The differences between French and Dutch inheritance law are huge. This is especially noticeable when settling an inheritance with a second home in France.
An example:
Jos (78) and Paula (72) are married in community of property and live in their owner-occupied house in Almere. They have two children, Joost aged 42 and Peter aged 40.
Both sons are happily married, also in community of property. Twenty years ago, Jos and Paula bought a holiday home in France, an authentic French house in the Morvan. There they spend much of the year. Their children also use this house regularly.
Jos and Paula made a will with a Dutch notary 25 years ago, in which they arranged that upon the death of one of them, the entire inheritance will accrue to the survivor. Joost and Peter can only claim their inheritance share upon the death of the survivor and thus do not receive property, but a claim in cash against Paula. A very common arrangement in the Netherlands. As they did not have a property in France at the time, Jos and Paula did not take this into account when making their wills, and their wills were never amended after the purchase of the property in France either.
One evil day, Jos dies suddenly of acute cardiac arrest. Paula goes to her notary in Almere, who applies the Dutch will. The entire Dutch estate goes to Paula, including the house in Almere.
However, things are not that easy for the house in the Morvan. Under French inheritance law, Joost and Peter always get partial ownership of the house, so Paula always has to make decisions together with Joost and Peter.
If the relationship between Paula and Joost and Peter is not good, this can have very unpleasant consequences and it becomes even more unpleasant if Joost and Peter's marriage breaks down. Paula then runs a high risk of becoming a joint owner with a former daughter-in-law. Not the scenario she and Jos had anticipated when they bought their dream house.
Pie En..... Now don't think "my children don't do such a thing" because if I got a pie from every client who said that to me, I would have gained an extra 100 kilos by now !
Is it possible for Paula to still have the Dutch will applied?
Yes, this is possible if Joost and Peter cooperate on this. The necessary (extra) arrangements -both in the Netherlands and in France- will then also have to be made.
What needs to be arranged (extra)?
Firstly, it is very important that the Dutch notary, when applying the will, takes into account the French house when drafting his documents. In addition, he must clearly indicate to Paula, Joost and Peter that a separate French settlement must still be made for the house in France. If he fails to do so, it may turn out years later that the house in France is still registered in the name of Jos and Paula together at the French land registry. Also, a declaration for French inheritance tax would still have to be filed, with the risk of a fine and substantial interest for Paula and her children.
NB: Usually these kinds of issues only come to the fore when the house in France is sold and things have to be settled head on. It is therefore very important to include the French part of the estate right away when settling the Dutch part.
How do you ensure that the settlement can run smoothly and efficiently in the Netherlands and France?
Whether the settlement can proceed smoothly depends very much on the knowledge and cooperation of both the Dutch and the French notary. After all, the French notary has to rely on the documents of the Dutch notary and he can work a lot faster if the Dutch notary immediately records all relevant provisions and declarations and provides them with the right translations.
Can any French and Dutch notaries arrange this?
In our experience, any village French notary is not aware of Dutch law and has no eye for international aspects. Even in the Netherlands, there are only a few notaries who have specific knowledge of international inheritance law, especially French inheritance law.
There are also legal advisers (not being notaries) who have knowledge in this field. This does entail extra energy and costs, as you remain dependent on the services of a French and Dutch notary.
We use our permanent French notaries who are also well-versed in Dutch law. As a result, everything runs much more smoothly and all Dutch aspects and wishes can be taken into account. The French notary thereby assumes French inheritance law, but can - if desired - apply the Dutch will one-to-one. In the example, this would mean that Paula could also be registered in the French land register as sole owner, entirely according to her and Jos' wishes.
Dutch 
English 
French