Hi there.. since no-one has zapped into the conversation I’ll give you my own thoughts.
Go and speak with the Notaire who is closest to where you are… explain the difficulties which seem to be arising in using “your own” Notaire 1400km away… and ask if you can please use the local Notaire (ie the person to whom you are speaking)…
of course you must be careful what you say as no Notaire will like someone who slates a colleague.
It will have been done–but done by anyone on this forum is a different question. I can’t ever recall anyone on here suggesting having two notaires was a good idea.
It will probably depend on what stage the process has reached. I found this link to a model letter:
Edit: As @Stella says, a good starting-point is to speak to the local notaire. It may be (as it is in the UK) that s/he writes to the other one on your behalf for the transfer of instructions.
I used .my own thus second notaire. I am very aware that many have good experiences.My experience was that the main local and very rural notaire was hand in hand with the agent. We got the final contract from their office 1 hour before we were due to sign. No translator provided. Every norm breached deliberately. The initial contract stated we should pay the agents fees… opposite to the advertising. We contacted our Notaire and this saved 15% wrongly charged. Unless you are fluent and comfortable with french law I would always recommend your own notaire. Preferably English speaking, distant from your purchase location. Yes, they share the fees. They also share the work, and have juniors who do the work. It pays them and the french state adequately. Do not feel sorry for them when it’s such a major decision for you in a foreign culture and legal system.
I have little sympathy having been so nearly shafted. 1% is clearly enough to make an adequate return or they would be on strike. Some and I can very much hope it’s few are complicit. My experience of France is it’s similar to the UK. If people think they can get away with something they will try.
consists of a simple error in payment of fees, and a lack of interpreter.
Neither of which you spotted before the final signing.
There were several errors in our promesse, some of which made it through to the final acte. I ensured (this really isn’t rocket science) that I had a draft prior to signing, so was able to point out the errors. I would never assume that errors could not creep in (and that’s the simplest explanation: no need for complotisme and assuming they’re all against me!)
In France, there’s no presumption that you will be mollycoddled: you are expected to do your own due diligence. Given your profession, I’m astonished you didn’t perform those basic steps prior to signing the acte definitive.
The plushness of the Notaires workplace we attended for completion, and that of many others, suggests being a Notaire is a good line of business to be in.
It’s almost like getting lots of 1% adds up to being a successful practice, doesn’t it?
It might be a London thing, but every solicitor’s practice I’ve visited with 3 names with letters after them on a brass plaque next to the door looked like a 19th century gentleman’s club inside.
I think that too, but it is a long road to become one. And many years with a low’ish income and if set up as a prof liberale practice they will have to cover the salary for the non income earning members such as secretaries.
The big earner is apparently the quick things like bank loan confirmations which doesn’t take long but has regulated fee, and the very slow things like handing successions. Property sale/purchase doesn’t seem to figure highly.
Surprised to hear you say that as my experience was quite the opposite. I do have 2 notaires, the first, in the next town, I mistakenly used in the matter of Fran’s inheritance after she died. But, although at the start they were very good and efficient I can’t now get a peep out of them, even if I go in in person and am told someone will contact me with an update in the next 2 days, nothing, this was about 4 months ago.
So, as my local notaire, who I had once asked for general advice seemed very good, I used him in the purchase of the plot of land adjoining my garden. He set it up with the seller who had ignored letters from me and all went smoothly, so I went in there later to ask if I could transfer the inheritance, which has been going on for 18 months now, to him but I was told that I must go to the first one myself and get them to transfer everything to me before approaching the new one. I haven’t bothered as what is the point of transferring nothing, which is all the first bloke has managed so far? At least €5,000 in her savings account is still frozen there, unavailable to me, presumably because her children have not replied to him and he apparently has 10 years in which to finalise the matter.
You need to know what has happened but if old school notaire he is probably of the view that no point in communicating if nothing to say. He may well have made efforts to gain agreement from others and just not told you.
Thank you @JaneJones , worth a try because it isn’t that he hasn’t kept me up to date, but simply hasn’t replied to direct questions put to him about the subject. Even transferred me to another office, further away, where I had a face to face meeting with the lady put in charge of the case (very nice, chatty, understanding, but then herself failed to communicate or even answer) after the first one (who also failed herself) resigned.
