“We bought a house in the Dordogne in 2019 and split our time between there and Bristol. My husband has just been told by our French notaire that our UK wills might not work in France. Is that true, and what does it mean for the children?”

It is partly true, and it matters. French forced heirship rules reserve a share of an estate for children regardless of a will, though the EU Succession Regulation can let UK nationals elect for English law to apply if the election is made correctly. That couple’s wills needed a specific clause. Without it, the Dordogne house would have passed in fixed shares under French law. The full working is in the article.

Odyssee Hatier answers questions like that for Britons in France and French people in the UK. Every article opens with a real reader’s question in their own words, anonymised but with the specifics kept: dates, sums, regions, family situations. The direct answer comes first, then the caveats, then what to do.

The site covers tax residency and the France-UK double taxation treaty, UK pensions drawn in France and French pensions in the UK, property purchase, sale and inheritance in both countries, the French wealth tax on property, healthcare under the S1 and the carte Vitale, and post-Brexit residency permits. Articles are published in English and in French.

Odyssee Hatier is edited by Camille Renard, who has lived and worked between both countries for many years. It is an independent publication and does not give personal tax, legal or financial advice; where a case needs a notaire or adviser, it says so.