Fantastic George. So a holographic will handwritten that you also sign and date (I suspect may need to be written out and signed in front of the notaire) to make valid? I did one without the charity part a long while ago in front of the notaire.
ISTR the notaire said they then have to physically file the will in an official place for it in France, mine was going to do it on her next trip there shortly, and there was a fee of about 150 euros for the filing.
Thank you so much as I had it on my list to do a different one sometime soon, and your text seems to give the wording to make it clear a new one overrides the old one by just getting notaire to lodge the new one with its later date and this text in the official place and presumably paying the fee.again.
I found this extract online about the need (or not) to deal with the will in front of the notaire. Not necessary for the handwritten will, but the notaire has to register it.
BUT… be aware that EVERY account you have which can recieve money and then return money must be declared in your French tax return (filled in May 2025 to cover all world-wide income jan-dec 2024). You must list all accounts that were open at any time in 2024… even the dead ones you don’t use. So start collecting the information you need now and shuting the dead ones… (make notes for the ones you shut down … including date of shut down). It matters not one whiff if the accounts have/had money in them…and things such as share dealing accounts (money can go in… money can come out) also need to be listed. Failure to declare is a fine of over 1000 euros each account. Have fun.
Actually it’s €1500 now, and up to €10,000 if the account is in a country that doesn’t have an arrangement with France about information sharing and money laundering.
They moved our stuff 2 years ago. We the best price/service/attention etc by far from the companies quoted us at the time.
I should add that they have bases in Spain and France so their trucks are up and down all the time. They can do partial loads as we as full house removals. I really appreciated them handling the export/import paperwork smoothly, and advising us on the paperwork which we had to complete.
Dennis’s - based in Swindon but do regular trips to/from France. We managed to do a split thingy as they were collecting from Bordeaux, so just paid half the cost
I recommend you join 2 Facebook groups - Strictly Fiscal and Applying for a French Cds (Carte de Sejour). Both have guides and financial/legal experts for correct information and advice.
Can one still bypass forced heirship rules by using a tontine? Didn’t a recent law change this? We are preparing to enter into our house purchase and we want to be prepared. A search on ChatGPT informed me that the tontine still means the property will in it’s entirety still pass to my wife. Situation is that I have a son, and my wife has no children. I know better to trust Chat GPT without checking elsewhere. After my wife’s death, assuming I go first, I want my son to inherit. My wife has a sibling and she does not wish him to receive anything.
If you only want to protect your wife and exclude your son from inheriting the house → Tontine Clause If you want your wife to live in the house but your son to inherit later → Usufruct (démembrement de propriété) If you want flexibility, lower taxes, and structured inheritance → SCI (Société Civile Immobilière)
It seems the best for my wife, to give her freedom to sell and move (who knows what may happen to immigration law), is to use Tontine.
The best for my son would seem to be Usufruct or is it Usufruit. My wife gets the house but inheritance is protected for my son. She can only live there or rent the house.
The third - SCI looks complex, expensive and probably better for large estates.
Has anyone here used Usufruit?
Yes I think you’re allowed to leave money to a spouse and children, after that the State gets most of it.
Unless you leave it all to charity.
Since I don’t have either spouse or children (as far as I know) I am planning to spend it all on loose women, riotous living, (or possibly riotous women and loose living), and a subscription to Reader’s Digest.
If you only want to protect your wife and exclude your son from inheriting the house → Tontine Clause 