Firstly, I apologise that this is likely going to be frustrating because of a lack of clarity, but I am trying to find out information from a relative who does not speak good French.
My husband’s parents moved to France 20 years ago from England. They bought a house. They also made holographic wills, possibly 10 years ago, which they believed would grant each other all assets in the event of either death. They have 3 children.
Having Googled a lot, I think I’m right in saying that the will only allows my deceased father in law to bequeath his freely available quarter of the estate, and that the remaining ¾ is split between his three surviving children.
Our Mother-in-law intends to move back to the UK, and needs the money to purchase a property. She said that it didn’t matter because the children could just give her the money back. Unfortunately, one of the children receives Universal Credit in the UK, which means that they can’t dispose of money freely because of Deliberate Deprivation of Capital rules.
Our Mother-in-law has now said that the estate agent has said all the money from the house sale will all go to her and the children will all just ‘need to sign a form’.
Does anyone know what this is likely to mean? If the child who receives Universal Credit signs any kind of disclaimer/renouncement, I think the DWP are likely to stop their UC on the basis that they had money they should have used for living costs.
The first point that needs clarification relates to the simple statement of “They bought a house”.
One needs to know under what arrangements was the house purchased by your husband’s parents. Was it bought only by your husband’s father, or with both the names of his parents as joint owners, and was there perhaps a ‘Clause Tontine’ invoked at the time of the original purchase. The answer to this question will substantially affect who is entitled to what.
It is possible to renounce an inheritance in France. People often do because of tax implications. That may well be what notaire is referring to.
She will need to find out from UK lawyer whether renouncing an inheritance before it is dispersed will escape the clutches of UK social security.
Also useful to find out if the wills were written before or after a regulation called Brussels IV which happens in 2015, and whether the wills should be dealt with under French or UK law. It sounds as they were done before hand and have to be dealt with under French law so this could be a red herring. (but wirth checking)
Thank you. The house was bought jointly. asked about a clause tontine, having read about it, but our Mother-in-law said she thinks the will overrides it? She hasn’t located the deeds yet, so I haven’t seen them.
I read about the law change but I think the wills were written before it.
My concern is that the French estate agent is telling our Mother-in-law what she can do to get the entirety of the money (of course) but she won’t have the understanding of the English rules of the DWP.
If the house was bought with a clause tontine then the house should be excluded from consideration as it should automatically got to the surviving partner. This really needs to be confirmed and if there is one it will be clearly written in the Acte de Vente.