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rowland

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Posts posted by rowland

  1.  

    Having decided to put our apartment in the Var up for sale and having trawled the forum and other sources for info, I think that I have to:-

    Find a Notaire

    Find an immobilier (trying not to cry at their extortionate charges) and provide them with the amounts for maintenance charges and taxes and also copy of minutes of last AGM to show what was decided.

    Arrange for diagnostics to be done.

    Keep fingers crossed that someone wants to buy it.

    We realise the market is flat at the moment and do not expect to sell quickly.

    Questions

    What documents, if any do I need to take to the Notaire?

    Should the immobilier arrange for the diagnostics to be done as part of their service?

    We will be selling the apartment furnished and equipped including cutlery, crockery etc.- do I need to provide a detailed inventory of what is included for the immobilier at the outset or is that something they will compile?

    Although we will have to deal with an immobilier, can anyone recommend websites where we can also advertise to point potential buyers in the right direction?

    Is there anything important that I have missed?

    Apologies for a long post but trying to get all sorted in my head before we contact anyone and start the ball rolling.

    Thanks

     

     

  2. Apologies for going slightly off topic - we have secondary glazing and I have cracked the door panel. Does anyone know if I would be able to take the whole thing (it is basically a piece of glass in a plastic frame) to a 'Vitrerie' and get some new glass installed into the frame?

    Also, what would I call secondary glazing - vitrage secondaire doesn't sound quite right.

    Thanks for any help

  3. Sorry to bring this up again but have just received this month's copy of French Property News and read the article relating to french wills. It states  'When a client wishes to gift a French house in his will he has the option to either put a clause in his English will or write a French will structured as stated by the French Civil Code'.

    This is apparently covered in Article 1 of the Hague Convention of 5th October 1961.

    According to the article, the Article stipulates that a testamentary disposition (gift within a will) shall be valid if it complies with the internal law of one of the following:

    a) the place where the testator made it

    b) the state of which the testator was a national either at the time when he made the deposition or at the time of death.

    c)the place in which the testator had his domicile either at the time when he made the disposition or at the time of death.

    d) the place in which the testator had his habitual residence either at the time when he made the disposition or at the time of his death

    e)so far as immovable properties are concerned of the place where they are situated.

    It would therefore seem that as long as your french property is mentioned in your english will then that would be okay.

    It does not solve the problem of inheritance tax and it does not seem right that one is penalised for not having any children or blood relatives.  C'est la vie!

  4. Thanks to everyone for helpful comments. I think I have read somewhere (but can't for the life of me remember where!) that any bequests to registered charities are not subject to French Inheritance Tax - have I made that up?

    If we leave things to non-relatives then after paying up to 60% in tax plus notaire's fees there would be hardly anything left!

     

  5. Parsnips - thanks for your reply. We have english wills set up to cover the situation should we die at the same time but I take it from your comments that those wills would not be considered in France.  My closest blood relative is my brother and OH has only cousins so your reply suggests that they would inherit the french properties.

    It is sounding more complicated by the minute as we have specified in our english wills that all properties be sold and the proceeds divided between several beneficiaries.

    I think we will have to take advice and make a french will to avoid complications - not that we would be around to sort it all out!!!

  6. Hi

    Thinking of putting house up for sale but can't remember which rooms count towards T1, T2, T3 etc. classification. I seem to remember that the bathroom or the kitchen are not included but not sure. Also we have two bedrooms but also a mezzanine that is used as a bedroom - does that count as three bedrooms?

    Thanks in advance

  7. Hi

    I have spent some time reading the FAQ and succession posts and searching the forum and I think that the answer may be that there is no need for us to do so.

    We have two properties in France - one bought 'en tontine' and the other 'en division'

    We live in the UK, have no children, no parents, OH is an only child and I have one brother.

    In our british wills we have left everything to each other. Will this be enough or should we make a simple will in France leaving the french properties to one another?

    I followed the links re proposed changes to the law but note that these will not come into effect until 2015 (if then).

    Any advice/comments gratefully received.

    Thanks

  8. Hi

    I have searched the forum for information re SPANC inspections and found lots of info.

    However, I am a bit confused as some threads state that you have 12 months to put anything right and others state 4 years. We are thinking of putting our house up for sale and know that we will have to have an inspection done before then. We have a fosse septique which appears to work okay.

    Thanks

  9. We are thinking of buying an IPad with wifi plus 3G on a pay as you go tariff. The assistant in the shop said that we would be able to buy a french

    SIM card to use while we are in France. I have done a search but can only find monthly contracts and no pay as you go. Does anyone know of any company that sells them on PAYG terms.

    We have a 3G dongle from Bouyges Telecom for the laptop but I can't find a SIM on their site.

    Thanks in advance for any help

     

     

  10. Surely the whole point of CA Britline is the Brit part of it. They sell and promote the english speaking factor of their service so why should anyone have to pay extra for it.

    Ten years ago, when we bought our first property in France, settting up a french bank account was out of my comfort zone and I was grateful for the opportunity to deal with unfamiliar procedures in english. I speak french quite well but was still glad that if I wanted to double check anything I was able to do so. Fortunately, I have never had to use the facility but it is still nice to know that it is there especially as we live in the UK.

    However, if they impose any extra charges I would seriously consider opening an account in a bank near our residence secondaire.

     

     

     

     

     

     

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