Inheritance & Estate Planning for French-American Couples

Introduction

When a French citizen and an American citizen build a life together, they blend two legal traditions that could hardly be more different when it comes to inheritance. France operates under a civil-law system rooted in the Napoleonic Code, which protects children through mandatory inheritance shares. The United States, by contrast, follows a common-law tradition in most states (and a community-property model in a handful of others), granting individuals broad freedom to leave their assets to whomever they choose.

For binational couples, this clash is not academic. It determines who inherits what, how much tax is owed, and whether a will drafted on one side of the Atlantic will even be recognized on the other. Add real estate in both countries, retirement accounts subject to different tax treaties, and children with dual nationality, and the complexity multiplies fast.

This guide walks through the core rules, explains where the two systems collide, and outlines concrete strategies to protect your family's wealth across borders. It is not a substitute for individualized legal and tax advice — the stakes are too high for that — but it will give you the vocabulary and framework you need to have informed conversations with the right professionals.

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French Forced Heirship (Réserve Héréditaire)

The centerpiece of French succession law is the réserve héréditaire— the “reserved portion.” Under Articles 912 to 930-5 of the Code civil, a portion of every estate is reserved by law for the deceased's children (or, in the absence of children, for the surviving spouse under certain conditions). The testator cannot override this through a will, a gift, or any other mechanism governed by French succession rules.

How the Reserved Portion Is Calculated

The size of the réserve depends on the number of children:

• One child: the reserve is one-half of the estate. The freely disposable portion (quotité disponible) is the other half.
• Two children: the reserve is two-thirds of the estate. The quotité disponible is one-third.
• Three or more children: the reserve is three-quarters of the estate. The quotité disponible is one-quarter.

The quotité disponible is the only portion the testator may freely allocate — to a spouse, a charity, a friend, or anyone else. Everything within the réserve must pass to the children, divided equally among them unless specific legal arrangements (such as a donation-partage) have been made.

The Surviving Spouse's Rights

If there are children from the marriage, the surviving spouse does not have a reserved share in the strict sense. However, under Article 757 of the Code civil, the surviving spouse may choose between:

• Full ownership (pleine propriété) of one-quarter of the estate, or
• A life interest (usufruit) over the entire estate.

When there are no descendants, the surviving spouse's position strengthens considerably. The spouse receives at least one-quarter of the estate in full ownership and may receive more depending on whether the deceased's parents are still alive. Since a 2001 reform, the surviving spouse also benefits from a right to remain in the marital home for at least one year after death (droit temporaire au logement) and may, under certain conditions, claim a lifelong right of habitation (droit viager au logement).

The Action en Réduction

If a will or lifetime gift infringes on a child's reserved share, the child may bring an action en réduction— a legal action to “claw back” the excess. This action can be exercised up to five years after the estate is opened or two years after the infringement is discovered. It is a real risk in cross-border situations where one spouse assumed full testamentary freedom and the other's children later assert their French-law rights.

US Freedom of Testation

The United States has no federal inheritance law. Estate and succession rules are set state by state. However, nearly all states share a common principle: freedom of testation. A person may leave their assets to anyone they wish, in whatever proportions they choose, and may explicitly disinherit children.

Spousal Protections

While children have no guaranteed share, the surviving spouse typically does have some protection. In most common-law states, a surviving spouse may elect against the will — claiming an elective share, usually one-third of the augmented estate under the Uniform Probate Code or a similar fraction under state law. Community-property states (California, Texas, Louisiana, and others) take a different approach: each spouse already owns half of all community property, so the decedent can only bequeath their own half.

Louisiana: The American Exception

Louisiana, with its French and Spanish civil-law heritage, is the one US state that retains a form of forced heirship. Under Louisiana law, children under 24 (or children of any age who are permanently incapable of caring for themselves) are forced heirs. They are entitled to a légitime— one-quarter of the estate if there is one forced heir, or one-half if there are two or more. This is considerably narrower than French forced heirship (which applies regardless of the children's age), but it is the closest parallel in US law.

Which Law Applies? Conflict of Laws

When a person dies with connections to multiple countries, courts must determine which nation's succession law governs. France and the United States use different connecting factors, and this asymmetry is a major source of confusion for binational couples.

The French Approach (Pre- and Post-Brussels IV)

Historically, France applied a scission system: the succession of immovable property (real estate) was governed by the law of the country where the property was located (lex rei sitae), while the succession of movable property (bank accounts, securities, personal property) was governed by the law of the deceased's last domicile. This meant that a French apartment owned by a US-domiciled decedent would be subject to French forced-heirship rules regardless of the decedent's nationality.

