I’m looking for some information before fully looking into notaires etc. My nan has a property in France that we are looking into transferring to me / me & my sister, from what I have researched this would cost around 5% of the property value in fees and taxes and grandchildren have a tax free allowance of €31,865 on gifts. Is there any other fees / taxes that would need to be paid? Would there be inheritance tax for this? Would an usufruit be more beneficial?
The house is rented out so she doesn’t live there and we live in the UK.
If you have any resources I could use to look into this further I would greatly appreciate it as I haven’t been able to find too much on this topic.
This is a link for the fees. So much depends on the value of the property
Does your nan and the grandkids fit the age profile for exonerat ions
Not sure how usufruit would help as the likelihood is that the grandparent would die before the grandchildren. Or perhaps I’m not understanding your intentions.
Thank you for the links, they have very useful information.
I may have misunderstood how usufruit works. I was thinking that my nan in this case would transfer ownership but keep rights to the property, then when she passes away, full ownership would go to me with no taxes?
Dosn’t non-french residency come into play regarding high inheritance taxes ? I suggest the OP consult a french notaire and get the exact right information before doing anything, it could end up a nightmare.
Have to be honest in the fact that I have never come across any british people actually doing this with holiday homes in France, most have either died, moved elsewhere or sold up and gone back to the UK. Just be very careful, french succession process kicks in immediately.
If your Nan is British, domiciled in the UK, I believe making a UK will and declaring she would like her estate dealt with under UK inheritance laws is an option.
Would like to know if that still applies post Brex?
When OH died, the notaire was round within ten days to value the property and anything of value that belonged to him or in joint names. MY car was in OH name on the carte grise because Citroën did not bother with both or my name only and I had to apply for permission from the children to get a new carte grise from the prefecture and when I traded it in for the replacement, again, even though mine, the kids had to OK it legally. A lot of people don’t realise this and continue with a carte grise in the name of the deceased which is legally not valid any longer.
If you’re on Facebook, join “strictly legal france” where there is a wealth of info about buying, selling, inheritance etc. (There’s also “strictly fiscal france”). Both excellent resourses. Strictly legal works with a notaire who often gives good advice, and there are guides which cover things like inheritance. Definitely worth joining and getting better information from there.
As your nan is UK resident, if she were to sell now to someone there would potentially be capital gains tax to pay (I know, not the same as inheritance). As a non-EU resident, a “fiscal representative” would be engaged to make sure all taxes etc were paid.