French Inheritance Law for Americans: Forced Heirship, Brussels IV, and the Estate Tax Treaty Explained (2026)

If you own a home in France, plan to retire there, or have already moved, French inheritance law for Americans is one of the few areas where US habits can quietly override your wishes after you die. The short version: France applies forced heirship, a rule that reserves a fixed share of your estate for your children no matter what your will says, and if you are habitually resident in France, French civil law governs your worldwide succession by default. You can change which law applies by electing US law in your will under the EU Succession Regulation, often called Brussels IV, but that election does not erase French inheritance tax, and a 2021 French law lets France-resident children reclaim their reserved share from French assets. This guide covers forced heirship, the Brussels IV election, the US-France estate tax treaty, 2026 succession tax rates, and where an SCI fits. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Tax rules are complex and change frequently: consult a qualified cross-border tax professional before making any filing or planning decisions.

How French forced heirship works, and who it protects

French forced heirship reserves a fixed minimum share of your estate, called the réserve héréditaire, for your children, and you can freely give away only the remainder, called the quotité disponible. The reserved fraction depends on how many children you leave, and it is set by the Code civil, not by your will:

Children are always protected heirs, whether biological or adopted, and the type of filiation does not change the result. A surviving spouse becomes a protected heir only when there are no children, in which case one quarter of the estate is reserved for them. Two groups that many Americans assume are protected are not: ascendants (your own parents) stopped being reserved heirs for deaths from January 1, 2007, and an unmarried partner, including a PACS partner, has no reserved share at all.

The practical consequence is the part that surprises American families most. A will leaving everything to a spouse cannot disinherit the children, because the reserve belongs to them by law. In our experience, this only becomes real when a settlement is underway: if a gift or a will eats into the reserve, the children can bring an action en réduction to claw their share back, and that action runs for five years from the death (or two years from when they learn of the breach, capped at ten years from death). Planning around the reserve is legal and common, but pretending it does not exist is what causes disputes.

Whose estate French succession law actually governs

If you are habitually resident in France when you die, French succession law governs your entire worldwide estate by default, wherever your assets sit, under the EU Succession Regulation that has applied since August 17, 2015. The regulation sets one rule for participating EU countries: the law of your country of habitual residence at death applies to the whole succession, and it has universal effect, meaning it can point to the law of a non-EU country too.

Two clarifications matter for Americans. First, the regulation decides civil devolution, meaning who inherits and in what shares, and it expressly leaves tax out. Electing one country's law never settles which country taxes the estate. Second, habitual residence is a factual question, not a box you tick, and it can shift when you move, so a snowbird who splits the year between Florida and Provence does not get to assume a US answer. Even for a non-resident, French law and French tax still reach any real estate physically located in France, so a US-based owner of a Nice apartment is not outside the system for that asset.

Can Americans opt out of forced heirship? The Brussels IV election

Yes, an American can elect the law of their US nationality to govern their succession instead of French law, by stating it expressly in a will under Article 22 of the EU Succession Regulation, but the election has two limits that decide whether it actually helps you. This choice, known as professio juris, lets you pick the law of a country whose nationality you hold, and that chosen law then governs the succession as a whole. For an American living in France, that usually means electing the inheritance law of your US state, which generally has no forced heirship and lets you leave your estate as you choose.

The first limit is tax. Because the regulation excludes tax, choosing US law changes who inherits, not what France taxes. The second limit is newer and frequently missed. A French law of August 24, 2021 added a droit de prélèvement compensatoire to Article 913 of the Code civil, in force for deaths from November 1, 2021. When the deceased or at least one of their children is, at death, a national of an EU country or habitually resident in one, and the chosen foreign law provides no mechanism protecting children's reserve, each child can take a compensatory levy on the assets located in France to restore the reserve French law would have given them. In plain terms, France-resident children can reclaim their French reserve out of French assets even when a US will tried to leave them nothing. The compatibility of this 2021 mechanism with EU law is contested and under European scrutiny, so it is an area where the rules may still move.

What we see most often is an American who believes a US will alone overrides forced heirship. In practice, the notaire settling a France-based estate applies the French default unless a valid Article 22 election exists, and even with that election, a France-resident child can invoke the 2021 levy. A Brussels IV clause is a genuine tool, but it is not a magic switch. Mapping which of these limits applies to your own family, your assets, and your residence is the part most people get wrong alone, and a short first-year tax orientation helps you see where your estate stands before you pay a notaire to draft anything.

