A Lyon apartment remains a French asset
Use one cross-border file as the working example. A French couple lives in Dubai, owns an apartment in Lyon and has children. Their UAE accounts and property sit beside the French apartment on the family balance sheet, but the succession file needs separation by jurisdiction and purpose.
Three questions have to be separated.
First, which law governs the succession under European conflict-of-law rules? Second, can France's Article 913 create a compensatory claim against the Lyon apartment? Third, which instrument directs the UAE assets through a UAE court and registry?
Those questions overlap, but each answers a different issue. A clause choosing a governing law answers the first. The apartment keeps its French situs regardless of that clause. A UAE will answers much of the third, within its stated scope. The second question remains for the French notaire because the French legislature added a specific rule for French-sited assets in 2021.
This is why a clean-looking will can still leave an unfinished file. The document may contain a valid election of law and clear beneficiaries. The family still needs a French analysis of the assets situated in France and a UAE instrument suited to the assets situated here.
For the working example, the location of the Lyon apartment is France.
The reserve takes one line
France calls the protected part the *réserve héréditaire*: it is 1/2 of the estate for one child, 2/3 for two, and 3/4 for three or more, leaving the *quotité disponible* for other gifts. For the wider fixed-share structure, see how Italy's fixed reserved shares compare.
The harder French point is the cross-border mechanism in Article 913 of the French Civil Code. It can matter even where another law validly governs the succession, and it focuses on qualifying children and assets situated in France.
Article 913 changed the foreign-law calculation
The 2021 amendment added a *droit de prélèvement compensatoire*, usually translated as a compensatory levy. The wording is technical, but its sequence is fairly plain.
The mechanism can arise where the foreign law applicable to the succession lacks reserved-share protection for children. At the time of death, the deceased or at least one child must be an EU national or habitually resident in the EU. The estate must also contain assets situated in France. When those conditions are met, a child, or the people succeeding to that child's rights, may seek compensation from those French-sited assets up to the French reserved entitlement.
The understandable assumption is that a valid election of foreign law settles the distribution. The election can remain valid. Article 913 then asks a separate question about the children's protection and the pool of assets available in France.
That distinction matters. The compensatory levy is directed at assets existing in France on the date of death. UAE property and the UAE probate route stay on their UAE track. Article 913 creates a possible claim against the French pool when the statutory conditions are satisfied.
A properly made election is still valuable because it identifies the law intended to govern the succession. The Article 913 analysis of French assets remains open. The 2021 language was confirmed by a November 2025 appeal decision, in a file involving a valid foreign-law choice that lacked forced-heirship protection.
There are two limits worth keeping visible.
The first is territorial. The levy operates against assets situated in France. Classification can become technical for assets other than obvious French real estate, so the asset list needs to go to the notaire rather than being labelled casually.
The second is factual. Citizenship, habitual residence, the governing foreign law, the protection that law gives children and the assets held at death all matter. Applying that combination requires a file review. How Article 913 lands on a particular estate is exactly the notaire's question.
Brussels IV still matters, but it is only part of the file
Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, often called Brussels IV, decides which national law governs the succession, including the election of a nationality law. The choice-of-law mechanics live in the Italy guide and with your notaire. What stays in this article is the French residue: whatever law is elected, Article 913 can still reach assets situated in France, so the notaire needs the actual citizenships, residence history, existing wills and the French asset schedule.
The UAE will controls the UAE track
Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 gives the UAE civil personal status framework for non-Muslims. Article 1 of the federal law covers non-Muslim foreigners resident in the UAE and addresses inheritance and wills, while preserving the choices and cross-references stated in the legislation.
In practical estate planning, a registered UAE will records a non-Muslim expatriate's instructions for UAE assets within its scope and places them in the selected registry route. UAE real estate also has its own situs rule under Article 17 of the Civil Transactions Law. A French will only works here after it has been attested, translated into legal Arabic and accepted by the court. The full recognition issue is covered in whether a home-country will is recognised for UAE assets.
The UAE route and the French analysis therefore have different jobs:
- The UAE will identifies beneficiaries, executors and other instructions for the UAE assets it covers.
- The French planning records the governing-law position and deals with French assets through the French system.
- The coordination clauses keep each instrument within its intended territory and stop a later document from revoking the other one by accident.
- The notaire tests Article 913 and the French consequences against the real family and asset facts.