Since August 17, 2015, the EU Succession Regulation (discussed below) has replaced this framework for deaths occurring within participating EU member states, including France.

The US Approach

The United States is not party to the EU Succession Regulation and still follows the traditional approach. Each US state applies:

• The law of the situs (location) for real property, and
• The law of the decedent's domicile for personal property.

This means a US court handling the estate of a person domiciled in New York who owned an apartment in Paris will apply New York law to movable assets and acknowledge that the Paris apartment is subject to French law. Conversely, a French notaire handling the Paris apartment will look to the EU Succession Regulation to determine the applicable law.

The EU Succession Regulation (Brussels IV)

Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, commonly known as Brussels IV, is the single most important piece of legislation for cross-border succession within the EU. It has been in force since August 17, 2015, and applies in all EU member states except Denmark and Ireland.

Default Rule: Habitual Residence

Under Brussels IV, the law applicable to the entirety of a person's estate — movable and immovable, wherever located within the EU — is the law of the country where the deceased had their habitual residence at the time of death (Article 21). This replaced the older French scission system.

“Habitual residence” is not defined in the regulation but is determined by an overall assessment of the deceased's life circumstances — including duration and regularity of presence, family ties, employment, and social integration. For most French-American couples living in France, habitual residence will be France, meaning French law (including forced heirship) applies to the entire estate.

Choice of Law: Opting for Your Nationality

Crucially, Article 22 of Brussels IV allows a person to choose the law of their nationality to govern their entire succession. This choice must be made expressly in a will or other disposition of property upon death.

For an American citizen living in France, this is powerful: they can elect that US law (specifically, the law of their US state of nationality or domicile) governs their succession. If they choose the law of, say, New York, French forced-heirship rules would not apply to their estate — even to real property located in France.

Practical Impact for French-American Couples

Consider a common scenario: an American spouse living in Paris with their French spouse and two children. Without any planning:

• Brussels IV applies French law as the law of habitual residence.
• Two-thirds of the American spouse's estate is reserved for the children.
• The American spouse cannot leave everything to the surviving French spouse, even if that was their wish.

If the American spouse makes a choice-of-law election for US law in their will, they gain testamentary freedom — but the 2021 clawback law may still allow the children to recover their French reserved share from French-located assets.

Brussels IV Does Not Apply in the US

It is essential to understand that Brussels IV has no legal force in the United States. A US court is not bound by a choice-of-law election made under Brussels IV. US-located assets of a French-domiciled decedent will still be governed by the relevant US state law under US conflict-of-laws rules. This can create parallel proceedings and conflicting outcomes — precisely why coordinated planning with advisors in both countries is critical.

Cross-Border Estate Planning Strategies

Given the complexity of two overlapping legal systems, binational couples benefit from deliberate, proactive planning. Below are the most commonly used strategies.

1. Matrimonial Regime Selection (Régime Matrimonial)

In France, the default matrimonial regime for couples married without a prenuptial agreement (contrat de mariage) is the communauté réduite aux acquêts — community of acquisitions. Under this regime, assets acquired during the marriage are jointly owned, while assets owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance remain separate.

Couples may choose a different regime, either before or during the marriage (with judicial approval after two years of marriage). Common alternatives include:

• Communauté universelle with a full-attribution clause (clause d'attribution intégrale): all assets become jointly owned, and upon the first death, the entire community passes to the survivor outside of the succession. This effectively bypasses forced heirship for community assets, though children from a prior relationship can challenge it.
• Séparation de biens (separation of property): each spouse retains full ownership of their own assets. This provides clarity and can be advantageous for US tax planning, since the IRS does not recognize French community property regimes in the same way.

2. Lifetime Gifts With Reservation of Usufruct

A powerful French planning tool is the donation avec réserve d'usufruit — a gift of the bare ownership (nue-propriété) of an asset to the children while the donor retains the usufruct (the right to use the asset and receive its income) for life. Upon the donor's death, the full ownership reconstitutes in the children's hands automatically, without additional tax. The gift tax is calculated only on the value of the bare ownership, which is discounted based on the donor's age at the time of the gift (using the scale in Article 669 of the Code général des impôts).

3. The Donation-Partage

A donation-partageis a gift that simultaneously distributes assets among the heirs during the donor's lifetime. It “freezes” the value of the gifted assets at the date of the gift for purposes of calculating the reserved shares later. This is particularly useful when assets are expected to appreciate, as it prevents future valuation disputes and reduces the overall succession tax base.

