You can write your will in any language

The Court of Cassation ruled out the rules of the civil code which authorize dictation to a notary assisted by an interpreter since the Washington convention allows, since 1994 in France, that the will be written in the language of its author.

An heir, considering himself aggrieved, had seized the judges contesting the validity of the will which had nevertheless been drawn up with the help of a notary and an interpreter, according to the procedure provided for by the Civil Code "when the testator does not can speak French. In such a case, according to the law, this testator dictates in his language to the interpreter, who translates to the notary, who thus writes under the dictation. The interpreter is chosen from the list of legal experts and the will is then read back to its author for validation, all in front of two witnesses.

In the case judged, the author of the will spoke only Italian. At the end of the operations, he had validated the proofreading of the notary translated into Italian by the interpreter. However, it is an international will, observed the Court of Cassation, and it could be written in any language, in order to facilitate the expression of the will of its author.

This is in accordance with the Washington Convention of 1973, which came into force in France in 1994. The judges therefore ruled out the application of the Civil Code and its use of an interpreter. They concluded that the contesting heir was right.

(Cass. Civil 1, 2.3.2022, P 20-21.068).