French Nationals Inheriting in Spain: Réserve Héréditaire, EU Regulation and the French-Spanish Tax Interface
France and Spain are neighbours, fellow EU member states, and are both bound by EU Regulation 650/2012. For a French national resident in Spain — or a Spanish-resident French national with property on both sides of the Pyrenees — the inheritance file usually runs more smoothly than a UK or US file. The European Certificate of Succession issued in France is recognised automatically in Spain, French notarial documents are familiar to Spanish notaries, and the procedural cooperation between the two notarial systems is well established. The substantive law, however, can still produce surprises. French law has its own forced share (réserve héréditaire) which is similar in concept to the Spanish legítima but differs in the specific shares and in the treatment of lifetime gifts. The Spain-France double tax treaty (1995) includes provisions on inheritance tax that mitigate (though do not eliminate) double taxation. This article explains the practical mechanics of a French-Spanish inheritance, the choice of French law in a Spanish will, the role of the French notaire and the Spanish notary, the calculation of droits de succession against Spanish inheritance tax, and the action steps for French heirs based in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux or anywhere else in France. A dedicated inheritance lawyer in Spain with French-language capability is the appropriate professional.
French réserve héréditaire and Spanish legítima
French succession law contains a forced share (réserve héréditaire) that varies according to the number of children. With one child, the réserve is half of the estate; with two children, two thirds; with three or more children, three quarters. The remaining portion (quotité disponible) is freely disposable. The French réserve is structurally similar to the Spanish legítima but the shares are different and the calculation of lifetime gifts (rapport et réduction) is more elaborate in France than in Spain.
For a French national who has a Spanish will choosing French law, the French réserve applies to the Spanish estate. For a French national who has not made a choice, the law of the deceased’s habitual residence applies — Spanish law if the deceased was resident in Spain, French law if the deceased was resident in France. The choice clause in a Spanish will is therefore meaningful in both directions, depending on the testator’s situation.
The choice of French law in a Spanish will
A French national resident in Spain can choose French law under article 22 of the EU Succession Regulation. The choice is given full effect in Spain: the réserve héréditaire applies, the rules of partage applicable in France apply, and the French notarial procedure can be used to manage the partition if the heirs prefer it. The choice is normally advisable for a French national who wants the French-style forced shares (which give specific shares to specific descendants) rather than the Spanish-style global legítima. The mechanism is explained in our guide on the EU Succession Regulation.
For a French national resident in France with Spanish property, the choice clause in a Spanish will can also be useful — usually a choice of French law to confirm that the existing French will and the French planning continue to apply to the Spanish estate. The choice is not strictly necessary in this case (because the default rule of habitual residence would already point to French law) but is a useful belt-and-braces measure in case the deceased’s residence becomes contested.
The French notaire and the Spanish notarial file
The French notarial system is closely related to the Spanish notarial system. Both are civil-law systems with broad notarial authority over family-law and succession matters. The French notaire issues all the standard documents the Spanish file needs: the acte de notoriété (declaration of heirship), the European Certificate of Succession (on application), the inventaire (inventory of the estate), and the Spanish power of attorney signed before the notaire (with apostille, although a single-step Hague Convention apostille between two civil-law notarial systems is administratively straightforward).
The two notaries do not need to communicate directly. The French notaire completes the French-side acts and forwards the documents to the heirs or directly to the Spanish lawyer. The Spanish lawyer uses the documents to complete the Spanish-side deed of acceptance, the inheritance tax filing, and the property registration. The level of mutual recognition between the two systems is high, and procedural complications are rare in comparison with UK-Spain or US-Spain files.
French droits de succession and the foreign-tax credit
France imposes droits de succession on the beneficiary of an inheritance at rates that depend on the relationship and the amount. Direct-line descendants enjoy tax-free allowances and progressive rates from 5% to 45%; siblings face higher rates; unrelated beneficiaries face the highest rates (up to 60%). The droits are filed by each beneficiary within six months of the death (twelve months if the deceased died outside France).
