The French-American Couples Tax & Legal Checklist
Use this to pressure-test the most common cross-border blind spots: FBAR deadlines, treaty assumptions, inheritance traps, and visa status details that are easy to miss until they become expensive.
Included in the download
- Covers tax reporting, treaty basics, inheritance red flags, and visa/admin checks.
- Written for mixed-citizenship households navigating France and the United States at the same time.
- Designed to help you spot where free research is enough and where paying for tailored advice sooner is worth it.
Why this exists
The free checklist is the triage layer. It helps you find the blind spots first so you can decide whether you need more detailed research, the paid Bordure handbook, or tailored professional advice.
Checklist sections
The four areas couples usually discover too late
This is a short operational checklist, not a long guide. Use it to spot which items you can handle yourself and which ones need a specialist review before money, paperwork, or deadlines stack up.
Section 1
Tax Filing And Reporting
Start here if either spouse has US filing exposure, French tax residence, or accounts in both countries.
Review the FBAR trigger and timeline
If aggregate foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year, review FinCEN Form 114. The regular deadline is April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15.
Separate FBAR from FATCA in your planning
FBAR and Form 8938 are not the same filing. One can apply without the other, and joint accounts often change the analysis.
Choose a US filing status deliberately
Do not elect a non-US spouse into the US tax system casually. Married filing jointly can lower tax, but it can also pull the non-US spouse's worldwide income into US reporting.
Save proof that supports treaty relief or tax credits
Keep French tax notices, employer statements, and withholding records in the same folder as the US return workpapers.
Section 2
Treaty Basics And Social Charges
The treaty helps, but it does not make dual-country admin disappear.
Do not assume the treaty removes the US filing requirement
For many US citizens, the treaty mainly coordinates taxing rights and foreign tax credits. It does not erase the annual filing obligation.
Map income by source before filing season
Salary, dividends, pensions, rental income, and property gains can be taxed differently depending on where the income arises and where you live.
Check social security coverage before a move or remote-work setup
A short assignment, payroll transfer, or self-employment arrangement can change whether US or French social charges apply.
Section 3
Inheritance And Estate Red Flags
This is where couples lose time by assuming a US-only estate plan still works after marriage, children, or a move to France.
Flag French forced-heirship issues early
A US-style 'leave everything to my spouse' plan can conflict with French inheritance rules depending on residence, nationality, asset type, and elections.
Align wills, beneficiary designations, and marital property assumptions
A clean estate plan usually requires the will, retirement beneficiaries, life insurance, and property title to point in the same direction.
Track gifts and inheritances from abroad
Some transfers are reportable even when they are not immediately taxable. Do not wait until after funds move to ask what filings were required.
Revisit the plan after a house purchase, birth, or relocation
Cross-border estate risk compounds when families add real estate, children, or dual-country beneficiaries without updating the paperwork.
Section 4
Visa, Status, And Household Admin
Small documentary issues here can block jobs, travel, tax filings, and future residence applications.
Confirm the exact residence or visa basis
Marriage, PACS, work, family reunification, and dual-nationality pathways have different renewal and evidence requirements.
Check work authorization before changing employers or countries
A move that feels routine to the household can still break the legal basis for employment or local payroll.
Keep civil-status records ready in usable form
Marriage certificates, birth certificates, apostilles, and sworn translations are often needed again long after the wedding or move.
Audit names and addresses across both countries
Minor mismatches between passports, tax files, bank accounts, and utility records create avoidable delays when a visa renewal, mortgage, or inheritance file starts.
Red flags
These are the moments where generic advice usually stops being enough
If any of these sound familiar, the free checklist should not be your last step. Use it as a signal to get more organized before you make the next tax, estate, or status decision.
Large joint account balances exist, but neither spouse can explain who is handling US foreign-account reporting.
You are relying on the phrase 'the treaty takes care of it' without a document-by-document tax or estate review.
You bought property, had a child, or moved countries without updating wills, beneficiaries, or marital-property assumptions.
Your immigration status, work rights, or renewal calendar depends on paperwork you have not assembled yet.
Need more than a 2-page checklist?
The free checklist helps you identify what matters first. The paid Bordure Premium Handbook is the next step if you want deeper sequencing, more practical cross-border checklists, and a stronger handoff into paid professional advice.
- A clearer decision order for taxes, banking, visas, and legal paperwork
- Practical household checklists that go beyond this short free download
- A better handoff into paid professional advice when your facts get specific
One-time price
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Informational only. This checklist is not individualized legal, tax, immigration, or financial advice.