The European Union doesn’t mean there’s a unity of laws - and that’s true in the United States of America too. But Brits, for example, often assume that if a husband dies his wife automatically inherits their home. Not so. Geoffrey, one of our handful of subscribers in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, has always believed exactly this ... until another Brit told him it wasn’t the case. Could I explain? 

Well, first thing to say is that French succession law is very complicated and Geoffrey, according to his circumstances, needs more than a few lines of off-the-cuff advice in this column. When I rang him he told me he was married in Colchester and has lived with Edna his wife near Digne since 1994. I didn’t ask for further details of his family situation but the basic point is this: if he settled in France in or after 1992 - which is the case - it’s French law which applies. To put Edna in the best possible situation he needs to see a notaire and find out what’s possible under that law. Marriage in Colchester is an irrelevance. 

From Reporter 115 - June/July 2006

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