Spanish inheritance tax paid on Spanish-situs assets by a French-resident beneficiary is creditable against the French droits on the same assets under the Spain-France double tax treaty of 1995 (specifically article 27, which addresses inheritance and gift taxes). The credit is per-asset and capped at the French tax attributable to that asset. The treaty mechanism is more comprehensive than the unilateral credits available between Spain and the UK or US, and the Spain-France file is therefore one of the cleanest inheritance interfaces from a tax point of view.
Heirs in Paris and other French cities
Paris-based heirs have access to a strong network of French notaires with cross-border specialisation, particularly in the seventh and eighth arrondissements. The Spanish embassy in Paris (22 avenue Marceau) handles notarial requirements for heirs unable or unwilling to use a French notaire and apostille. Appointment availability at the Spanish embassy is typically two to four weeks, faster than the Spanish consulate in London or New York. For heirs in Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lille, the local notarial infrastructure is sufficient for most files, with the Spanish embassy in Paris as a fallback for any specialised consular acts.
The traditional French summer migration to the Costa Brava and the Balearics means that a substantial proportion of French-Spanish inheritances involve properties in those regions, and the lawyers in those regions have considerable experience of French families. The cross-border professional infrastructure is mature, and the heirs’ direct involvement is normally limited to providing identification documents, signing the Spanish power of attorney, and approving the inheritance tax filing.
Spanish bank accounts and French reporting
France is a participant in the Common Reporting Standard and receives automatic information on Spanish bank accounts held by French-resident persons. A French-resident heir who inherits a Spanish bank account must declare it on Form 3916 in the year of inheritance and every subsequent year while it remains open. The interest earned on the Spanish account is reportable in France as foreign-source income, with credit for any Spanish tax withheld under the Spain-France income tax treaty.
For French-resident heirs of Spanish real estate, the property is part of the heirs’ French wealth tax (impôt sur la fortune immobilière, IFI) base if the heirs’ total worldwide real estate exceeds the IFI threshold of €1.3 million. The Spanish-situs property is included at its fair market value (less mortgage debt), and Spanish IBI paid is not deductible. The IFI is an additional cost for high-net-worth French heirs of Spanish property and should be factored into the long-term cost of ownership.
The donation entre époux and other French planning devices
French succession planning includes several devices not available in Spanish law — most notably the donation entre époux (inter-spouse gift) and the donation-partage (gift-partition). For a French national resident in Spain who has chosen French law in a Spanish will, these devices can be used to optimise the disposition of the Spanish estate. The donation entre époux allows a French spouse to leave the maximum quotité spéciale to the surviving spouse, beyond the réserve héréditaire of the children, and is widely used by French couples to give the surviving spouse a strong position.
These devices are recognised in Spain to the extent that they are part of the French law chosen under the EU regulation. The Spanish notary respects the French-law structure and applies it to the Spanish assets. The drafting requires careful coordination between French and Spanish advisers to ensure that the French-law devices do not create unintended Spanish-tax consequences and that the regional Spanish reductions are still available to the heirs.
Action steps for a French family in the first month
Day one to five: instruct a French notaire to handle the French-side acts (acte de notoriété or CSE application) and a Spanish lawyer for the Spanish-side acts. Day five to fifteen: arrange for the French documents to be issued and, if a CSE is being used, request it from the French notaire. Day fifteen onward: prepare the Spanish power of attorney for each heir (signed before the French notaire with apostille, or at the Spanish embassy in Paris), apply for the heirs’ NIE numbers, and begin the Spanish-side asset location and deed drafting. The full timeline is typically three to five months from instruction, comfortably within the Spanish six-month tax deadline. To start a file, contact our team.
For French nationals owning Spanish property who are still alive, the preventive planning steps are: make a Spanish will choosing French law under article 22 of the EU regulation; coordinate the Spanish will with the existing French will; consider French-law devices (donation entre époux, donation-partage) where appropriate; review the planning every five to ten years. The Spanish notarial appointment for the will is brief and inexpensive, and the protection it provides is substantial. The investment is one of the most cost-effective steps a French-Spanish family can take.