Key Takeaways
- A French chalet raises two separate questions: who is entitled to inherit under French civil law, and what France will tax. An English-law election addresses only the first, and only partially. It never touches French inheritance tax.
- French reserved shares protect children by headcount: one child is reserved half the estate, two children two-thirds, three or more three-quarters. As of 2026 these fractions are fixed in the Code civil.
- Since November 2021, Article 913 of the Code civil can let a child reclaim their French reserved share from French assets even where a foreign law governs the succession. Its compatibility with European law is unresolved.
- France taxes each beneficiary by relationship. Spouses and French PACS partners are exempt, but overseas civil partnerships should be checked with a French notaire or tax adviser. Children receive a EUR 100,000 allowance then pay 5% to 45%, and an unmarried partner or stepchild pays 60% after only EUR 1,594.
- For long-term United Kingdom residents, UK inheritance tax still reaches the French home at 40%. Life insurance written in trust is a common liquidity route used to fund that liability without forcing a sale, subject to underwriting and advice.
The misconception that costs UK buyers most
Many buyers arrive with one belief: that choosing English law settles the inheritance question on a French chalet. It does not. A French property raises two separate questions, and the two have different answers.
The first question is civil: who is entitled to inherit. The second is fiscal: what France will tax. For the broader cross-border picture across the Alps, our guide to inheritance tax and succession planning for ski property buyers sets out the overview that this France-specific article sits beneath.
On the civil question, the European succession regulation known as Brussels IV (Regulation 650/2012), which applies to successions opened from 17 August 2015, lets a national choose their home law to govern the succession. That choice, called a professio juris, can in principle displace French forced heirship. Since 2021 the civil escape has become unreliable, for reasons set out below.
On the fiscal question, there is no escape at all. French inheritance tax (IHT) reaches French-situated property whatever law governs the civil succession. Choosing English law does nothing to reduce the French tax bill.
Who French law protects: reserved shares and the disposable portion
French law sets aside a protected minimum for certain heirs, called the reserve hereditaire (the reserved portion). What remains is the quotite disponible (the disposable portion), which the owner can leave to anyone.
The reserve is fixed by the number of children, not by the size of the estate. The table below sets out the split as of 2026.
| Family situation | Reserved for heirs | Freely disposable |
|---|---|---|
| One child | 1/2 | 1/2 |
| Two children | 2/3 | 1/3 |
| Three or more children | 3/4 | 1/4 |
| No descendants | 1/4 (surviving spouse) | 3/4 |
Parents and grandparents are no longer reserved heirs. The reform law of 23 June 2006 removed them, so an ascendant cannot claim a reserved share.1
If the owner gives away more than the disposable portion, protected heirs can recover the excess through an action en reduction (a claim to reduce over-large gifts). The time limit is typically 5 years from death, or 2 years from discovering the breach, with a maximum of 10 years from death.
The reserve is calculated on the whole estate, not only what is left at death. Reportable lifetime gifts are added back to the estate before the reserve is worked out, so a gift made years earlier can still be counted.
The spouse's real position: reserved heir versus intestate heir
Important
What a spouse receives when there is no will is a different question from what a spouse is protected to receive against a will. Buyers in second marriages confuse the two most often.
A surviving spouse is a protected, reserved heir only where there are no descendants, in which case the reserve is 1/4 of the estate. Where there are children, the spouse is not a reserved heir at all.
The intestacy rules, which apply when there is no will, are separate. Where all the children are common to both partners, the spouse may choose between the usufruct of the whole estate (the right to use the property and its income for life, without owning it outright) or 1/4 of the estate in full ownership.
Where there are children from a prior relationship, the choice disappears. The spouse takes 1/4 in full ownership only, with no usufruct option. For a blended family, that distinction can decide whether the surviving partner keeps the use of the chalet.
The 2021 clawback: Article 913 and the compensatory levy
Important
This is current law, but its compatibility with European law is contested and unresolved. Treat any planning that relies on a foreign-law election around it as provisional, and confirm the position with a notaire.
The France-specific development that makes this worth reading is the droit de prelevement compensatoire (a compensatory levy). It was introduced by Loi n° 2021-1109 of 24 August 2021 and codified at Article 913, paragraph 3, of the Code civil. It came into force on 1 November 2021 and applies to successions opened from that date, including where gifts were made before it.2
The mechanism lets a child reclaim, from assets located in France on the date of death, an amount up to their French reserved entitlement. Three conditions must all be met.
