Swiss inheritance with children domiciled in France
1. Applicable rules
In case of succession in Switzerland involving children domiciled in France, several rules apply.
First of all, it is important to specify that the succession is governed by the law applicable to the last domicile of the deceased.
Thus, if the deceased was domiciled in Switzerland, Swiss law will apply to his or her estate, even if children are domiciled in France.
Secondly, it is important to take into account the rules of succession in France, in particular with regard to the reserved part of the estate, which corresponds to the minimum share of the assets that cannot be taken away from a reserved heir.
In practice, this means that the children of the deceased domiciled in France are entitled to their share of the reserved part of the estate, even if Swiss law applies to the estate as a whole.
This share is determined according to the quality and number of the heirs under French law.
It is therefore important to fully understand the inheritance rules applicable to your situation and to be assisted by a notary or a lawyer specializing in French-Swiss inheritance in order to organize the inheritance in the best possible way and avoid conflicts between heirs.
2. Inheritance agreement
It is also possible to conclude an inheritance pact in Switzerland to organize the succession in advance, taking into account the succession rules in France and respecting the share of the inheritance reserve of children domiciled in France.