EU SUCCESSION REGULATIONS – the perfect solution?
By Spectrum IFA
This article is published on: 10th November 2014
The EU Succession Regulations (also known as Brussels IV) were adopted on 4th July 2012. The UK, Ireland and Denmark opted out of the Brussels IV, but residents of these countries are still affected, particularly if they have cross-border succession interests.
The default position is that the law of “habitual residence at the time of death” will apply to the succession of the entire estate of persons who die on or after 17th August 2015. However, a person may choose the law of the country of his “nationality” to apply by specifying this in a will. If the person has more than one nationality, he can choose whichever he wishes.
Therefore, except for residents of the UK, Ireland and Denmark, a foreigner (not necessarily an EU national) living in any of the other 25 EU States can elect the country of his nationality to apply to the succession of his estate. Interim measures are already in place to make such a ‘nationality election’ now in a will, but it will not be effective until 17th August 2015.
There is considerable misunderstanding about the Regulations and whilst it is true that people will be able to choose the succession rules of their country of nationality this will not change the inheritance tax rules that apply. Therefore, if at the time of your death you are French resident or you own property in France, even if you have chosen the succession rules of another country, it is still the French inheritance tax rates that will apply. This means that the amount of French inheritance tax that your beneficiaries will have to pay will depend upon their relationship to you.
Unfortunately, I am finding that people who are purchasing property now and are planning to live in France may not be seeking adequate inheritance planning solutions. They believe that they can rely on the EU Succession Regulations to protect the survivor, but sadly they are not aware of the potential inheritance tax issues that can exist.
For example, the most common scenario that we come across is one that involves there being children from a previous marriage. Currently, unless the couple buy the property ‘en tontine’ or the children enter into a family pact with their natural parent, the surviving step-parent will not have full control over the property. The EU Succession Rules achieve the same effect as these techniques, if the couple elect for the succession rules of their country of nationality to apply and that country does not have any concept of children being ‘protected heirs’.
A perfect solution? Maybe, if the only objective is to protect the surviving step-parent, but if the step-parent wishes to leave the property to the step-children, then there will still be a 60% inheritance tax bill, so perhaps not quite the perfect solution!
Actually, I have greater concern about some expatriates who are resident in France now, who are already making new French wills, choosing the law of nationality to apply to their succession. This may be fine if there is a ‘stable family relationship’ and the couple only have children of their marriage, particularly as it is likely to cost less in legal fees than the alternative of changing their marriage regime to one of “Communauté Universelle avec une clause d’attribution intégrale de la communauté au conjoint survivant”, which would achieve the same effect.
However, many people have already undertaken inheritance planning (and paid for this), which has achieved the objective of protecting the survivor and mitigating the potential inheritance tax bills of their heirs, as far as possible. Depending on the situation (value of estates, stable family relationship or not), it is highly likely that the planning already undertaken will be better for the majority of cases and making a new will now might turn out to be a costly mistake for the potential beneficiaries.
Like all aspects of financial planning, every case should be looked at on its own merits and what seems clear is that there will be some cases where the ‘French way’ may still be best. For example, take my own situation where as a British citizen who is in a French civil partnership (PACS) with someone who has dual US and British citizenship, as well as him having two daughters and two grandchildren living outside of the EU, we will not be rushing ahead to request that English succession rules apply to our estates. Instead, we will definitely continue to depend upon our French family pact and assurance vie because in that way, we know that when the time comes, the survivor will be fully protected and the potential inheritance tax bills of our heirs have been mitigated.
Hence, as can be seen, tried and tested solutions already exist for dealing with property, plus assurance vie will continue to be an effective succession planning tool for financial assets. You can find out more about the ‘French way’ by reading my article on ‘Inheritance Planning in France’ on our website at https://spectrum-ifa.com/inheritance-planning-in-france/ or by contacting me directly for a copy.
Brussels IV aims to harmonise the approach to succession across the EU with the intention that the civil rules of only one jurisdiction apply to the succession of a person’s estate, i.e. habitual residence or nationality. However, due to the opt-out of the three Member States, this has already created uncertainty. In addition, it is not clear how the Regulations will work at a practical level, in particular, how the courts in one country will administer the succession of both moveable and immoveable assets in another country. Hence, even some international legal experts are not yet drafting transitional provisions into wills that involved a cross-border succession, as there is still too much uncertainty. We can only hope that there is further clarification before August 2015.
The above outline is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute advice or a recommendation from The Spectrum IFA Group to take any particular action on the subject of investment of financial assets or on the mitigation of taxes.