Johnny Hallyday- no vault?

andynap

Senior Insider
Whose idea was this anyway?

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Whose idea was this anyway?

Laeticia, Johnny's widow, wants the vault.
Johnny's biological children, Laura Smet (mother: Nathalie Baye, Smet is Johnny's family name)) and David Hallyday (mother: Sylvie Vartan) have objected to reburial.
Laeticia was the sole heir with Johnny's and her two adopted children next in line if she were to die and the biological children were excluded in a will written under California law.
Laura and David, who by French law cannot be excluded from the will (without their consent) objected.
A French court has ruled Johnny was nomadic but a French resident and that the California will is not valid. This battle is ongoing.
Disagreements preceded Johnny's illness.
Other disagreements (e.g., regarding posthumous albums and tributes) are also ongoing.

(I think this summary is fairly accurate)
 
I have been involved in will disputes too many times. Glad I'm out of that. It's worse than a divorce.
 
In the Johnny Hallyday matter, I can’t help but think that there’s a definitive statute that governs who has authority in the situation . . . probably largely depending on a decision as to his residence at time of death. As Andy has experienced & describes . . . an unfortunate family dispute involving family members in a divorce context. Not unusual in circumstances of other feuding families.
 
In the Johnny Hallyday matter, I can’t help but think that there’s a definitive statute that governs who has authority in the situation . . . probably largely depending on a decision as to his residence at time of death...

Johnny's "considerable time on the French Caribbean island of St Barts", as shown by instagram geotracking, was a central element to the French court decision which was based on an EU regulation that succession of an estate is governed by the law of the habitual residence of the decedent.

Court Finds Instagram Posts Prove Johnny Hallyday’s French Residency

"The Instagram posts found that Hallyday spent 46% or 168 days in France during 2014. In 2015, 41% or 151 days were spent in the country of Hallyday’s birth. Furthermore, in the final eight months of his life, whilst Hallyday fought cancer, his time was spent in France. Evidence enough to suggest that Hallyday spent enough time in France to be classed as a resident that is liable to abide by French intestacy laws.

The French court allowed the evidence (instagram geotracking) to stand and it was considered crucial in determining the frequency of his French stays. The court ruled in favour of Hallyday’s children which means his estate will be divided under French law.

Whereas the original Will saw his estate pass directly to Hallyday’s wife, French law will now decree that Hallyday’s wife alongside their two adopted children and Hallyday’s two biological children will now share the estate and all become equal beneficiaries."

More, including the basis of Laeticia's argument and plan to appeal, can be read in the two sources linked above. Without an amicable agreement, resolution may take a decade.
 
Thanks for this info, Izzy . . . very interesting to read these details. It also will be a spectacle, in many respects, to see an appeal: “The next French step in this case will be played at the Court of Appeal of Versailles . . ..”
 
One group that is happy about all of this arguing is the lawyers! Once this multi year saga is over and the lawyers have been paid, one wonders what will be left?
 
Thanks for this info, Izzy . . . very interesting to read these details.

The difference between US and French law regarding wills is something I find quite interesting in the Hallyday dealings. You and Andy may too. Here is an essay from BC Law that discusses this.

Two excerpts:
"Inheritance law in the United States is characterized by the principle of freedom of testation: the unlimited right of a person to dispose of her property however she chooses. This right to control the disposition of property at death is central to the American psyche. While people are often vague in their understanding about many aspects of the law, one thing that is often clear in their minds is the right to write a will."

"The inheritance law of France is in many ways diametrically opposed to that of the United States... the starting point in French law is the heir’s rights to the réserve héréditaire—the minimum share of a decedent’s estate to which the heirs are entitled. This share is “réservée”—reserved—to these persons...

Despite... minor changes, the French law of succession has shown remarkable stability since it was first officially established in the 1804 Napoleonic Code. It was recently pointed out in the French Senate that one of the paradoxes of the French Nation is that over the last two centuries one can count fourteen different Constitutions, but the main principles of succession law have remained unchanged."

A Tale of Two Countries: Comparing the Law of Inheritance in Two Seemingly Opposite Systems. Ray D. Madoff
 
In other words, in France it is illegal to disinherit your children....there are also lots of complicated marriage contracts you get to pick from which determine in some ways what happens to property when you die... in some cases family property goes directly to the kids, not the wife... or husband.
 
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