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Case file s487 · Music and sport · 2017
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2017
Johnny Hallyday: Johnny-Hallyday-1
Johnny Hallyday. 国際情報社. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
5 December 2017
Place
Marnes-la-Coquette, France
Field
music · Music on the timeline
Legal tradition
French civil law (réserve héréditaire) against California trust law; EU Succession Regulation 650/2012 · Common law · Civil law
Historical event
France's 2021 reform protecting children's reserved shares in international estates
Music and sportCut out of the willNowEuropeFrance

Johnny Hallyday disinherited two of his children under California law, and a French court ruled French law applied

Johnny Hallyday, the French rock singer, died of lung cancer at 74. He was buried on the Caribbean island of Saint-Barthélemy. His will, written in English in California in July 2014, left everything to his wife, Laeticia. A later document placed his assets in a US trust. His two elder children, David Hallyday and Laura Smet, received nothing. French law reserves a share of every estate for children; with four children, each would have received 18 percent. David and Laura sued in Nanterre in February 2018. On 13 April 2018 the court froze his assets. On 28 May 2019 it ruled that his habitual residence was France, citing at least 151 days there in 2015 and 168 in 2016, so French law governed. Laeticia dropped her appeal in November 2019. David withdrew his actions, and on 3 July 2020 Laeticia announced a final agreement with Laura, terms undisclosed. In August 2021 France amended its civil code so that children disinherited under foreign law can claim compensation from French assets; legal commentary links the change to this case. In 2025 the Marnes-la-Coquette villa sold for about €8 million, against a €26 million asking price, to settle debts.

What the law took from it

A foreign-law will cannot defeat French forced heirship when a court finds the testator lived in France.

Family version vs. the record

Laeticia's side held that Hallyday lived in Los Angeles and California law applied; the Nanterre court counted his days and found his residence was France.

eapil.orgparismatch.be
Sources
  1. eapil.orgPress
  2. rtbf.bePress
  3. actu-juridique.frPress
  4. parismatch.bePress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Johnny Hallyday disinherited two of his children under California law, and a French court ruled French law applied,” story s487, https://www.celebrity.estate/johnny-hallyday-2017, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportCut out of the willNowEuropeCommon lawCivil lawFrance