Simple sarcasm, I'm afraid Elizabeth.
I decided that would be more polite than my original reply. :)
Is your reply a sample of British humor or simple sarcasm. It is always hard to tell the difference
Nah.
Why bother undertaking any research when moving three children and a set of grandparents to a new country??
Which portion is the cost of transaction,which part inheritance taxes. Why not ask the notaire how the costs break down. Have you asked the notaire whether or not your sister in law can refuse her inheritance.
So tell me how having entered into a purchase you had no idea of the process. Did it not occur to you to have a look at how property transactions are processed in France?
It is true that we probably take the word of a notaire,I am currently in a position where we are buying a house,It was the house of my late father in law so we have to buy out the part of my sister in law.I was quite surprised at the charges it's costing us over 7000 euro in total
Three years after buying our house, my mother in law mentioned our Acte de Vente. I didn't know what she meant as I didn't have one and had never heard of one. When I contacted our Notary, they found to their surprise that they had forgotten to send us our Acte de Vente AND TO REIMBURSE US THREE THOUSAND EUROS which they hadn't used in the charges incurred at the purchase!!!
If you wish to complain about a notaire you go to the Chambres Départmentales de Notaires. See
Que faire si je suis mécontent de mon notaire? On the following site
http://www.notaires.fr/fr/les-contr%C3%B4les-et-recours
I'm sure many will say me nay but rip off is not something I would generally associate with a notaire.