In the UK we have a £325k possibly £500k nil rate band on inheritance and 40% on the rest. I have read the tax rate in France is 60% on inheritance but is there an allowance?
Does this reference help?
or this one
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The allowances depend on the persons relationship to you, rather than being an overall sum and then after that IHT applies. Apart from your other half they are pretty measly.
IHT is a potential nightmare here especially if you have stepchildren,
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It is the other half I was concerned about, bearing in mind that could equally be me.
If you’re married… surely there is no IHT in France… between spouses ??? or have I got it wrong… ??
mind you, get the Will written correctly or the kids (and uncle Tom Cobbley) will take their share…
I started worrying about this but thanks for that first link, this has made me feel better:
Tax-free allowance per child: 100,000 €
I’d hate to have to hand 60% or something over of either of our mothers estates to the impots! At least there is this then anything on top we have to pay up to 45% on a sliding scale.
Very much Graham thank you.
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I have four stepchildren and if my wife dies first then the impots will have a huge windfall when I go as nearly all our wealth is in property. The only viable option is to become UK tax residents before we pop our clogs which means IHT is eliminated altogether.
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Am I right in thinking that U.K. residents with second homes in France need to give a notaries a copy of our English wills and copy of our deeds? I’ve also been advised to add into our wills something like “my wishes to be carried out under U.K. law”. Thanks.
When we made our will in the UK we were told that we needed to make a new will in France, still not done this. Can anybody give me an idea of the cost in France. We are UK taxpayers with children who will be the benifactors
I think you’ll be surprised at the low cost (if any) for doing this if relatively simple and straghtforward - your best bet is the Notaire who handled the purchase of your French property (assuming you have one).
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Thank you, Graham, that has reassured me. I will speak to the Notaire who handled the property.
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You can if you wish, but there is no obligation to do so. As you are UK residents then UK law will apply, so you shouldn’t need to add this rider, But again no harm in doing so and makes everything completely clear.
@Jackiemold Are you permanent French residents? If not it can confuse matters to have a French will and a UK one.
UK residents, and of course it makes sense to just have a UK will, but as Graham stated it would be good to speak to the Notaire.
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I would agree, especially with, I wish to have my affairs taxed under the UK tax laws.
Please keep us updated.
Thank you both. That’s a relief and one less thing to wrestle with. We don’t live here but will continue be coming over for our allocated 90 days a year.
Perhaps this calculator will help you with permissible durations of stay…
Thanks Graham - what a good idea.
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I’ve just had a go with that calculator and, provided your breaks are reasonably spaced, you can spend consireably more than 90 days in France over a year. I suppose it’s because its calculated over a rolling 180 day period, so stays at the beginning of the period drop off as you go. Looks a lot better than I thought, I must say! I shall tell a friend of mine who is bothered about it so thank you @graham
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