4. Cross-Border Trust Considerations

Trusts are a cornerstone of US estate planning, but France views them with deep suspicion. France does not have a domestic trust concept in its civil-law tradition. Since the loi du 14 juin 2011(the “trust law”), France imposes specific reporting obligations and tax charges on French-resident beneficiaries and French-situs assets held in foreign trusts. The annual tax on trust assets (prélèvement sui generis) and the heavy gift/inheritance tax rates applied to trust distributions (up to 60% in some cases) make trusts a perilous vehicle for anyone with French fiscal connections.

That said, trusts may still play a role for purely US-situs assets held by a US-citizen spouse. A revocable living trust, for instance, avoids US probate and can provide for the surviving spouse through a credit-shelter or bypass trust structure. The key is to keep French-situs assets and French-resident beneficiaries outside the trust to the extent possible.

Life Insurance (Assurance-Vie) as a Planning Tool

The French assurance-vie is arguably the most important estate-planning instrument in France — and one of the least understood by Americans. It is not a simple life insurance policy in the American sense. Rather, it is a tax-advantaged savings wrapper that can hold a variety of investments (euro funds, unit-linked funds, etc.) and that benefits from a special succession regime.

How It Sits Outside Succession Rules

Under Article L132-12 of the Code des assurances, the death benefit of an assurance-vie is paid directly to the named beneficiary and is not part of the deceased's estate for succession purposes. This means it is not subject to the réserve héréditaire calculation — the surviving spouse (or any other named beneficiary) receives the proceeds outside the estate, potentially circumventing forced heirship.

Tax Advantages

The tax treatment of assurance-vieupon death depends on when premiums were paid relative to the policyholder's 70th birthday:

• Premiums paid before age 70: Each beneficiary benefits from a EUR 152,500 tax-free allowance. Amounts above that threshold are taxed at 20% up to EUR 700,000, then 31.25% above. The surviving spouse (or PACS partner) is fully exempt from this tax.
• Premiums paid after age 70: A combined allowance of EUR 30,500 applies across all beneficiaries. Amounts above this are subject to standard inheritance tax rates. However, investment gains on premiums paid after 70 remain entirely exempt from succession tax.

Limits: The “Manifestly Excessive Premiums” Rule

Courts can reintegrate assurance-vieproceeds into the estate if the premiums paid were “manifestly excessive” relative to the policyholder's means (primes manifestement exagérées). There is no fixed threshold — it is assessed case by case based on the policyholder's age, financial situation, and the utility of the contract. Heirs who feel shortchanged by a large assurance-vie payout to the surviving spouse can (and do) challenge it.

US Tax Implications

For a US taxpayer, a French assurance-vie is classified as a foreign financial account (reportable on FBAR and FATCA Form 8938) and may be treated as a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) for US income-tax purposes. The PFIC regime imposes punitive tax rates on deferred gains unless a qualified electing fund (QEF) or mark-to-market election is made. US citizens should work with a cross-border tax advisor before opening an assurance-vie to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Wills: Formats and Jurisdictions

Binational couples often need wills that will be recognized on both sides of the Atlantic. The good news is that both France and the United States generally recognize foreign wills as to formal validity, provided they comply with the law of the place where they were made or the law of the testator's domicile or nationality. Still, practical enforceability varies.

French Will Formats

France recognizes three main types of wills:

• Testament olographe (holographic will): entirely handwritten, dated, and signed by the testator. No witnesses or notary are required. This is the most common form in France and is surprisingly simple — but it must be entirelyin the testator's handwriting (not typed) or it is void. It can be deposited with a notaire for safekeeping and registration in the Fichier Central des Dispositions de Dernières Volontés (FCDDV), the central register of last wills.
• Testament authentique (notarial will): dictated by the testator to a notaire in the presence of two witnesses (or a second notaire). It is the most secure format — difficult to contest and immediately registered — but also the most formal and expensive.
• Testament mystique (sealed will): written by the testator (or by someone else at their direction), sealed in an envelope, and presented to a notaire with witnesses who attest to the sealing. This form is rarely used in practice.

US Will Formats

US will requirements vary by state, but most states require a typed or printed document signed by the testator and attested by two (in some states, three) witnesses. Many states also recognize holographic wills (handwritten and signed, with or without witnesses), though not all do. A handful of states permit electronic wills.

The key concern for cross-border recognition is witness requirements. A French testament olographe(no witnesses) may face scrutiny in a US state that requires attestation, though the Uniform Probate Code (adopted in roughly 20 states) generally validates a will that complies with the law of the place where it was signed or the testator's domicile.