First, the deceased or at least one child is, at death, a national of, or habitually resident in, a European Union (EU) member state. Second, the foreign law governing the succession provides no protective reserved-share mechanism for children. Third, French-situated assets exist at death.
The statutory trigger is a member state of the European Union, not the wider European Economic Area. English law has family-provision concepts but no fixed children's reserve, so exposure to a claim is plausible but fact-sensitive.
The European Commission has received complaints arguing that Article 913 conflicts with Brussels IV. As of 2026, no European Court of Justice ruling has resolved the point, meaning this requires ongoing monitoring by a cross-border legal specialist. Two European Court of Human Rights cases from February 2024 are sometimes cited as validating the 2021 law, but they concerned a different, repealed historical mechanism and do not settle the position.
What France taxes: droits de succession by relationship
France taxes each beneficiary on their share by relationship to the deceased, not the estate as a whole. This is the opposite of the UK approach, and it changes how planning works.
A spouse and a French PACS partner (a partner under a French civil solidarity pact) are 100% exempt on any amount, under Article 796-0 bis of the General Tax Code (the TEPA law of 21 August 2007).3 There is a trap: a PACS partner is not an heir at law, so without a will a PACS partner inherits nothing. A will is required for them to inherit at all. Overseas civil partnerships are not automatically equivalent, so a foreign civil partnership should be checked with a French notaire or tax adviser.
A child receives an allowance of EUR 100,000 per parent, which applies to gifts and inheritances and renews every 15 years. For common non-spouse cases, the main allowances and rates are set out below.
| Relationship | Allowance | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse or PACS partner | Full exemption | 0% |
| Sibling | EUR 15,932 | 35% up to EUR 24,430, then 45% |
| Niece or nephew | EUR 7,967 | 55% |
| Relative up to the 4th degree | None beyond the above | 55% |
| Unmarried partner, stepchild, friend, unrelated | EUR 1,594 | 60% flat |
| Disabled beneficiary | +EUR 159,325 (stacks) | Per relationship above |
The 60% rate after only EUR 1,594 is the headline pain point. An unmarried partner or a stepchild who is not legally adopted is treated as a stranger for tax, so a partner inheriting a half-share of a chalet can lose well over half of it to tax.
A narrow sibling exemption exists where the sibling lived with the deceased for the 5 years before death, is single, widowed or divorced, and is over 50 or disabled. These one-off death taxes are separate from the annual ownership taxes covered in our guide to French property taxes for non-resident ski home owners.
The direct-line tax scale and how it bites a chalet inheritance
For children and other direct-line heirs, tax is charged on each child's share after the EUR 100,000 allowance, on a progressive scale. The 2026 Finance Law has frozen these bands unchanged through 31 December 2028.
| Taxable share per child, after allowance | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to EUR 8,072 | 5% |
| EUR 8,073 to EUR 12,109 | 10% |
| EUR 12,110 to EUR 15,932 | 15% |
| EUR 15,933 to EUR 552,324 | 20% |
| EUR 552,325 to EUR 902,838 | 30% |
| EUR 902,839 to EUR 1,805,677 | 40% |
| Over EUR 1,805,677 | 45% |
The 20% band, from EUR 15,933 to EUR 552,324, can cover a large part of many chalet inheritances once the allowance is used. The rate is applied to each child's share separately, so splitting an estate across more children lowers the average rate.4 These rates apply as of 2026 and are subject to change.
Ownership structures used at acquisition
The structure chosen at purchase shapes what happens on death. Three often considered in French succession planning are shown below, each with a real downside. The table compares them; the detail follows.
| Structure | What it does civilly | Tax treatment | The trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCI (societe civile immobiliere) | Converts the property into movable shares; useful for control and staged gifting | Tax-transparent: shares remain fully subject to French inheritance tax | Furnished letting may trigger an irreversible switch to corporation tax. |
| Clause de tontine | Survivor is treated as sole owner from the outset, outside the estate | Still taxed on inheritance-tax lines: 60% for unmarried couples, exempt if married or PACS | Extreme rigidity: unanimity needed, no right to force a sale, a trap if the relationship ends |
| Communaute universelle | Where validly adopted and recognised, can pass the community to the surviving spouse outside succession | No French inheritance tax between spouses, subject to structure and family facts. | Non-common children can sue to claw back the excess advantage |
An SCI (societe civile immobiliere, a French civil property-holding company) turns the chalet into company shares. Historically, shares held by a UK-domiciled non-resident were thought to follow UK succession law, but since 2021 that is no longer reliable against an Article 913 claim, and the shares remain fully subject to French inheritance tax.5 The SCI is best treated as a control and staged-transmission tool: it avoids the deadlock of joint ownership, controls who can join, and allows gifting in tranches while retaining usufruct.
