Sophie Ducamp-Monod and Simrun Garcha examine forthcoming EU regulations changing the ways in which British spouses may deal with their property in France.

This article was first published in Trusts and Estates Law & Tax Journal (June 2018) and is available at lawjournals.co.uk.

This article is concerned with the treatment of real estate located in France. In accordance with common law principles, individuals have testamentary freedom to bequeath their property located in France (and more broadly, in continental Europe) to their surviving spouse or civil partner. In France, however, the rights of the surviving spouse are limited by the provisions for a deceased parent to leave a share of their property to their children: this amounts to a one-half share if the individual has one child, two-thirds if there are two children and three-quarters if there are three or more children.