French succession tax: rates, the spouse exemption, and what heirs owe

French inheritance tax is charged on each heir's share, and the rate and the allowance depend on that heir's relationship to you, not on the size of the estate as a whole. The single most important fact for married couples: a surviving spouse pays no French inheritance tax, and a PACS partner named in a will is also fully exempt, a rule in place since 2007. Children get an allowance of 100,000 euros each, applied separately to each parent, and it renews every 15 years, so lifetime gifting within that band is a common way to reduce the eventual bill. Above the allowance, a child's share is taxed on the official direct-line scale:

This scale has been unchanged since 2011, and the 2026 finance law left it in place. The relationship matters enormously once you leave the direct line: siblings get a 15,932 euro allowance and then pay 35% or 45%, nephews and nieces pay 55%, and an unmarried partner who is not a PACS partner, along with any unrelated beneficiary, pays 60% after a 1,594 euro allowance. That 60% rate is exactly why an unmarried American couple who skip both marriage and a PACS can hand the survivor a tax bill larger than the inheritance they expected.

Whether French tax applies at all turns on where you and your heirs live. Under the territorial rule, if you were domiciled in France, your worldwide estate is taxable in France; any asset physically located in France is taxable in France regardless of where anyone lives; and if an heir has been resident in France for at least six of the last ten years, that heir is taxed in France on their worldwide inheritance. Heirs must file a French succession declaration and pay within six months of a death in France, or twelve months if the death occurred abroad, and late filing adds interest plus a surcharge, so this is not a deadline to discover after the fact.

The US-France estate and gift tax treaty, and your US estate tax

A separate US-France estate and gift tax treaty, signed in 1978 and amended by a 2004 protocol, exists precisely to stop the same inheritance from being taxed in full by both countries, and it works by assigning taxing rights and allowing credits. This is a different agreement from the income tax treaty that most expat tax guides discuss, and the IRS treaty documents page links to both. The general principle is that the country where you were domiciled may tax on a worldwide basis but must credit the tax the other country charged on certain property, and real estate is taxable where it sits, so a French house is taxed in France and a US house is taxed in the US. The 2004 protocol also gives the estate of a French domiciliary a pro rata unified credit for US estate tax purposes and provides a limited US marital deduction when the surviving spouse is not a US citizen, which is a real issue for binational couples.

On the US side, US citizens remain subject to US estate tax on their worldwide estate no matter where they live, but the exemption is high enough that most Americans in France will owe no US federal estate tax. For 2026 the federal estate and gift tax exemption is 15 million dollars per person, or 30 million dollars for a married couple using portability, an amount made permanent by recent legislation and indexed for inflation; only value above the exemption is taxed, at a top federal rate of 40%. Two practical notes follow. A transfer to a US-citizen spouse qualifies for an unlimited marital deduction, but a transfer to a non-citizen spouse does not, which is where the treaty's limited marital deduction matters. And because US retirement accounts often dominate an American's estate, it is worth understanding what happens to a US 401(k) and IRA after a move to France alongside the estate question. The treaty is also why the cross-border income picture and the inheritance picture stay separate: the income tax treaty and FATCA reporting rules answer a different set of questions than the estate treaty does.

Where an SCI fits, and where it does not

Holding French property through an SCI converts the real estate into company shares that pass more flexibly, but it does not remove French inheritance tax and it does not let you disinherit a protected heir. An SCI, or société civile immobilière, is a civil company that owns the property, while you and your co-owners hold parts sociales (shares) in it. On death, your heirs inherit your shares rather than the building itself, yet those shares are still subject to French inheritance tax because they derive their value from French real estate, and the tax authorities often allow a valuation discount of around 10% because shares are less liquid than a house.

Used well, the structure does three useful things: it lets you gift shares to children gradually within the 100,000 euro allowance, it supports démembrement (splitting usufruct from bare ownership) to lower the taxable base, and it avoids the deadlock and forced sale that joint ownership (indivision) can trigger when one heir wants out. What it does not do is override the reserve, since the réserve héréditaire rules apply to SCI shares just as they apply to a house. There is also a US trap worth flagging. For American owners, an SCI can create classification and reporting complications on the US side, because the US may treat it as a corporation or a partnership, so an SCI set up with only French advice can produce US filing headaches. If you are weighing one, read how the structure works when buying property in France as an American and coordinate the French and US sides before you sign.

Where Americans get stuck with French inheritance

Most of the trouble is not the tax bill itself but a handful of US assumptions that do not survive contact with French succession rules:

• Believing a US will is enough. What we see most often is the assumption that a stateside will overrides forced heirship. It does not by default, it requires an Article 22 election, and even then a France-resident child can use the 2021 levy to recover their reserve.

• Confusing the civil reserve with the tax. The reserve decides who inherits; the tax decides what they pay. Electing US law can change the first and leaves the second untouched.

• Skipping marriage and a PACS. In our experience, the harshest surprise lands on unmarried partners, who have no reserved share and face the 60% non-relative tax rate, while a married spouse pays nothing.

• Missing the declaration deadline. Heirs abroad often assume there is no rush, then discover the six-month (or twelve-month) clock and the penalties for filing late.

• Setting up an SCI in a vacuum. A structure that looks clean in France can create US reporting problems if no one checks the US classification first.

