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Many countries in Europe, such as France, Spain, Germany, and Italy restrict freedom of testation through their forced heirship rules, which can potentially provide statutory or fixed shares to certain family members. This means that in some cases, a South African with assets in certain European countries may be restricted as to whom they can leave their assets to. However, where a South African owns assets located in the European Union (the UK, Ireland, and Denmark excluded), the European Succession Regulation No 650/2012 (also known as Brussels IV) presents a useful planning opportunity. It enables a person to elect for the law of their nationality to apply to the succession of their assets. This can, potentially, be a way to avoid the forced heirship rules and, for a South African national, ensure that South African law applies to the succession of their European assets. Both the EU citizen and the non-EU citizen may choose the law of their country or nationality to apply to their estate. The default position is that the governing law of the state in which the deceased was habitually resident at their death will be used for the distribution of their estate.