Hello, I’m new here and want ask a question on behalf of my mum. She lives in France with her partner (they’re not married). She owns a little house in a village. I’ve got one sibling who for various reasons she has no contact with and hasn’t seen for over 20 years (I haven’t either). I have always lived in the UK as has my siblings.
She’s said that when she dies she wants to leave her estate to me alone and is thinking about seeing a solicitor about it. My understanding is that she could write a will requesting that her estate be dealt with under English law therefore bypassing the french forced inheritance laws? If anyone could enlighten me further I’d appreciate it!
Up until 2021 that was the case. Unfortunate the law changed so now, if she is a French resident when she dies, she will be subject to the French rules on Succession.
Which means that her children must be treated equally, and she cannot disinherit one of them. She also needs to be aware that if she is not married her partner cannot inherit much without paying inheritance tax.
These changes are a nightmare for many British people.
She needs to discuss with a notaire, but needs to find one with international experience. Many do not understand this new situation.
Thank you - what a potential nightmare! It looks like there is a potential legal challenge to the current situation going on? I will keep my eye on how it develops…
You mention sibling at first, then siblings, plural. Which is it?
If just the one sibling and you can find her, it may be that your mother can buy out her share of the property which will then become hers alone, then, if you are the only remaining inheritor, you will naturally become the sole owner on her death.
My case is not the same but the 3 children of my deceased wife are refusing to cooperate with the notaire and, if nothing changes, this could drag on for years. The only solution my notaire can offer is for me to try and by the 3 of them out, leaving me as the sole owner of the property which will then eventually go in entirety to my own 2 children.
As I say, not the same case, but worth asking the question to a notaire of your own choosing, and their advice, if they are not required to take further action, is free.
The only reason I have not followed the advice, the valuation was low enough to be affordable, is because I had a moment of anger at the 3 kids who we had always treated well, even took two of them in when their Dad kicked them out, and I thought why the hell should I? I saved and bought the place with my wife, she left her half to me as usufrut for my lifetime, so why should I buy half of it all over again? So it is up to my own son if he wants to deal with them when the time comes.
But my advice to you would be to get your Mum to at least get a valuation if only to see what is, or is not, possible.
One other thing very personal to her. If she should marry (or PACs) her partner and then have a donation entre epoux agreement drawn up, at least if he is the one left he will, like me, be allowed to live there for his life too.
Would that work in all cases David? As assets held in France whether a house or a bank balance must be divided with the children unless they have formally rejected it.
Depending on value and if open market sale or to someone specific, a sale in the person’s lifetime? Not an expert but thinking if it’s long established main residence then plus-values (ie capital gains tax) might not apply. Guessing notaire might warn to price within the range of fair market rates.
I’m not sure what you mean there Karen - would you mind expanding on what you mean please?
I did think that she could “sell” it to me, however I’m not sure how that would work. Her partner has made it clear that if she dies first, he would be going back to the UK anyway and he’s not really got an interest in the house (own children in UK).
You’d have to talk to the notaire as to whether it might work. If a sale to you then real cash would be needed to be put up by you either electronically or in cash so the value might determine if this is feasible.
On a viager that would mean the property is sold to whoever is buying it as a viager - you if it could be arranged or a professional entity - and whoever took the property must pay an agreed annual amount to your mother for the rest of her life however long or short that is. But the person taking the property “en viager” keeps the ownershop of the property that was taken when the viager began. So it’s a longevity bet. It’s a bit like equity release.
No solution should be considered without a good notaire’s advice and assistance especially to avoid later claims if a solution is found.
and yes according to my notaire it is the only way. The problem in my case is that the 3 children simply won’t cooperate, neither accepting or refusing. We assume that the flurry of contact after Fran died was due to them thinking they would inherit money immediately. Once they were corrected on that because of the donation entre epoux they lost interest and, knowing that Fran’s savings account (LEP) is frozen until it is sorted, they are taking it out on me for some reason, denying me the funds. The hint was that I had mentioned that I was going to use that money for the headstone but they objected to that due to my intention of sharing the grave one day. Pettiness allied to vindictiveness in the extreme, but that’s the way it is. Thus the local notaire (not the inheritance one), who has done some work for me recently buying the land etc., advised me to make them an offer, which is why I suggested it to @Ukchild. However if she can’t find her sister, or her mother her daughter, there isn’t a way of making such an offer anyway.
The reason why the forced inheritance law was imposed was to prevent the application of Sharia law which allows for females to be disinherited based on gender.
Bad law imo, though I don’t complain as I knew of its existence before coming here to live, but I firmly believe that everyone should be allowed to leave their hard earned, often with a frugal lifestyle, savings as they see fit, not to be forced to leave them to someone who may be totally undeserving.
Doesn’t France’s system of forced heirship date back to Napoleonic times?
Like David, I think individuals should be free to leave their money to whomever they like but equally, as David says, we all knew the rules when we moved here. And if we didn’t, we should have.
My neighbour has two sons, one who is always around supporting her and another that she hasn’t seen for years. Although she cannot leave the absent son out of her will it has been written to give the supportive son a bigger proportion of her estate. She says that that is a common occurrence.