Best Practice: Coordinate, Do Not Duplicate

Many advisors recommend having one will per jurisdiction — a French will covering French-situs assets and a US will covering US-situs assets — rather than a single global will. This avoids the risk that a later will in one country inadvertently revokes an earlier will in the other. If using two wills:

• Each will should explicitly state that it covers only assets in the relevant jurisdiction and does not revoke wills in other jurisdictions.
• The French will should include the Brussels IV choice-of-law election (if desired) and name an executor (exécuteur testamentaire).
• The US will should be drafted in accordance with the relevant state's formalities and may incorporate a trust for US assets.
• Both wills should be reviewed together by advisors familiar with both systems to ensure they are consistent.

Gift Tax Differences

Lifetime gifts are a key estate-planning tool in both countries, but the rules differ dramatically.

French Gift Tax (Droits de Donation)

France imposes gift tax (droits de donation) on the recipient of a gift, based on the relationship between donor and recipient and the value transferred. The rates are progressive and can be steep for non-family members (up to 60%). Key features:

• Allowances (abattements): Each parent may give each child up to EUR 100,000 every 15 years free of gift tax. There is a separate EUR 31,865 allowance for gifts to grandchildren. Gifts between spouses benefit from an EUR 80,724 allowance every 15 years.
• Progressive rates: For direct-line gifts (parent to child), rates range from 5% on the first EUR 8,072 above the allowance to 45% on amounts exceeding EUR 1,805,677.
• Reporting: Gifts must generally be declared, either through a notarial deed (acte de donation) or a simplified form (formulaire 2735) for cash gifts (dons manuels).

US Federal Gift Tax

The US gift tax applies to the donor, not the recipient. Key features as of 2026:

• Annual exclusion: A donor may give up to $19,000 per recipient per year (2026 figure, indexed for inflation) without using any lifetime exemption or filing a gift-tax return.
• Lifetime exemption: The lifetime gift- and estate-tax exemption is unified. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it was approximately $13.61 million per person in 2024. Note that this elevated exemption is currently scheduled to sunset after 2025, potentially reverting to roughly $6-7 million (adjusted for inflation). Legislative changes may alter this figure; consult a tax advisor for the current threshold.
• Marital deduction: Unlimited gifts between US citizen spouses are exempt from gift tax. However, if the recipient spouse is a non-US citizen, the annual exclusion for gifts to that spouse is significantly higher than the standard exclusion — $190,000 in 2026 — but there is no unlimited marital deduction.

Coordinating Gift Strategies

Binational couples should take advantage of the allowances available in both systems. A common approach:

• Use the French EUR 100,000 per-parent, per-child allowance every 15 years to transfer French assets to children tax-efficiently. Structure these as donations avec réserve d'usufruit to retain income rights.
• Use the US annual exclusion ($19,000 per donee) for gifts of US assets, and the larger spousal exclusion ($190,000) for gifts to a non-citizen French spouse.
• Track cumulative gifts carefully, since France uses a 15-year look-back period while the US uses a lifetime cumulative system.

Practical Steps for Binational Couples

The intersection of French and American inheritance law is genuinely complex, but the path forward is manageable if taken step by step. Here is a concrete action plan:

1. Assemble a Cross-Border Advisory Team

You need, at minimum, a French notaire experienced in international successions, a US estate-planning attorney licensed in your relevant state, and a cross-border tax advisor (ideally a CPA or expert-comptable familiar with the US-France tax treaty). These professionals must communicate with each other — a siloed approach leads to conflicting plans.

2. Audit Your Asset Map

List every significant asset, its location (situs), its ownership structure, and how it would be treated under each country's law upon death. Include bank accounts, real property, retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, Plan d'Épargne Retraite), assurance-vie contracts, stock portfolios, and business interests.

3. Review Your Matrimonial Regime

Confirm which regime applies and whether it serves your estate-planning goals. If you married in the US without a prenup, verify how France characterizes your regime — the Hague Convention on Matrimonial Property (if applicable) or French conflict-of-laws rules may produce unexpected results.

4. Draft or Update Your Wills

Prepare one will for each jurisdiction, coordinated as described above. Include a Brussels IV choice-of-law election in your French will if you wish to opt out of French forced heirship (while understanding the limits of the 2021 clawback). Register the French will with the FCDDV.

5. Optimize Life Insurance

Consider opening assurance-vie contracts funded before age 70 to benefit from the EUR 152,500 per-beneficiary exemption. Coordinate with your US tax advisor on PFIC implications if you are a US taxpayer.

6. Plan Lifetime Gifts Strategically

Take advantage of French allowances on a 15-year cycle and US annual exclusions each year. Use donations-partage to lock in asset values and reduce future succession tax exposure.

7. Revisit Regularly

Laws change, asset values shift, and family circumstances evolve. Review your estate plan every three to five years — or sooner if there is a major life event (birth, divorce, acquisition of significant property, change of residence, or new legislation).