Legal director Patrick Delas has contributed an article to Issue 3 of Private Client Business that examines the conflict between Anglo-Saxon freedom of testamentary disposition and continental systems of fixed inheritance rights.
This tension has resulted in a number of disputes, with a case relating to the estate of Maurice Jarre the latest example. In this case, The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has dismissed Jean-Michel and Stéphanie Jarre’s claim over their father’s estate and confirmed that “children have no unconditional right to inherit their parents”.
By confirming the authority of the Cour de cassation decisions of 2017, the ECtHR decision clarifies the definition of international ordre public, which may only help with the interpretation of art.35 of the Succession Regulation.”
The extract is available to view in an online PDF.
Patrick Delas is a legal director in the French law team. His is an expert in private international law, including advising on French and cross-border estate planning (inheritance tax, capital gains tax, wealth tax), French probate and trust reporting.
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