The SCI carries one sharp downside. Renting the chalet furnished through the SCI can be treated as a commercial activity and may trigger an automatic, irreversible switch to corporation tax (impot sur les societes, IS), which loses the capital gains tax (CGT) allowances that reduce the bill on a later sale.
A clause de tontine treats the deceased as if they had never owned the property, so the survivor is sole owner from the start and the property falls outside the estate civilly. It is still taxed on inheritance-tax lines, which is brutal for unmarried couples at 60% on the deceased's share, though exempt for married or PACS couples. A narrow exception applies to a principal residence worth under EUR 76,000 at death.6
Where validly adopted and recognised, a communaute universelle avec clause d'attribution integrale (a universal community matrimonial regime with full attribution to the survivor) can pass the community estate to the surviving spouse outside succession and without French inheritance tax between spouses.7 It works well for first-marriage families with common children. In a blended family, non-common children can bring an action en retranchement under Article 1527 of the Code civil to cut back the excess advantage, which may be reduced where the relevant child gives a valid advance waiver before two notaires.
Lifetime planning: gifting before death
Lifetime gifting is often more robust than relying on will wording, because it fixes values and uses allowances over time. The sequence below shows how the most common route works on an appreciating chalet.
A donation-partage (a formal gift-division among heirs) freezes the gifted asset's value at the date of the gift. A simple donation is instead revalued at death for the reserve calculation, which can claw back the gain on a rising chalet.
Under Article 669 of the General Tax Code, a parent keeps the usufruct and gifts only the bare ownership (the underlying title without the right to use). Tax is charged on a discounted base set by the parent's age: at 51 to 60, usufruct and bare ownership are each valued at 50%; at 61 to 70, the split is 40% and 60%.
The EUR 100,000 per-parent, per-child allowance renews every 15 years, so a programme of gifts can transfer value in stages while resetting the allowance.
When the usufructuary dies, the usufruct extinguishes and merges into the bare ownership tax-free, under Article 1133 of the General Tax Code. The children then hold full ownership without a further tax charge on the merger.
Consider a married couple, both aged 60, with two children and an appreciating chalet. The mechanism, not a specific figure, is the point.
If the chalet passed to the children at full value on death, French inheritance tax would be charged on that full value, on each child's share after the EUR 100,000 allowance. If instead the couple gift the bare ownership at 60, the Article 669 scale charges tax on a discounted base, here roughly half the value, and the two-parent allowances reduce the base further.8 The usufruct then reconstitutes tax-free on death, with no fresh charge on the merger.
The saving comes from taxing a discounted base now rather than the full value later. The exact outcome turns on values, ages and timing, so it must be modelled by a qualified notaire or tax adviser before acting.
Assurance-vie as a liquidity pool
An assurance-vie (a French life-assurance investment wrapper) is not a property-title tool. It is a way to hold cash and investments that pay out on death largely outside the succession estate, which makes it a liquidity instrument rather than a way to pass the chalet itself.
For premiums paid before age 70, under Article 990 I of the General Tax Code, each named beneficiary has a EUR 152,500 allowance. Tax is then 20% on the next slice of the taxable amount, meaning the gross sum from EUR 152,501 to EUR 852,500, and 31.25% above EUR 852,500 gross. The EUR 700,000 figure sometimes quoted is the taxable amount after the allowance, not a gross threshold.
Non-resident cases need advice on whether the French levy applies.
For premiums paid after age 70, under Article 757 B of the General Tax Code, there is a single shared allowance of EUR 30,500 across all beneficiaries. Premiums above that fall back into the estate at the standard scale, though the accrued growth stays exempt. The two regimes are alternatives, not cumulative.9
Because assurance-vie is generally treated outside the succession estate, it can help provide liquidity outside the property succession, subject to beneficiary wording, residence and anti-abuse review. That cash can pay French tax, equalise children, or compensate a partner facing the 60% rate, all without forcing a sale of the chalet.
