French expats in Spain operate under one of the two real inheritance tax treaties Spain has with a major European country. The 1963 France/Spain convention on inheritance tax gives genuine bilateral credit between French droits de succession and Spanish IHT. French réserve héréditaire, the generous abattements, and the specific assurance-vie regime all require careful Spanish coordination. We handle French and Spanish estate planning as a single file.
France and Spain signed a bilateral inheritance tax convention in 1963 — the Convention entre la France et l'Espagne tendant à éviter les doubles impositions et à établir des règles d'assistance administrative réciproque en matière d'impôts sur les successions. The treaty allocates primary taxing rights and provides credit for tax paid in the primary country against tax due in the secondary. This is the same architectural treaty protection German expats enjoy — a real credit mechanism, not the unilateral Article 23 Spanish credit the British, American or Canadian expats rely on.
French droits de succession operate on a recipient basis: the tax is due by each heir on their share, after abattement, at rates depending on kinship. Children receive €100,000 abattement per parent and face progressive rates 5–45%. Spouses and PACS partners are fully exempt from droits de succession (since 2007). Siblings €15,932 abattement then 35%/45%; nephews/nieces €7,967 then 55%; non-relatives €1,594 then 60%.
Spanish IHT adds on top under the regional regimes — generally modest for Group I/II heirs post-reform, heavier for more distant relatives (Group III/IV with multipliers). The 1963 treaty allocates real property to the situs country primarily, movables to the country of deceased's residence, and so on, with the secondary country giving credit up to its own tax.
French testators face the réserve héréditaire — a French compulsory share that reserves one-half to three-quarters of the estate for children, depending on number of children. The disposable portion (quotité disponible) is what the testator can freely allocate. Under Brussels IV a French national may elect French law to govern their whole estate (including Spanish assets), preserving the réserve; or may elect the law of habitual residence if Spanish, which may displace the réserve.
This page covers French droits de succession mechanics, the 1963 treaty credit structure, réserve héréditaire vs Spanish legítima, assurance-vie cross-border treatment, and our standard French-Spanish dual-will architecture. If you are a French citizen resident in Spain or a French resident with Spanish property, open a file with us.
Six rules govern every French-connected Spanish estate. Start here.
French tax due by each heir on their share, after abattement, at rate by kinship. Spouses/PACS fully exempt. Children €100k abattement then 5–45%.
Recipient-side taxReal bilateral IHT treaty. Credit mechanism prevents double taxation. Primary vs secondary taxing rights allocated by asset type.
Genuine treaty credit€100k per child per parent, €15,932 siblings, €7,967 nephews/nieces, €1,594 unrelated. Refreshable every 15 years for lifetime gifts. Applied before rate bands.
15-year resetFrench testators elect French law on Spanish wills under EU 650/2012. Preserves réserve héréditaire across whole estate — or elect habitual residence law to displace it.
French law electionRéserve héréditaire reserves 1/2 to 3/4 of estate for children (by number). Spanish legítima 2/3 for descendants. Election choice displaces one regime with the other.
Different rulesAssurance-vie designated beneficiary generally outside the droits de succession base (for contracts taken out before 70, with €152,500 allowance per beneficiary). Cross-border Spain treatment is a specialist point.
Specialist planningThe 1963 treaty allocates primary taxing rights broadly as follows: real property is taxed primarily by the country where it is located; movable assets (bank accounts, shares, bonds) by the country of the deceased's residence; business property by the country of its establishment. The country of deceased's nationality is relevant only secondarily. The secondary country credits the primary country's tax on the same asset up to its own tax on that asset.
For a French-resident deceased holding a Costa Brava villa, Spain has primary right on the villa (real property situs Spain), France has secondary right with credit for the Spanish IHT paid. For a Spanish-resident French deceased with a Paris apartment, France has primary right (real property situs France), Spain has secondary right with credit for the French droits de succession paid.
Movable assets follow residence: a Spanish-resident French deceased with a BNP Paribas account — Spain has primary right (movables, deceased Spanish resident); France has secondary right on the French-situated account with treaty credit. This is markedly more coordinated than the UK/US/Canadian/Australian position where Spanish Article 23 unilateral credit does the only work.
