The EU Succession Regulation n° 650/2012 is in force and applies to deaths after 17th August 2015. This link is to the site which provides the 26 language versions in force, including the English version, so you can consult it in your own language. Each version including the English version is equally valid as it is an EU Regulation. It is a Herculean effort, and like any such attempt to clean the Augean stables of private international law in a world context is imperfect.

The fact that neither Jersey nor Guernsey are required to apply it under the Treaty Arrangements does not mean that individuals living here are not affected by it. It affects anyone who has moved recently to the Islands leaving assets in the EU, and also any EU national living in the Island with assets in the EU and in particular the EU Member State of which they are a national. It does not apply within the EEA.

Any individual moving to the Island, and any EU national living in the Islands with assets left behind in the EU  has to consider their position in the event of their death here in the light of the Regulation. Denmark Ireland and the United Kingdom have opted out of the application of the Regulation so assets left in those jurisdictions are not subject to these rules but their own.

The reason for this concern is the catch-all article 10 of the Regulation which gives jurisdiction over the whole of the worldwide assets of the deceased's estate to the courts of the Member State of their nationality, when the deceased has assets in that Member State no matter where they are habitually resident. The courts of a Member State where assets are situated on death can also take jurisdiction over the deceased's whole worldwide estate where the deceased had his habitual residence in that Member State at any time within the five years prior to his decease, whether he had the Member State's nationality or not:

Article 10

Subsidiary jurisdiction

1. Where the habitual residence of the deceased at the time of death is not located in a Member State, the courts of a Member State in which assets of the estate are located shall nevertheless have jurisdiction to rule on the succession as a whole in so far as:

(a) the deceased had the nationality of that Member State at the time of death; or, failing that,

(b) the deceased had his previous habitual residence in that Member State, provided that, at the time the court is seised, a period of not more than five years has elapsed since that habitual residence changed.

2. Where no court in a Member State has jurisdiction pursuant to paragraph 1, the courts of the Member State in which assets of the estate are located shall nevertheless have jurisdiction to rule on those assets.

 

Article 10

Compétences subsidiaires

1. Lorsque la résidence habituelle du défunt au moment du décès n'est pas située dans un État membre, les juridictions de l'État membre dans lequel sont situés des biens successoraux sont néanmoins compétentes pour statuer sur l'ensemble de la succession dans la mesure où:

a) le défunt possédait la nationalité de cet État membre au moment du décès; ou, à défaut,

b) le défunt avait sa résidence habituelle antérieure dans cet État membre, pour autant que, au moment de la saisine de la juridiction, il ne se soit pas écoulé plus de cinq ans depuis le changement de cette résidence habituelle.

2. Lorsque aucune juridiction d'un État membre n'est compétente en vertu du paragraphe 1, les juridictions de l'État membre dans lequel sont situés des biens successoraux sont néanmoins compétentes pour statuer sur ces biens.

I have set out the English and French texts here, but you can find the text in your own language here by clicking on its language tab on the EU website. Whilst article 10 is designed to be a tidying up or catch all provision to avoid assets being "unjudiciable", it can have entirely unintended consequences. The "closest connection" factor is a bit of a wildcard in this context, as it opens up anotherwise reasonably clear definition to being overturned by relatives and others in the home jurisdiction

This means that an individual dying here leaving assets in the state of their nationality would effectively have at least two courts taking jurisdiction over their succession: the Jersey or Guernsey Courts under the law of domicile here; and the courts of the Member State or States of which they have nationality.  Note that the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark are not Member States for the purposes of the Regulation as  they have opted out of its application.

The foreign EU Court taking Jurisdiction is one thing.  The Regulation in a separate Chapter III then defines the law applicable to the succession as a whole as being the laws of the state of the habitual residence under article 21, or grants the right to an express option in a will for the law of the nationality to apply under article 22. It is therefore likely that Island law will need to be applied by the Member State court having jurisdiction under article 10, as a result of the directly effective articles 20 then 21  but that is not certain by any means.

This means that, for example,  a Portuguese or Polish national habitually resident in Jersey who has assets in the State of their nationality and dies in Jersey will therefore have their whole estate subject to the jurisdiction of the foreign courts, as well as the Jersey or Guernsey Court.

In the example, it is likely that the Portuguese or Polish courts can be required apply the laws of Jersey of Guernsey, as the case may be,  to the succession as the law of the habitual residence under article 21 of the Regulation, but that is a separate issue.  Note that if the deceased died in the Island but retaining closer connections with the Member State of his nationality, the Member State's courts can be called on to apply its own laws by their heirs, not that of the Island concerned.

This where the Regulation does not simplify things at all, as the Islands have a different set of rules for taking jurisdiction,  the deceased's domicile for movables, and of tghe place where the asset is situated in the case of an immovable, land.

It is at that point that unwanted and unplanned issues of forced heirship and creditors can apply in the Member State concerned to undo the wishes of the deceased, depending upon which law is applied to the assets in the Member State.

The issue is also that this does not only apply to EU nationals, it applies to any individual who has moved to Jersey and has resided in an EU Member State within the 5 years prior to their decease, no matter what their nationality under article 10.1 (b), again where that person has left assets in that Member State.

It is therefore important that those moving to the Islands take advice on their position particularly where they have assets, for example, an inheritance in an EU Member State.

It is important to note that the Regulation only addresses certain legal issues on jurisdiction and what law applies to the succession. It does not lay down an EU wide law of succession, but leaves that to each state.

I stress that this is just the legal side, the succession and estate duty issues are not addressed by the Regulation, and need separate advice and attention.