The notaire and the unforgiving timetable
A notaire (the French public official who handles property and succession formalities) is compulsory where the estate includes real property. The notaire prepares the acte de notoriete (the deed establishing who the heirs are), the property attestation, and the declaration de succession (the inheritance tax return), and releases blocked French accounts.
The deadlines are short and the penalties automatic. The sequence below sets out the timetable. Our guide to the essential legal guide to buying ski property in France explains the notaire's wider role in a purchase.
On a death involving French real property, the family instructs a notaire to open and administer the estate. The notaire acts for the orderly settlement and the State's tax collection, which is not the same as advocating for the family's private wealth.
The return and payment are due within 6 months of death if the death occurred in France, or 12 months if it occurred abroad.10 Voluntary advance payments, called acomptes, made within the window halt interest and reduce the base for penalties.
From the first day of month 7, late-payment interest accrues at 0.20% per month, equal to 2.4% a year, on tax not yet paid.
A majoration (a percentage surcharge) of 10% applies where filing or payment is more than roughly 6 or 12 months late. It rises to 40% if the return is still not filed within 90 days of a mise en demeure (a formal demand to comply).
The clock runs regardless of any estate litigation, so a dispute between heirs does not pause the interest or the penalties. Because the notaire also has formal tax-collection duties, an independent cross-border solicitor who advocates for the family's private wealth is a separate and worthwhile appointment.
The UK layer: inheritance tax on the French home
Important
For a long-term UK resident, the French chalet can fall within both the French and UK inheritance tax systems, with treaty credits and timing needing specialist advice. The sting most buyers overlook is timing, because the UK tax must usually be paid before the estate is released.
UK inheritance tax applies to the worldwide assets of long-term UK residents, including an overseas ski home, at a standard rate of 40%. The nil rate band is GBP 325,000 per person, and the residence nil rate band can bring a couple toward roughly GBP 1 million in total, depending on the estate.
Under the residence-based regime that took effect on 6 April 2025, a person is a long-term resident if they were UK tax resident in 10 of the previous 20 years. A long-term resident stays within the UK inheritance tax net for up to 10 years after leaving the UK.
The timing trap is real. UK inheritance tax is due by the end of the sixth month after death, and beneficiaries must usually pay it before they receive the estate through probate. Families without ready cash often resort to bridging loans.
As a rough stress-test only, buyers sometimes model the UK exposure at up to 40% before allowances, spouse exemptions and treaty relief are applied.
Double taxation is softened by the 1963 UK-France Estate Duty Convention, signed on 21 June 1963 and in force from 30 June 1964. Real estate is taxed where it is situated, the state of domicile taxes the rest, and a credit is given for duty paid in the other state, capped at the UK tax on the same asset, with claims made within 5 years of death.11 The treaty pre-dates the modern deemed-domicile rules and has no deemed-domicile provision.
One point needs specialist advice. Under Article V(1) of the treaty, assets outside Great Britain can be drawn into UK inheritance tax where they pass under a disposition regulated by the law of part of Great Britain.
A Brussels IV election of English law could arguably create such a disposition in a double-domicile case, potentially without treaty credit. This is a highly technical and contested area of cross-border tax law, making expert analysis from an estate lawyer essential before proceeding.
The liquidity fix: life insurance written in trust
Life insurance does not remove the UK inheritance tax liability. It covers it, by providing cash equal to the bill so the family does not have to sell the chalet or take a bridging loan to pay it.
For the insurance to work, the policy must be written in trust. The proceeds are then paid to a trust outside the estate, so the payout does not itself increase the estate or the tax. The trust form is provided by the insurer and submitted once the policy is live.12
The payout does not wait for probate. On production of the death certificate, the insurer may be able to pay the trust quickly once the claim documents are accepted, and the executors use that cash to pay the inheritance tax, which then clears the way for probate. A joint-life second-death policy is common where the will leaves everything to the spouse, because no tax falls on the first death thanks to the spouse exemption, and the liability arrives on the second death.
Matching the policy term to how long the liability exists controls the cost. In the Bentley Reid example used for SnowOnly+, a healthy couple aged 60 on a joint-life second-death policy with GBP 1 million of cover face whole-of-life cover of around GBP 10,000 to GBP 12,000 a year, a 20-year term around GBP 3,000 to GBP 3,500, and a 10-year term around GBP 1,400. Matching term to liability rather than defaulting to whole-of-life can save in the region of GBP 7,000 to GBP 9,000 a year over 20 years in that example.