The French notaire settles the Article 913 conclusion on the Lyon apartment. For Dubai property, a French document faces a different route from a registered UAE will.
Registry choice is another UAE question. DIFC and ADJD differ in language, court path, coverage, government fees and the profile each tends to fit. That comparison belongs in which registry route fits which profile, rather than being squeezed into a nationality article.
SmartWills is not a law firm. A UAE will is prepared through the SmartWills process and reviewed by UAE-licensed partner lawyers. The French part goes to a notaire, with a fiscaliste involved where French tax exposure needs analysis.
The UAE registry decision is made against the UAE asset schedule. The choice comes after the accounts, properties and appointments are listed, and it belongs to the UAE side of the file.
Two wills need territorial boundaries
Two wills are useful only when they have been coordinated. The number of documents by itself proves very little.
The UAE instrument should state its territorial scope. The French or wider instrument should be reviewed with that scope on the table. Each revocation clause needs to preserve the other will where that is the intended design. Otherwise, a later sentence revoking all previous wills can undo the separation the family thought it had created.
An asset schedule makes the review less abstract. It can identify the owner, jurisdiction, basic asset type, current will coverage and intended beneficiary. The notaire then marks the French assets and the Article 913 questions. The UAE side marks the assets intended for the registered UAE will and confirms the registry route.
There is a reasonable attraction to one worldwide document. One signature feels cleaner, and for a purely domestic family that can be enough administratively. The French and UAE combination has two court systems, French-sited property rules, UAE registration choices and a specific 2021 French mechanism. One document may still exist as a matter of form, but the family needs two-system coordination as a matter of substance.
The purpose of the split is orderly administration. Children's statutory rights remain part of the French review. Drafting and asset location are separate questions, and the second belongs with the French notaire.
This coordination review uses the two documents and one current asset schedule.
The Two-System Map: France edition
The map below is a routing tool. It shows which professional and which legal track need to look at each part of the estate.
| Asset and document position | Main route | Point that still needs checking |
|---|---|---|
| UAE assets covered by a registered UAE will | The selected UAE registry and court route | Scope, ownership, beneficiary instructions and executor details |
| UAE assets with only a French or other foreign will | UAE court validation of the foreign document, with translation and attestation steps where required | UAE real estate treatment and whether a registered UAE route should be put in place |
| French assets under French succession planning | French notaire, applying Regulation 650/2012 and French law where relevant | Reserved shares, tax and administration |
| French assets where a foreign law lacks a child reserve | French notaire tests the 2021 Article 913 conditions | EU nationality or residence connection, asset situs and the possible compensatory levy |
The map also prevents a common category error. "Which law governs?" and "Where is this asset?" are separate columns. The first can change through Regulation 650/2012. The second is a fact about the asset, and the Lyon apartment remains in the France column.
French nationals with UAE assets can start from the UAE inheritance by nationality hub, then move into the country and registry guides that match their file.
The map is completed asset by asset. Each row ends with a named route and a named professional, so nothing is left as a general intention.
Last updated: 23 July 2026 · Changelog: 2026-07-23: first published.
Frequently asked questions
Can I choose UAE law or another law in my will?
Article 22 of Regulation 650/2012 permits a choice of the law of a nationality held when the choice is made or at death. For a French-only national, that choice is French law. A dual national may have another eligible national law. Even where a foreign-law election is valid, Article 913 can still matter for French-sited assets if its conditions are met.
Will the UAE accept my French will for Dubai property?
Recognition requires a UAE process. UAE real estate is subject to the UAE situs rule, and a foreign will must be attested and translated into legal Arabic before a UAE court will act on it. Read whether a home-country will is recognised for UAE assets before assuming the French document gives the same route as a registered UAE will.
Do my heirs pay French tax on UAE assets?
The succession-law answer and the tax answer are separate. French tax exposure depends on the facts of the deceased, the heirs and the assets, so the complete file belongs with a French notaire or fiscaliste. Tax calculations sit outside this guide.
What changed in 2021 exactly?
France added the compensatory levy language to Article 913. Where the applicable foreign law lacks a reserved-share mechanism protecting children, and the required EU nationality or habitual-residence connection exists, children may claim against assets situated in France up to the French reserved entitlement. The mechanism can apply despite a valid foreign-law election.
Is the French reserve avoidable by moving assets out of France?
Asset location questions belong with your notaire. The answer ends there.
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