Neither joint wills nor inheritance contracts are permitted in France. It has not yet been clarified whether the effects of joint wills drawn up in Germany are recognised in France. Until now, joint wills in France were reinterpreted as two individual wills, which meant that they were no longer binding. This means that the reason for their creation ultimately had no effect in the event of inheritance.
However, the rules of the EU Succession Regulation provide otherwise. According to Art. 24 para. 1 and Art. 25 para. 1 of the EU Succession Regulation, the substantive validity is subject to the law of succession that would apply if both settlors had died at the time of establishment. If German inheritance law were then applicable to both settlors, the substantive validity would also be subject to German law. Nevertheless, these cases have not yet been decided by the courts. A certain degree of legal uncertainty therefore remains. It is therefore advisable to make a choice of law both for the will and for the entire legal succession.
What alternative design options do I have?
Pursuant to Art. 1048 of the Civil Code, a gift or legacy can be made subject to a condition that the donee or legatee must preserve the donated items and transfer them to a specific third party at the time of his or her own death. In addition, pursuant to Art. 1057 et seq. Code civil, a bequest may also be subject to the condition that the second beneficiary receives what remains of the gift or legacy at the time of the death of the first beneficiary.