Get protection as soon as possible. You are the youngest and healthiest you will ever be.
That is the view of Mike Winstanley, an international wealth manager at Bentley Reid, speaking on the SnowOnly+ channel.13 The point is practical: premiums and insurability both worsen with age and with any change in health, so the cost of waiting compounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does choosing English law under Brussels IV remove French forced heirship?
Not reliably, and it never touches French inheritance tax. A professio juris can in principle govern the civil succession, but since 2021 the Article 913 compensatory levy may still let a child reclaim their French reserved share from French assets. Confirm the position with a notaire.
How much can I leave freely if I have two children?
With two children, the disposable portion is one-third of the estate and the reserved portion for the children is two-thirds. These fractions are fixed by headcount, as of 2026.
Are my spouse and PACS partner exempt from French inheritance tax?
Yes, both are 100% exempt on any amount. A PACS partner is not an heir at law, so without a will they inherit nothing, which means a will is required for them to inherit at all.
What is the French inheritance tax rate for an unmarried partner or stepchild?
It is 60% after an allowance of only EUR 1,594, as of 2026. A stepchild who is not legally adopted is treated the same way, so this is the most expensive category to inherit in.
How long do we have to file and pay?
The declaration de succession and payment are due within 6 months of death if the death occurred in France, or 12 months if abroad. After that, late-payment interest of 0.20% a month and a 10% or 40% surcharge can apply.
Does UK inheritance tax still apply to a French chalet?
Yes, for long-term UK residents, at 40% on worldwide assets including the French home. The 1963 UK-France treaty gives a credit for French duty paid on the same asset, capped at the UK tax on it.
Next Steps
Before choosing an ownership structure, buyers should ask a notaire and cross-border tax adviser to model civil succession, French tax, UK tax exposure and liquidity. For the full France buyer context -- ownership structures, leaseback, DPE, Schengen, and the buying process -- see our France ski property guide for non-resident buyers. For the annual taxes that sit alongside the one-off succession costs covered here, see tax basics for overseas ski property owners.
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1. Service-Public.fr: Reserved portion and disposable portion of an estate (reserve hereditaire), French public service, 2026.
2. Legifrance: Article 913 of the Code civil, droit de prelevement compensatoire, Loi n° 2021-1109 of 24 August 2021, in force 1 November 2021.
3. Legifrance: Article 796-0 bis of the General Tax Code, full inheritance tax exemption for spouses and PACS partners (TEPA law of 21 August 2007).
4. Service-Public.fr: Droits de succession, allowances and direct-line tax scale, frozen through 31 December 2028 by the 2026 Finance Law, French public service, 2026.
5. EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 650/2012 (Brussels IV) on jurisdiction, applicable law and recognition in cross-border succession matters.
6. Service-Public.fr: Droits de succession by relationship, the basis for the inheritance tax treatment of a clause de tontine (60% for unmarried couples, exempt for married or PACS), French public service, 2026.
7. Legifrance: Article 1527 of the Code civil, action en retranchement allowing non-common children to cut back an excess matrimonial advantage.
8. Legifrance: Article 669 of the General Tax Code, age-based usufruct and bare-ownership valuation scale.
9. BOFiP: Assurance-vie death-benefit taxation, Article 990 I (EUR 152,500 allowance per beneficiary, pre-70 premiums) and Article 757 B (EUR 30,500 shared allowance, post-70 premiums) of the General Tax Code, 2026.
10. Service-Public.fr: Declaration de succession filing and payment deadlines (6 months if death in France, 12 months if abroad), late-payment interest and majorations, French public service, 2026.
11. legislation.gov.uk: 1963 UK-France Estate Duty Convention (SI 1963/1319), signed 21 June 1963, in force 30 June 1964; situs taxation of real estate and the credit mechanism.
12. SnowOnly+: Life insurance written in trust for UK inheritance tax liquidity, mechanics explained by Mike Winstanley of Bentley Reid on the SnowOnly+ channel, 2026.
13. Mike Winstanley, Bentley Reid: International wealth manager, interviewed on the SnowOnly+ channel on UK inheritance tax and life insurance written in trust, 2026.