Your French succession-planning checklist

Work through these in order before you involve professionals, so your first meeting is productive:

1. List every asset and note where it physically sits, separating French real estate, French accounts, US accounts, and US real estate.

2. Decide, honestly, where your habitual residence is and is likely to remain, since that sets the default law.

3. Identify your protected heirs under French law, including children from any prior relationship.

4. Decide whether to make an Article 22 election for US law, and remember the 2021 levy if children are EU residents.

5. Coordinate any French will and US will so they do not accidentally revoke each other.

6. Review your marital regime, which can change how much passes to a spouse before inheritance rules even apply.

7. Consider lifetime gifts to children within the 100,000 euro allowance that renews every 15 years.

8. Confirm whether the estate tax treaty covers your specific assets, especially real estate on each side.

9. Note the filing deadline now: six months for a death in France, twelve months for a death abroad.

10. Take the French side to a notaire and the US side to a cross-border tax advisor before signing anything.

When you can handle this alone, and when to get help

A simple situation can be straightforward: a married couple with shared children, modest French assets, and a clear habitual residence may need little more than a will and a marital-regime check. The cases that genuinely need professional help are cross-border estates with French real estate, children from a prior relationship, an unmarried partner, or significant US assets, because those combine forced heirship, the Brussels IV election, the 2021 levy, French succession tax, and US estate tax at once. Two professionals do the real work here: a notaire handles the French succession and any Article 22 election, and a cross-border tax advisor handles US estate tax and the treaty, so it helps to know how to find and vet the right notaire and English-speaking professionals in France. EasyFranceNow does not replace either of them. Where it helps is getting your French tax position clear first, so you walk into those meetings knowing what to ask. If that is the step you want, EasyFranceNow's first-year tax orientation walks through where you stand across the US and French systems.

FAQ

Does a US will override French forced heirship for Americans living in France?

Not by itself. If you are habitually resident in France, French law governs your succession by default, and forced heirship reserves a fixed share for your children. You can elect the inheritance law of your US nationality in a will under Article 22 of the EU Succession Regulation, which generally removes forced heirship, but two limits apply. The election does not change French inheritance tax, and a 2021 French law lets children who are EU nationals or EU residents reclaim their French reserve from assets located in France even when foreign law was chosen. A Brussels IV election is a real planning tool, but it is not a guaranteed way to leave a France-resident child nothing.

Do my children automatically inherit if I die while living in France?

Under the French default, yes: your children are protected heirs and cannot be fully disinherited, with the reserved share running from one half for one child up to three quarters for three or more. A surviving spouse is a protected heir only when there are no children. You can alter the civil outcome by electing US law in a will, but the reserve can still reach French assets through the 2021 compensatory levy when children are EU residents. Whatever the civil outcome, the tax is separate, and an heir's bill depends on their relationship to you, with a surviving spouse fully exempt and each child receiving a 100,000 euro allowance per parent.

How much French inheritance tax will my children pay?

Each child first receives an allowance of 100,000 euros, applied to each parent and renewable every 15 years, so amounts within that band are tax-free. Above it, a child's share is taxed on a progressive scale that runs from 5% to 45%, and in practice most direct-line inheritances fall in the 20% band, which applies up to 552,324 euros above the allowance. The surviving spouse pays nothing. Rates rise sharply outside the direct line: siblings pay 35% or 45%, nephews and nieces pay 55%, and unmarried partners who are not PACS partners pay 60%. These figures sit in the Code général des impôts and were unchanged for 2026, but you should confirm your own numbers with a notaire.

Does the US-France estate tax treaty mean an inheritance is only taxed once?

It is designed to prevent double taxation, but it does so through credits and allocation rules rather than a blanket exemption, so it is not automatic. The country where you were domiciled may tax on a worldwide basis but must credit certain tax paid to the other country, and real estate is taxed where it is located. Because US citizens are taxed on their worldwide estate yet the 2026 US exemption is 15 million dollars per person, most Americans in France owe French succession tax but no US federal estate tax, and the treaty coordinates the two systems. Claiming treaty relief requires correct filing on both sides, which is a job for a cross-border tax professional rather than a do-it-yourself return.

Conclusion

For Americans, the heart of French inheritance law is that France governs your succession by default once you live there, forced heirship protects your children, and a US will does not quietly override either one. You can elect US law under Brussels IV, but you cannot use it to escape French inheritance tax, and a 2021 law lets France-resident children recover their reserve from French assets. On tax, the surviving spouse is exempt, children get a renewable 100,000 euro allowance, and the US-France estate tax treaty keeps the same inheritance from being taxed twice. The reliable path is to map your assets and residence, then take the French side to a notaire and the US side to a cross-border advisor. You can do most of the mapping yourself with the steps above. If you want help getting your French tax position clear first, EasyFranceNow's first-year tax orientation walks through where you stand and what to ask each specialist.