French droits de succession, Direct line (children, parents): €100,000 abattement per parent per child. Rate bands 5% up to €8,072, 10% to €12,109, 15% to €15,932, 20% to €552,324, 30% to €902,838, 40% to €1,805,677, then 45%. Siblings: €15,932 abattement, 35% on first €24,430 above, 45% thereafter. Nephews/nieces: €7,967 abattement, 55% flat. Unrelated: €1,594 abattement, 60% flat.
Spouses and PACS partners: fully exempt from droits de succession since 2007 (loi TEPA). This is one of the most generous spouse regimes in Europe. Unmarried non-PACS couples taxed as unrelated at 60%.
Abattements refresh every 15 years for lifetime donations. A French parent donating to a child can give €100,000 every 15 years tax-free, plus rate-band-starting transfers, extending substantially beyond single-transfer allowances. Planned donation-utilisation of the 15-year cycle is core French estate-planning technique.
French law reserves mandatory shares for children: one-half of the estate if one child, two-thirds if two children, three-quarters if three or more children. The remaining quotité disponible (disposable portion) is what the testator can freely leave to anyone. Unlike the Spanish legítima (share in the property), French réserve is enforced through action en réduction — the disadvantaged reserve-heir can sue to claim back excess gifts or legacies.
In the Brussels IV context, a French national electing French law has réserve governing the whole estate (including Spanish real property). Electing habitual residence law (Spanish) switches to Spanish legítima — a more complex calculation on Spanish Código Civil rules. Each has consequences; the choice should be deliberate and documented.
French assurance-vie (life insurance investment wrapper) receives separate tax treatment outside the droits de succession base, depending on contract age and premium timing. For contracts taken out before age 70, each beneficiary gets a €152,500 allowance on benefits, then 20%/31.25% rates. For post-70 contracts, €30,500 total allowance (shared) plus the estate takes the invested capital back into droits de succession base. This is a cornerstone of French estate planning — but cross-border complications arise where the beneficiary is Spanish-resident.
Spanish IHT does not recognise the assurance-vie exclusion — Spain taxes life insurance benefits as part of IHT (with a regional-dependent allowance, e.g. €9,195 state-default). A French-resident French national with assurance-vie passing to a Spanish-resident child: French assurance-vie tax applies; Spanish IHT also applies on the benefit; treaty credit coordinates. Careful planning matters.
We map your French and Spanish tax residence histories, identify the 1963 treaty tie-breaker position, and document which country has primary taxing right over each asset class.
We draft coordinated French and Spanish notarial wills with Brussels IV French-law election (or habitual-residence election, by deliberate choice), preserving réserve and quotité disponible as planned.
We structure to maximise French abattements (including 15-year gift cycle and assurance-vie before-70 planning) and Spanish regional bonificación through heir election and asset location.
On bereavement we run the French succession through the Notaire, Spanish IHT Modelo 650, Spanish Land Registry and French déclaration de succession in parallel, claiming the 1963 treaty credit on both sides.
Choice between French-law election and habitual-residence election drives the family-law outcome. A French couple retired in Mallorca with two children: French-law election preserves French réserve (2/3 for children, 1/3 quotité disponible) and French spouse exemption; Spanish-law election triggers Spanish legítima (2/3 for descendants with strict mejora rules) and Spanish widow's usufruct.
Common client preference: French-law election preserving the full French structure the couple understood and planned around. But Spanish-law election can be optimal for a testator who wants flexibility beyond French réserve constraints — for example, to leave more to a spouse or to a charity, beyond quotité disponible. We structure the election to the client's planning goals, not by default.
French tax residence (Article 4B CGI): foyer (home), principal residence, principal professional activity, or centre of economic interests. Spanish tax residence: 183 days, centre of economic interests, family residence (presumption). Brussels IV habitual residence is a separate concept — factual centre of life assessed holistically. The three can diverge. A French national Spanish-tax-resident but Brussels-IV-habitual-residence still-in-France is rare but possible; documentation matters.
