Channel crossing

The new EU Succession Regulation has a direct impact on English estate practice—even though the regulation (also known as Brussels-IV, No 650/2012) does not apply to the UK.

Until now, different EU member states have wildly divergent practices in deciding which law applies to the succession to a deceased’s estate. Some apply nationality (Germany), others habitual residence (France; but sometimes for a minimum period: Netherlands five years), some common law domicile (England, Ireland, Malta) and many apply the lex rei sitae to immobiles. This last factor is particularly problematic: an Englishman buys a house in France and succession to the property is governed by the forced heirship (reserved portion) provisions of the Code Civil. By these, children of the deceased have a claim to up to three quarters of the estate—a claim which they cannot renounce during the parent’s lifetime. The estate of an Englishman, living in England, is thus subject to different laws, with the French realty governed by French law and the rest by English