French Inheritance Tax for Married Couples and Civil Partners
What is French Inheritance Tax for Married Couples and Civil Partners?
This article will help you understand :
1. How French inheritance tax applies to most British married couples and Civil Partners with assets in France.
2. Does my spouse or Civil Partner automatically inherit my French Property,
3. How do I make sure my spouse or Civil Partner inherits and pays no French inheritance tax.
Do married couples pay French inheritance tax?
Spouses are exempt from French inheritance tax. There is no French Inheritance tax between spouses.
Do Registered Civil Partners or PACS partners pay French Inheritance Tax?
Registered Civil Partners or PACS Partners do not pay French Inheritance tax either.
Warning if there are children of Married Couples / Civil Partners / PACS couples :
- Under French law your partner does not automatically inherit the whole estate, you only get part of it, even if you leave a Will
Unless you take careful steps to elect English law, then French law applies to your French estate. Under French law, children are entitled to part of the French estate, even if you have a Will leaving the estate to your spouse or partner. The spouse or partner would be entitled to the “disposable share” of the estate after the children have been awarded their share.
If you leave a Will benefitting your spouse or partner, then the disposable share they can inherit is limited to half where there is one child; a third where there are two children; or a quarter where there are three or more children.
If you want your partner to inherit the estate you need take steps to ensure that they inherit, such as a carefully drafted Will electing English law, or some other carefully thought out estate planning arrangements.
Spouse inheritance rights if there are children but no Will (Intestacy)
If you are married and have children and there is no Will , a surviving spouse has a choice to take either a quarter of the estate in full ownership, or a 100% life interest, or a combination of a quarter as full ownership and three quarters as life interest. The rest passes to the child or children.
These rights only apply to married couples. They do not apply to Civil Partners who have not registered their partnership as a marriage, and do not apply to PACS partners.
Warning for Civil Partners and PACS Partners without a Will:
- No Will = No inheritance. You really, really, REALLY need a Will!
Whilst a Spouse does get some limited rights of inheritance on intestacy (where there is no Will),
a PACS partner or Civil Partner does NOT get rights on inheritance on intestacy (unless the Civil Partnership has been registered as a marriage).
You need to be proactive and draw up a Will for them to get any inheritance.
Remember, No Will = No inheritance.
Don’t worry though - We can help prepare a carefully drafted Will in favour of your Civil Partner or PACS Partner, so that they do inherit, and the inheritance will be tax free for French Inheritance Tax. You also need to remember to take account of the rights of children, which we can help with.
How to ensure your spouse or Civil Partner inherits your French estate and pays no French inheritance tax
If you want your spouse or registered Civil Partner or PACS partner to inherit the whole estate, you need a carefully drafted Will, or carefully thought out estate planning.
Thankfully, we can help you with this. We have 18 years professional legal experience in this area, and are happy to share our expertise to help you. Feel free to call or email so we can talk you through it.
John Kitching
Director
French Law Consultancy
Email me: john@french.legal
Call me +44 (0)1663 745488