Nationality and the Law That Governs Your Estate

The default position: Articles 21 and 23

Under Regulation (EU) 650/2012, applicable to deaths on or after 17 August 2015, Article 21(1) provides that the succession is governed by the law of the State in which the deceased was habitually resident at the time of death, and it governs the estate as a whole, worldwide.

Article 23 sets out how much that decides: who the beneficiaries are and in what shares; capacity to inherit; disinheritance; the disposable portion and the reserved shares; the powers of executors and administrators; liability for the debts of the estate; and the collation and reduction of lifetime gifts. That last item, the clawback of gifts made years or decades earlier into the reserved-share calculation, is frequently the largest figure in the analysis, and the one clients are least often told about.

Denmark and Ireland are not bound by the Regulation. The United Kingdom is outside it entirely, and English conflict rules turn on domicile rather than nationality or habitual residence.

Four instruments, four different sets of rules

Nationality is a recognised connecting factor in several instruments, but each has its own domain, its own territorial reach, and its own timing rule. There is no single election that governs personal status as a whole, and treating them as interchangeable is the most common error in this area.

Participating-State lists as published by the European e-Justice Portal. Membership can change; confirm the current position before relying on it.

Protective mechanisms by jurisdiction

Whether an elected law contains a protective mechanism for children decides two separate questions: what claims your family can bring under the law you elect, and whether the French compensatory levy can reach French-situs assets at all. This is the position we hold for 57 jurisdictions.

Read the right-hand column. 45 of these 57 entries are marked counsel required: our record is not yet supported by a statutory citation we have verified. They are a starting point for instructing counsel, not a conclusion. We publish the confidence rather than hiding it.

Indicative and non-exhaustive. Entries marked "counsel required" are our working position and are not verified against the governing statute. Absence of a recorded protective mechanism is not a finding that none exists. Not legal advice; no warranty of accuracy; confirm with local counsel.

Forced heirship means a fixed reserved share. Family provision means a discretionary claim by dependants. Both are protective mechanisms; they protect very differently. Where we record neither, that is an absence of evidence in our own record, not a finding that the jurisdiction has none.

Assets in France: a specific and current point

Code civil art. 913 al. 3 (loi n° 2021-1109, in force 1 Nov 2021) creates a droit de prélèvement compensatoire. Where the deceased or at least one child is an EU national or EU-habitually-resident at death, and the foreign law applicable to the succession knows no protective reserved mechanism for children, the children may take compensation out of French-situs assets, up to the French reserved share.

The provision drew an infringement complaint on the ground that it conflicts with Regulation 650/2012. The European Commission resolved that complaint in June 2026 (CPLT(2022)03325) by adopting a literal and restrictive reading of the condition, and, decisively, treating common-law family-provision regimes as a functional equivalent of the French réserve. Where the elected law contains any protective mechanism, the levy should not operate.

The limits of that, stated plainly. A Commission pre-closure letter does not bind the French courts. The precise status and date warrant confirmation against the Commission register. And the analysis turns on whether the elected law does in fact contain a protective mechanism, a question to be answered against the actual statute of that jurisdiction, not assumed. French-situs assets warrant specific French advice in every case.

The Succession & Personal-Status Screen

A fixed-fee, fixed-scope diagnostic. It establishes the law that governs your estate today, the instruments actually engaged by your circumstances, which elections are available and on what timing, your exposure to reserved shares and lifetime-gift clawback, the situs overrides that survive any election, and a ranked view of where the real risk sits.

It concludes with a written brief for counsel you instruct independently, setting out the specific questions to put in each jurisdiction.

What it is not: it is not legal advice, not a legal opinion, not a tax analysis, and not an assurance that any election will defeat a mandatory rule or prevent a claim. Mirabello Consultancy is not your lawyer, and the Screen is designed to make your lawyer’s work sharper and shorter, not to replace it.

It is prepared as often for a client’s existing adviser as for the client. And a recommendation that no election is worth making is a complete and satisfactory outcome.

A conversation before a recommendation. Thirty minutes to establish what your position actually is, with no programme recommended unless the analysis supports one.

Official references

Every proposition on this page traces to a primary source. Where a point is not settled, we say so rather than rounding it up.

• Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, consolidated text on EUR-Lex. Articles 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 35 and 75.
• CJEU, Case C-21/22, OP v Notariusz Justyna Gawlica, judgment of 12 October 2023.
• Council Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 on matrimonial property regimes, Article 22.
• European e-Justice Portal, participating Member States for 2016/1103 and Rome III.
• Code civil, article 913 on Legifrance.
• European Commission, pre-closure letter CPLT(2022)03325, June 2026. Status and exact date pending confirmation against the Commission register.

Our own data, published openly

• choice-of-law-instruments.json, the four instruments, participating-State lists, election articles, timing rules and situs overlays.
• succession-jurisdictions.json, 57 jurisdictions with forced-heirship position, matrimonial regime, conflict rules and the protective-mechanism flag, each with its verification status.
• Mirabello MCP, the choice_of_law_options tool, which applies the above to a stated fact pattern.

Both files are served with an open CORS policy and carry the same legal notice as this page. Attribution to Mirabello Consultancy is expected; systematic bulk extraction to rebuild a competing dataset is not permitted.

Where this page describes a position as unconfirmed, that is a statement about the state of the law, not a hedge. Items so marked should not be relied on without counsel.

Related reading

Important legal notice. This page is general information about private-international-law instruments, published by Mirabello Consultancy Ltd., a Swiss investment-migration advisory. It is NOT legal advice, NOT tax advice, and NOT a legal opinion. Mirabello Consultancy Ltd. is not a law firm and does not practise law in any jurisdiction. Reading this page, or corresponding with us about it, creates no adviser-client, solicitor-client or attorney-client relationship, and no duty of care. Cross-border succession, matrimonial-property and divorce outcomes turn on the complete facts, on habitual residence and domicile, on the situs of each asset, on formal validity, and on the forum actually seised. Nothing here is a determination of how any estate will devolve. The law changes, and parts of the material on this page are expressly identified as not yet verified against primary sources: entries marked "counsel required" record our working position only and must not be relied upon. While we take care to source this material, we give no warranty, express or implied, as to its accuracy, currency or completeness, and to the fullest extent permitted by law we accept no liability for any loss arising from reliance on it. Always obtain advice from qualified counsel admitted in each relevant jurisdiction before acting or refraining from acting.

General information on conflict-of-laws instruments, not legal advice. Whether any election is available or effective depends on the full facts, habitual residence, nationalities and their timing, asset situs, family structure, formal validity, and the forum actually seised. Confirm with qualified counsel in every relevant jurisdiction. Mirabello Consultancy Ltd. does not provide legal opinions and does not advise on tax.