Inheritance

Am keen to learn the name of advocate in Kent. Will you let me know please asap

I have no wife and no real property.

I have four children living in the US and own a car, tow bank accounts and personal property.

How can one child come to France, sell my car, close my bank accounts and sell or take back my personal items?

I've been to a notaire and he was no help.

Thank you.

Sorry I just read my post and realised I had not clarified my "so what" comment - what I meant was that if the 2nd person ie either my husband or I, died in France - then whomsoever legally inherited would have to pay the due tax and to be honest if they want the inheritance then they have to pay the price - I am not rich enough to worry about such things.

I do understand that the tontine does not cover moveables and accordingly we have each made a will in french to state that everything should go to one or the other and signed and dated- and this should be registered but in our case its left in a filing cabinet upstairs...

Hi Jacqui

could you please email me privately if necessary.

Libby

If you adopt UK laws, do you have to pay UK inheritance taxes? What are French inheritance taxes?

gosh I must be dumb! still can't fathom it out. almost as complicated as the rotten inheritance law!

Add me as a friend on the site and we can message one another :)

Well said Mr Barclay :)

thank you. how do i email you privately?

It is always important to distinguish between rights to property and tax.

The Tontine clause is the equivalent in English terms (Scotland is not the same) of holding property as "joint tenants" as opposed to "tenants in common". One or other of these will be in all joint property documents. The first means the survivor takes it, the second that each share passes under the will. "Joint tenancy" is the same as "en tontine", which derives from a 17th century Italian banker with an investment scheme where the last survivor took everything. This may or may not be a suitable provision, depending on circumstances.

Separately there is an EU provision under which you can, as an EU citizen, elect for your own national law of succession to apply as opposed to local law. That comes into force in 2015 and France has enabled it. The UK hasn't but doesn't need to as UK law is totally flexible anyway so if you wanted to apply French law to UK assets you would be free to do so.

Tax is a separate issue. Transfers between spouses or civil partners are now tax free in France but other transfers are not. The French tax system is a genuine "inheritance" tax i.e. the tax is a liability of the recipient and the rate is based on his/her relationship with the donor/deceased. The UK system is different and relationships (other than spouses/civil partners) are irrelevant. The tax is based on the total assets and is payable out of the estate.

The question of which tax regime applies to which assets depends, primarily, on residence and the double tax treaties, but generally immovable property (i.e. land) is taxed where it is located and movable property (i.e. investments, chattels, cash) is taxable where the deceased is resident.

The interrelationship of these will depend on specific circumstances and it is unwise ever to assume that what someone else says will apply to you without proper advice.

Generally speaking Notaires are not tax advisors. They are state officials required to ensure that everything is properly documented. They may or may not have an understanding of the interplay of different tax systems

not sure how to do that but im sure you could James

Hi Libby

I can only go by our experience - when we purchased in 1999, I was concerned about the french inheritence laws and was advised both by our estate agent and notaire that the tontine clause was the way to go - our situation is that we are married (retired) and have 2 children - so reasonably straightforward - in those days we were warned there would be an inheritance tax to pay on properties above a certain threshhold (around the 75,000 euros) and we accepted this as we both believed that we should be able to do what we want with our property should one or the other die - we certainly did not want to have to ask our son and daughter's permission to sell.

Since then I believe the law changed so that your spouse (married) is not now liable for inheritance tax (correct me if I am wrong). I feel this is morally correct ie why should we have to ask our kids permission to sell or in fact do anything to our assets. They have their own lives and I would never expect to be asked for my permission in similar circumstances. I notice a lot is said by french notaires about the worry of whomsoever is left the property having to pay larger inheritance taxes - so what?

Please don't read to much into the New French Law as from 1st August 2015. Whilst you will be able to leave your property to whoever or whatever you wish under English Law, the other side of the channel will bounce it straight back saying that if it refers to property which is "imovable" it must be subjected to the laws of the country in which it is situated.

This is a cop out for the British Government but this rule applies to any country where the property is positioned.

Regarding the change of law in August 2015, when foreign wills become valid in France:
we have a South African will in which we leave everything to the surviving partner. In order to protect ourselves until then, we were told to compliment our current will with the addition that it is our wish, that the law of the country where our will was originally made, is applied.

I had a quick look at that site David,is there also a threshold in France,do you know?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/iht-thresholds.htm

The French rules are much more complex. Before the last election the Tories promised to raise the threshold to £1 million but the good ole LibDems squashed that. It cost me about £200k. Nice one. Guess who I won't be voting for, amongst others!

How does this 55% inheritance tax compare to the British one?

HI Sara,

Thanks for posting this but I am afraid I will have to delete it as it is a copyright infringement of the Connexion's content, please can you repost just a link to the page?

Kind regards

James

I’m not sure what you mean by that Sara Ann when you simply say that it ‘all changes in 2015’.

By that, do you mean that, for example, en tontine clauses will be voided (and on what evidence) or are you perhaps just indicating - as others have done - that the opportunity to secure chosen inheritance arrangements becomes possible?