French Court Applies Moroccan Law to Inheritance of French Man Who Lived in Morocco
Divorced for thirty years, a woman has become involved in the estate of her former husband, who died in France after living in Morocco. His widow and daughter are seeking a year to clarify the inheritance. A Paris court has now ruled that Moroccan law applies.
Thirty-one years after her divorce, she finds herself facing her former husband’s third wife and their daughter, both of whom live in Morocco. At the heart of the dispute: an inheritance, property in France and an urgent claim by the former wife, now a creditor of the estate. The widow and her daughter want twelve more months to sort things out. But the Paris Judicial Court has just invoked a rule they already knew: Moroccan law, not French law, applies.
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The family story begins in 1975, with a first marriage that produces two children. The couple divorce in December 1983. Two years later, the man marries another woman, with whom he also has two children. That second marriage ends in April 1995.
In 2006, he marries for a third time, in Morocco. The adoul marriage certificate is ratified on August 2 by the Court of First Instance of Inzegane, then registered in France. A daughter is born from this last marriage.
When he dies in France in 2025, the man is a French national, but his habitual residence is in Morocco. He leaves behind his third wife, four surviving children and a grandson representing his deceased mother. Three of his children from the first two marriages, as well as this grandson, file their renunciation of the estate with the Paris Judicial Court on October 9, 2025.
The situation becomes more complicated on January 13, 2026. The second wife, divorced since 1995 and a creditor of her former husband, serves notice on the widow and her daughter. She asks them to choose between accepting or renouncing the inheritance, under the procedure set out in the French Civil Code.
Moroccan law defeats both sides’ arguments
The two women refuse to make a decision under these circumstances. They explain that another proceeding is already underway before the Paris court to have an inheritance certificate drawn up in Morocco recognized. The inventory of the estate is not complete, and the status of the notary initially handling the case remains uncertain.
They therefore go to court on March 6 to request an additional twelve months. The former wife opposes the request. She argues that the widow and her daughter have already tacitly accepted the inheritance by having the Moroccan certificate drawn up and seeking its recognition in France.
But the case has a decisive particularity. The deceased owned half of a property in France, allowing the Paris court to hear the dispute. French courts can indeed intervene in an inheritance involving someone who lived in Morocco and assets held in France, without French law necessarily applying to the estate.
The European Succession Regulation generally refers to the law of the country where the deceased habitually resided. In this case, the parties acknowledge that he lived in Morocco. The court therefore applies the Moroccan Family Code, which provides for the transfer of inheritance rights upon death, without a mechanism equivalent to the French option to accept or renounce an inheritance.
This rule defeats both parties’ arguments. The former wife cannot rely on the tacit acceptance provided for in Article 782 of the French Civil Code. The widow and her daughter, for their part, cannot obtain an extension under Articles 771 and 772 of the same code.
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In its ruling of September 10, 2026, the Paris Judicial Court therefore rejects the two heirs’ request. It also dismisses the former wife’s argument that the inheritance had been tacitly accepted. Each party must bear its own legal costs, with no additional compensation.
The inheritance dispute, however, remains unresolved. The ruling determines neither the shares due to the heirs nor the amount of the former wife’s claim. Proceedings to have the Moroccan inheritance certificate recognized in France are still underway. It is now in that context that steps concerning the estate left by the deceased will have to continue.
