Property ownership and inheritance in France: Indivisión, Tontine and SCI.

leave all assets exclusively to your spouse or another person of your choice.

Of course, if you don't want this to happen, you can choose to own real estate 'En Tontine' or as a 'Société Civile Immobilière (SCI)'. In addition, under the provisions of European Regulation 650/2012, non-residents of France can choose to apply the law of their state to the inheritance of their property in France.

With this choice, however, you cannot exclude French tax law, so it is not as simple an option as it may seem.

Because of all this, it is highly recommended that you consult a specialist in real estate and inheritance law before buying a property in France.

There are three ways of sharing'. 'real estate property in France:

• "En Indivision" is the most common way of joint ownership in France. In this, several people can own real estate with a certain share in the property. For example, a married couple may own a property 50%-50%, or a couple contributing different amounts when buying a property may split it 60%-40%.