France’s highest court has ruled that wills written in a language not understood by the person making the will can still be valid—if strict conditions are met, as reported by The Connexion.
The landmark ruling from the Cour de Cassation on January 17th, 2025, changes how international wills are treated under French law. It now allows foreign nationals, including native English speakers who do not understand French, to leave a valid will in France, provided it was drawn up after February 18, 2015, by a notaire and with the assistance of a court-appointed interpreter.
The case that led to the ruling involved an Italian woman who, despite not speaking or writing French, had a will drawn up in 2002 under the testament authentique format, with the help of an interpreter and a notaire who claimed to be fluent in Italian.
When she passed away in 2015, she left behind three daughters, a son, and a grandson. The will favoured the daughters, but the grandson – whose mother, the fourth daughter, had died in 1994 – challenged it in court. He argued that the will did not accurately reflect his grandmother’s intentions, as it had been written in a language she did not understand.
Initially, a Lyon appeal court declared the will valid, reasoning that even though interpreters weren’t legally permitted for testament authentique wills before 2015, the document met the criteria for a testament international.
However, the grandson appealed to the Cour de Cassation, which overturned that ruling. The court said that even a testament international must be written in a language the testator understands, and ordered the matter to be reconsidered.
At a second appeal in Chambéry, judges again upheld the will – this time stating that the use of an interpreter validated it as a testament international. Once more, the grandson challenged the decision, bringing the case back to the Cour de Cassation.
This time, the court met in full session. In its final decision, the court ruled that a testament international can, in fact, be written in an unfamiliar language if a court-appointed interpreter is involved – but only for wills drawn up after February 18th, 2015, under updated legal provisions.
Since the woman’s will was written in 2002 and the interpreter was not officially listed as a court expert at the time, the court declared the will invalid. Her estate must now be divided as though no will had been written.
It remains unclear whether the grandson stands to gain more or less from the estate under the default inheritance laws than he would have under the original will.
The ruling sets a new precedent in French inheritance law, offering clarity for international residents – while reinforcing the need for strict legal protocols when drafting a will in France.