The 1963 treaty tie-breaker (where both countries would claim residence): permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, competent authority. Same order as OECD model. Tie-breaker matters because it determines the primary country for movable assets worldwide.
French nationals commonly retain French real estate after moving to Spain (family home, maison secondaire, investment property). French-situated real property remains subject to French droits de succession at death regardless of deceased's residence — France primary right under 1963 treaty. Additionally, French non-resident owners face taxe sur les plus-values immobilières at sale at 19% + 17.2% social charges (but EU non-residents may be exempt from the 7.5% surtax component under Landfried ECJ ruling).
On inheritance, the French property valuation steps up to probate value; subsequent heir sale gain measured from that value. Cross-border reporting obligations include French 2048-IMM for plus-value and Spanish Modelo 720 for the inherited French asset if threshold exceeded.
Standard architecture for French expats: French-form authentic will (testament authentique) at French Notaire covering French assets; Spanish-form notarial will at Spanish notary covering Spanish assets with Brussels IV French-law election. Cross-recognition automatic under EU 650/2012. Each will references the same elected governing law. We coordinate with the Notaire in France.
An alternative is a single international will in French form, registered in France's Fichier Central des Dispositions de Dernières Volontés (FCDDV) and lodged in Spain. Practical for simpler estates; dual-will structure generally cleaner for significant cross-border asset allocation.
French abattement for children (€100,000) refreshes every 15 years per parent-child pair. A couple with two children can gift €400,000 total tax-free per 15-year cycle. A long-horizon plan (30+ years) can move €800,000+ out of the eventual droits base per family branch. Spanish gift tax applies on the Spanish-resident recipient's side with regional bonificación variation.
Key planning point: French abattement only refreshes for gifts reported on the French déclaration de don (Cerfa 2735) — informal gifts do not reset. Documentation matters. For Spanish-resident children receiving French gifts, Spanish gift tax return (Modelo 651) is filed in the region of Spanish residence; regional bonificación applies; treaty credit coordinates.
French couples have three civil statuses: marriage, PACS (civil partnership), and concubinage (unmarried cohabitation). For IHT: marriage and PACS are fully tax-exempt on droits de succession; concubinage taxed at 60% (unrelated rate) with only €1,594 abattement. Spain recognises pareja de hecho with regional variation — some regions treat as spouse, some do not. A French PACS couple in Spain should register as pareja de hecho in their Spanish community to access Spanish spousal treatment where available.
France's IFI (real estate wealth tax, 2018 successor to ISF) applies to French-resident taxpayers on worldwide real property over €1.3m net. For French residents owning Spanish property, IFI includes the Spanish property at current market value. A French-tax-resident couple with a Madrid rental and a Normandy house, combined net property €1.5m, pays French IFI. On relocating to Spain (becoming Spanish tax resident), IFI drops out; Spanish Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio comes in (regional — Madrid bonificación may wash out). Regional choice of Spanish residence has live wealth-tax consequences.
France's 2011 anti-trust legislation imposes reporting and penalty regimes on trusts with French-connected assets or French-resident beneficiaries. A French-resident beneficiary of an Anglo-American trust must report on 2181-TRUST. French trusts are rare domestically; common-law trusts with French connections face stringent compliance. For Spanish-resident French nationals who are beneficiaries of foreign trusts, French reporting may still apply depending on continuing French-situs assets; Spanish treatment of trusts is piecemeal.
French nationals are EU citizens and do not need the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa. Most are here as ordinary Spanish tax residents (non-Beckham, full worldwide IHT exposure after residence). Barcelona and Madrid host substantial French expat professional populations; Costa Brava, Costa Blanca and the Balearics host retirees. Tax residence and IHT exposure run from the ordinary Article 9 LIRPF rules, with 1963 treaty coordination on cross-border assets.
France has a real IHT treaty with Spain. Use it properly. We coordinate droits de succession, abattements, réserve héréditaire and Spanish bonificaciones through the 1963 convention.
Request a French Estate ConsultationParents resident in Spain with children in France; non-resident property owners leaving Spanish assets to heirs abroad; surviving spouses, siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents — every cross-border configuration follows a different rulebook.
