Much has been written about the EU Succession Regulation (Regulation), particularly whether a testator with a suitable nationality can simply bypass forced heirship altogether or whether disinherited heirs and continental, civil law jurisdictions can stop them from doing so.

At the time of publication, a series of challenges to the Regulation on ordre public (or public policy) grounds has sprung up around Europe, which in the short term undermines the certainty and simplicity that the Regulation was intended to bring. In France, those challenges were quashed by the Cour de cassation, which refused to hold that “forced heirship” rules formed part of French international ordre public. Nevertheless, the French legislature intervened in 2021 to introduce the “compensatory rights” mechanism, which, in certain circumstances, can lead to the application of forced heirship rules by the backdoor, even in situations where the deceased’s ties to France are weak.

By contrast, relatively little has been said about the tax implications of applying the Regulation. One such implication is the unexpected interaction of the Regulation with the 1963 double tax convention on inheritance taxes between the UK and France. This interaction will be of particular concern for individuals with significant ties to both countries and who hope to elect under the Regulation for English law to govern their succession.

Edward Reed and George Mitkov have written an article on this interaction for Private Client Business, a leading publication for those involved in private client work, concluding that the Regulation remains a useful tool in the practitioner’s cross-border estate planning kit, provided that care is taken when it comes to UK inheritance tax. The article appeared in the November edition at [2024] P.C.B. Issue 6, p. 219.

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