Q:
Many of our listeners are confused about things like wills. For instance, should they make a French will? What property does a French will cover?

A:
Anyone owning property that is governed by French succession law should make a French will.

If you die domiciled in England, French succession law will only apply to your land/buildings or other ‘realty’ in France. Your furniture or bank accounts and other ‘movable’ property in France or elsewhere in the world is governed by English law. Your French will should therefore only make reference to your French realty, and exclude any movable property you own in France, which should be dealt with in your English will.

If you die domiciled in France, French succession law will not only apply to your French realty, but also to you ‘movable’ property in France and elsewhere in the world. The only property to escape French succession law if you die domiciled in France is your English realty and usually (but not always) any other realty you own outside France.

Q:
Of course, all lawyers are bound to urge you to make a French will. You are, after all, only butchers telling you to eat meat! You have to make a living somehow. It must be easy money just banging out ‘standard’ word-processed French wills – right?

A:
Wrong! Many French lawyers, particularly those in the high street, have treated drafting French wills as a ‘loss leader’. Something to foster goodwill, perhaps ‘bolted on’ to a French conveyancing package at a little or no extra cost. But, in treating the making of a French will as an afterthought, the profession is sending out the wrong message. It fosters the attitude