Hello Val,
We recently updated our wills in July. Our English solicitor advised us to insert a nomination paragraph at the beginning of the will which states that the testator chooses to use the jurisdiction of England and Wales to take precedence over the law of any other EU country and this will apply to one's worldwide assets and chattels. This we did for each of our wills.
So now, if either of us 'casse sa pipe', the law of England and Wales supersedes that of France. This came into force on August 17th 2015. Our solictor assured us that this legislation was immediately effective from August 17th once the clause was inserted.
French Entree: The key piece of legislation has the ‘catchy title’ of EU regulation 650/2012, otherwise known as Brussels IV… We’ll call it the ‘Regulation’.
Under the Regulation, after 17th August 2015, any British national who has property in France, or for that matter any participating EU State (and who has takenappropriate action before their death) can choose either the law of the country of their habitual residence, or the law of their nationality (or choose one of their nationalities if multiple) to govern the devolution of their French estate.
The ‘appropriate action’ is to make a nomination in a Will which is valid in France stating which law will apply to their property. This could be done in a French Will or, because in France (properly drafted) English Wills are valid, the nomination can be done in your English Will.
So perhaps it's worth your reader checking up again on this. My understanding is that this would apply whether or not you were classified as resident in France or just own a second home here.
Hope this helps!
Ann
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