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Everything you always wanted to know about France - from France |
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Who Inherits and HowHi Tony,Glad you are well and back at the wheel. Advice please. A friend - John - had two parents who purchased a small village property in Poitiers some 4 years ago - pre retirement. Sadly the Father died last year of a heart attack, just before retirement. Recently the Mother decided to dispose of Poitier property but has been unable to locate the deeds of same as Husband had charge of such matters and like many other bits and peices have since been mislaid. What is the situation regarding securing copies of such documents? Would there be copies with a Notaire or UK Solicitor or maybe even the originals as I am sure she cannot be certain they ever possessed them - I say these knowing that here in the UK solicitors often hold deeds for security? The property is owned outright - there is no loan/mortgage. The lady is very distressed and is concerned that not having the deeds she is unable to prove ownership etc., I have attempted to calm her by suggesting that her 'French Rates' documents will show her as the owner and that she should at least locate these. Can you throw any light on such a dilema. Sincerely, Colin === Hi Colin I am sure the Notaire who arranged the purchase will be able to help - this is the first course of action. Normally the Notaire will process the "Acte" in about 6 months and this is in fact the "deed" of the property. The Notaire will definitely be able to help if the original is lost, your friends Mother has absolutely no cause to worry about this. A lot now depends on how the property was purchased and if your friends parents made provision for one pre-deceasing the other. there are various ways this could have been done, but Notaires are not known for giving the correct advice at the time. In French law your friends mother owns half the property and any children will inherit the other half from the Father - although the surviving spouse has certain rights of occupation - all children automatically have equal inheritance rights and this cannot be altered by a will or any other document. The Notaire can advise on this and this advice is not charged by the Notaire as it is their public duty (they are civil servants). To arrange a sale your friends Mother probably needs to get the agreement of all children and the Notaire can help with this. If the house is not the principal home then there will be capital gains tax to pay on the sale - this is currently 16% of the difference in value between purchase and sale price - after 5 years this reduces at 10% per annum until after 16 years it is zero. Do let me know how your friend gets on with this problem Best wishes Tony There are over 2,000 features and articles on this site about French life and living in France. You can search from the search box above. Do browse through our website and please use the advertising links, they help pay for the site. I do try to reply to all mail - Contact Me - most is about property or living in France. I publish comments in this newsletter which I believe are of interest and may help find answers for people wanting to come to France. I hope readers will go to the adverts which help support our overheads. |
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