… and there was also an amendment to French Law in 2022
ah well…
I think @vero said only for French nationals - this has come up before.
That’s the French law. How about if they did it under British law?
Hmm… France is OK with French people (Adult Adoption)
and also with Other Nationality provided they are Nationals of the EU (if their particular country allows such Adoption)
As an aside… UK does not allow adopting an Adult. so France would NOT allow Adult Adoption between Brits Resident in France.
Hello Stella, even in their mid fifties? That would be really something. If it’s legal , why not?
I would seem like a tax dodge.
Thanks for the info
difficulty comes when there must be a certain number of years between age of adult child and step-parent
the link is quite informative.
Ah, subject to age conditions.
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The property is in France, I’m a French resident. I tried the UK route but that was changed in 2021. So back to French laws.
I think that was what I meant to say - it’s a while since I looked into it. Either way it doesn’t help me with a bunch of step children in their 40s 
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