Private International Law
Your Life Crosses Borders. So Do the Legal Questions.
You live in one country but own property in another. You’re married to someone of a different nationality. Your business operates across borders. Your family is spread across continents. Your pension comes from abroad but you’re taxed in France.
In each of these situations, more than one country’s legal system has a claim over what happens — and they don’t always agree. Which country’s law applies to your situation? Which court has the right to decide? If a decision is made in one country, will it be recognised in another?
These are the questions that private international law exists to answer. And they are the questions that most people don’t even know to ask until they’re already facing a problem — a contract that can’t be enforced, an inheritance that’s being divided under the wrong rules, a marriage contract that doesn’t do what they thought it would.
The difficulty is that the answers are rarely obvious. They depend on the specific countries involved, the specific facts of your situation, and the interaction between legal systems that were never designed to work together.
Why a Former Notary Specialises in This
As a practising notary, Julie Gordon dealt daily with situations that crossed borders — property purchases by foreign nationals, successions involving assets in multiple countries, marriage contracts between people of different nationalities. Notaries in France sit at the intersection of these issues in a way that few other professionals do.
That experience is what drives her focus as a specialist consultant in international law. She has seen, first-hand, what happens when cross-border situations are handled without proper analysis — and what it costs to fix them after the fact.
When Private International Law Matters
You may not recognise the term “private international law”, but you’ll recognise the situations it governs. It comes into play whenever:
You need to know which country’s law applies to a contract, a marriage, an inheritance, or a property transaction
You need to understand which court has jurisdiction over a dispute that involves more than one country
You have a judgment or legal document from one country that needs to be recognised or enforced in France
You are making legal arrangements — a will, a company structure, a marriage contract — and the people or assets involved are in more than one jurisdiction
You are facing a situation where two countries’ rules appear to conflict, and you need to know which one prevails
Private international law governs a wide range of cross-border situations — from international business contracts to the question of which country’s inheritance rules apply to your estate, to whether your marriage contract will be recognised across borders.
Contact Us
If your situation involves more than one country, contact us for a consultation. Understanding which rules apply is the first step — and it’s the step that matters most.