Sadly my Mum passed away in Feburary this year and the normal legal issues arise with regards the Estate, my problem is I need to send some certified copies of my passport and bank statment back to the UK, where would the best place to go, prefably someone that does not charge.
Sorry to hear of your bereavement.
Your Maire will undoubtedly perform this task for you without a charge.
Hi James,
As Graham rightly wrote, your Maire will do that for free but I think he cannot certify a bank statement as it is not a French administrative document. A notary could probably do that but then it won't be free of charge.
but if you have a French bank account....
Personally, I don't think the Maire will be troubled by the fact if it's a UK Bank account.
Sorry, I was unclear. It is not the fact that it is a French document that will hinder the certifying through the Maire but thenfact that it is a private document not issued by a French administration. A private document cannot be certified (certifié conforme) but notarized.
And I am not sure the maire can certify a UK passport as well.
Sorry for a somehow chaotic asnswer ;-)
Ours did...
No comment Graham... Never tell anyone !!
French mayors are "officiers de police judiciaire" among other things. They have extensive powers and can certainly certify that a copy of a document, even if it is a UK document, is a true copy. I've been through this a number of times and it's never been questioned.
Absolutely our experience Terry.
It depends on the Mairie and if they know you or not as they'll be doing you a favour. For a while now Mairies are only required to certify copies of French documents requested by foreign administrations.
So you could try the angle that you need the documents for a foreign administration, otherwise try the Embassy or local police station but a notaire will do it for a fee.
Hi
If you have a notaire that acted for you when the house was bought, there is a decent chance he/she will do what you wish for free. Mine certainly does and has given me lots of advice over the years on wills and stuff like that also without charge.
Try it. What's the worst that could happen?
Ours did as well
So far we have been certifying phorocopies of various documents (in English, for my wife who is English) in various Mairies with no problem, even where we are not known. That included her passport, her certificate of existance for a South Afican pension she has. For that, we just had to explain what it was for.
John
Any notaire will do this for free.