1 Legislative framework
1.1 Which legislative provisions govern private client matters in your jurisdiction?
As France is a civil law country, private client matters are primarily governed by legislation transposed in codes.
As a general rule, French legal aspects are governed by the provisions of the Civil Code and tax matters are ruled by the Tax Code.
As a general rule, a distinction is made depending on the nature of the connection of the person with France (habitual residence/domicile/residence). Citizenship is taken into consideration only under certain circumstances. However, it is not an essential criterion to link a person to France.
The situs of assets may, however, be seen as a connecting factor with France from a tax standpoint. One potential pitfall in this regard is that the shares of a company with its registered office outside France may qualify as French located assets merely because that company owns (directly or indirectly) real estate located in France.
