Bilingual Legal Assistance

Legal Advice
21

Thank you so much

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Dear @Nigghtlife11 ,

My name is HÊlène Mercier, a qualified Notaire working within the French Practice team headed by Guillaume Barlet-Batada at Cubism Law,London, to whom you sent a message on 9th June 2018. Please accept our apologies for the belated reply.

Taking into consideration the information already provided, it is not possible at this stage to determine whether you would be entitled to your Late Father’s estate.

As you mentioned, your Late Father lived in France for a very long time. He was a French tax resident, and he was considered “domiciled” in France for inheritance purposes. As a result, his worldwide estate could be subject to French inheritance rules and taxes.

However, New EU rules on inheritance have been adopted and came into force in August 2015. These regulations give a foreign national the right to formally choose (for instance in a Will) for the succession law of their country of nationality to apply on their death. This can allow to bypass the strict French succession rules, whereby ‘protected heirs’ (e.g. children) must normally inherit.

Without a valid formal choice, the French succession rules continue to be applied to a French resident’s estate.

It would be necessary to have the Will to confirm whether you could be entitled to a share in your Father’s estate and contacting the notaire in charge of the probate is the first step in that respect.

This is something we would be glad to help with and please do not hesitate to contact us at your earliest convenience if you would like to receive our assistance in relation to the above. We can schedule a free preliminary meeting or telephone call (usually lasting around 30 to 40 minutes) with Guillaume Barlet-Batada, in order to assess your situation and determine how we may be able to assist.

We hope this helps.

Kind regards,

HÊlène MERCIER

1 Like
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Hi Helene,

Thanks so much for this. I have contacted the notarie to ask to see a copy of the will but they haven’t responded to any of my emails. Should I be able to see a copy of the will? I would really appreciate a phone call if that is possible?

Thank you!