Securing a will in the context of the reform of inheritance in France

Posted by on Jan 23, 2022 in Successions Israel-France, Blog

Securing a will in the context of the reform of inheritance in France 1

 

Abitbol & Associes, with its recognized expertise in international inheritance matters in both France and Israel, has set up an innovative mechanism to secure each inheritance process.

Indeed, our dedicated department offers a tailor-made service, allowing the registration of wills concurrently in France and in Israel, thus preventing the beneficiary in France from contravening the deceased’s will.

This mechanism also avoids time-consuming and costly procedures since the wishes of the testator are safeguarded and secured on both sides.

The advantage is also that, prior to the completion of any procedure, the French or Israeli notary will automatically be informed of the registered testamentary dispositions.

It should be remembered that international successions (involving protagonists of different nationalities, whether they are heirs or testators) have never been devoid of complexity, even though the EU Regulation n°650/2012 on successions attempts to bring some clarity and plasticity by allowing the testator to choose the law applicable to the whole of a succession.

The use of the double registration of wills will be a strong argument to the judge in order to justify and prove the relevance of the choice of the Israeli law.

Indeed, the latter pays particular attention when presented with international wills registered in both French and Hebrew.

The securing of a will finds all its relevance in a legal context once again darkened by the spectre of laws with unconventional potential.

Indeed, the reform operated by the law n° 2021-1109 of August 25, 2021, which came into force on November 1, 2021, is limited to reminding the principles of the Republic in terms of equality and fight against discriminations.

The origin being the repetition of cases where women, by the application of certain foreign laws, could be exiled, that is to say excluded purely and simply from an inheritance.

But the device “does not embrace well “[1] and by the use of general terms, the new articles 913 and 921 of the Civil Code seem to want to update the notion of the hereditary reserve, in international successions so rightly qualified as a legal “phoenix “[2] by the authors, because it is at the end of a rich jurisprudential saga that the question of the hereditary reserve seemed to be closed, the judges excluding it from the rules of the police or of the public policy of the French courts.

 

Securing a will in the context of the reform of inheritance in France 2
In conclusion, vigilance in inheritance matters remains necessary and the intervention of wise professionals upstream to secure these successions is inevitable, at the risk of endless international legal disputes.

 

1B. Haftel, Successions internationales : le retour du droit de prélèvement ? Recueil Dalloz 2021 p.2012

2H. Péroz, Le droit de prélèvement : tel un phoenix, Gaz. Pal. 23 mars 2021, p. 48.