French-origin retirees, Spanish tax resident, Costa Brava villa (€700k), French maison secondaire (€500k), French bank accounts (€300k), two children. Husband dies. French-law election: réserve 2/3 to children, quotité disponible 1/3 to wife. Spanish IHT: Catalonia Group II spouse/child partial bonificación. French droits: spouse exempt, children €100k each abattement, treaty credit between systems. Dual-will plus liquidated planning.
French IT professional, Spanish tax resident (not Beckham), Barcelona apartment (€400k), French BNP assurance-vie taken pre-70 (€300k), one child. Dies. Spanish IHT Catalonia Group II, child bonificación. French assurance-vie: €152,500 abattement beneficiary then 20%/31.25%. Spanish IHT also on the assurance-vie. Treaty credit applies but compartmentalisation matters.
French-resident mother owns Valencia villa (€350k), gifts to French-resident daughter. French droits de donation: mother-daughter €100k abattement then 15–20% on €250k ≈ €48k French. Spanish gift tax: Valencia Group II 99% bonificación post-May 2023 — near-zero Spanish. Treaty credit washes overlap. Net ~€48k French only, minimal Spanish.
Spanish-resident French widower dies with Paris apartment (€800k), Madrid home (€600k), two children. French droits primary on Paris flat (situs France). Spanish IHT secondary on Paris flat (deceased Spanish-resident worldwide) with treaty credit. Spanish IHT primary on Madrid home (situs) — Madrid Group II 99% bonificación. Dual notarial coordination.
French PACS couple in Mallorca, one dies, jointly-held villa (€500k) plus French assurance-vie (€300k). Surviving PACS partner fully exempt from French droits. Spanish IHT Balearic post-2023 reform favourable Group II (spouse-equivalent if Spanish pareja de hecho registered). Key: register pareja de hecho in Balearics to access spouse bonificación.
Long-term unmarried French couple (no PACS) in Alicante, one dies leaving villa to other. French droits at 60% unrelated rate on the partner's inheritance. Spanish IHT: Group IV unrelated at top multiplier — Valencia no bonificación for non-family. Catastrophic combined tax. Fix: PACS immediately, or register Spanish pareja de hecho, or marry.
Default is habitual-residence law (Spanish for Spanish-resident French national). Spanish legítima then governs Spanish estate — réserve héréditaire lost. Explicit French-law election preserves the French structure where desired.
French abattements refresh every 15 years per parent-child pair. Failing to plan gift timing means the €100,000 allowance is used once rather than across multiple cycles. Long-horizon gifting programme multiplies savings.
Spanish IHT does not recognise the French assurance-vie exclusion — it taxes life insurance benefits. Cross-border assurance-vie requires Spanish side treatment and treaty credit.
Treaty credit is not automatic — it must be claimed in the secondary country return with evidence of primary country tax paid. Missing the claim means double tax.
Concubinage partners face 60% French droits and Group IV Spanish IHT. PACS or marriage dramatically shifts both. Unregistered couples carry extreme IHT risk.
French SCI (Société Civile Immobilière) holding Spanish property is a French-law vehicle; Spanish tax and inheritance treatment is specialist. Unchecked SCI structures create confusion and unexpected Spanish IHT exposure.
The classic French-retiree profile — typically Spanish tax resident with French family home retained. Dual-will architecture standard.
Ordinary Spanish tax residents, French assurance-vie and bank accounts retained. Full coordination file.
French-resident holding Spanish holiday property. Non-resident Spanish IHT position; French primary right on worldwide estate; treaty credit on Spanish situs asset.
One French-national spouse, one Spanish-national spouse. Brussels IV election in each will matters for family-law and tax alignment.
Lifetime gift programmes using the 15-year French abattement cycle. Spanish gift tax regional bonificación is the partner to watch.
French residents inheriting from Spanish-resident parents or relatives. Non-resident French heir status in Spain; regional regime election under 2014 ECJ principle; French droits on receipt with treaty credit.
Brussels IV applied, wills drafted, France and Spanish tax positions coordinated, deadlines tracked.