The Importance of Planning BEFORE you become a French fiscal resident
France has notoriously high taxes at death for a French resident. Most French residents have the opportunity to purchase Assurance Vie, which results in a significant reduction in estate taxes, but Assurance Vie is basically off-limits to U.S. citizens due to the PFIC rules. Yet Americans have alternative structures they can use to reduce or minimize French succession taxes. This is because an American can set up an LLC structure before moving to France, and transfer the bulk of the ownership of the LLC to their children, while retaining full rights to use the fruits of the assets, and potentially even the assets themselves. But it has to be set up BEFORE becoming a French resident.