Blodwyn
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Posts posted by Blodwyn
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Thanks for all the responses. I've only just come back to the forum as, very sadly, my husband died last week - so the plan to organize things in advance were irrelevant. I've got through it somehow and now there'll be all the admin, notaire, notifying banks, pensions, etc etc.I've had wonderful help and support from friends and my sons but it will be hard.I did want to transfer the carte grise to my name (we didn't realise we could have put it in both when we got French plates) but find it's not simple (what is, here!). It costs at least 270 euros, plus I have to get a new CT, as it's been over 6 months (8 in fact). The garage can put it through the system quicker than I could and only charge 28 euros for that.
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Thanks for the responses. My devi was for over 3000 euros so I guess that's about right. A lovely person from Cancer Support France also thought the price wasn't unreasonable. Husband agreed it was a good idea to sort in advance so tomorrow I'm going with a French friend to the funeral place. I've got another friends 'babysitting' as can't leave husband alone now.It's seems a bit late for insurance but I think the mutuelle might pay a bit.The ongoing worry is when to suggest our children come over. If they come now, they could be here longer than employers allow for compassionate leave, but if they wait they may be too late to see their Dad again. At least they were here in December and one stayed till 2nd January.
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Hello, I've not been on the forum for ages. Not sure if it's appropriate under 'Health' but I've been thinking about funerals as my husband is nearing the end of his life.Someone suggested a nationwide company that will arrange everything 'after one phone call' when the time comes and save me the stress of organising a funeral when very upset. I found the website and was sent a devi. They've now said someone can come to the house. (I was going there.)I don't want to seem mercenary but also don't want a hard sell and have no idea of the average cost of a funeral: cremation, no religious official, collect from home (I'm hoping I can keep him out of hospital), ashes returned to me - probably means collecting them. I've heard there are some pretty unscrupulous funeral directors out there: charging twice for things, or for things they haven't done. Any thoughts?
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I've had problems with Internet Explorer so am using Mozilla, so have lost my favourites.When I tried to log into the France Forum, I got a warning that this site is not secure and advising me not to use it as my password could be seen! Slightly worrying though I use a different password.
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Thinking of going to Brussels. Husband not in good health. I looked at flights from Toulouse. An alternative would be train from Agen. Costs vary depending on day and time. With 1.5 hrs to Toulouse, plus time to get the shuttle from the car park and minimum hour to wait for the flight, plus the journey from the airport to Brussels centre it occurred to me that train from Agen might be quicker and less stressful.Has anyone tried this route and was it relatively stress free?
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She does sleep in the bedroom, in her bed. We've had her 8 years and she's only started this behaviour in the last year, and she isn't deaf. She's much loved, but I could do with a decent night's sleep!
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Our elderly dog keeps us a awake with sudden shrill yelping. She is sleeping in her bed and then often growls briefly before a piercing yelp. I worry she is in pain as she has lumps which are probably malignant. It's not arthritis as she does it when still. The vet gave us pills for her 'comportement' but they had no effect. She has a dicky heart so no op possible. The strange thing is, she never does it during the day.
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Thanks Eurotrash. Yes, the first notaire I spoke to did mention that the kids could have more tax to pay. But she was also the one who mentioned revoking the Tontine and getting signatures. Our property is not worth much and as I understand it, the children get 100k euros tax free, but if there is still a UK house that would take it over 200. The problem for them would be not having the money to pay the tax!
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No step children, or CU would not have been the choice. No problems with the children but I worry that they should have been asked to sign. Otherwise they might have to formally reject their inheritance when the first of us dies, which would be hard for them as they aren't well off.
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Hi, thanks Parsnips. Yes, my post was a bit confusing! I did say we paid and the document was emailed - meaning the CU. We decided on that rather than an English will which would have to be translated anyway and a notaire would still be involved. Also some notaires are not up to speed on the 2015 law - as a friend found recently when his wife died. My concern is that if the CU is not correct and also if our kids should have been asked to agree to not getting their inheritance till the second of us dies, it will be useless and French law will take its course. I don't know how or if it's possible to check that a notaire has done things correctly. We have already paid 400 euros and have been asked for more as he forgot 'the advertising'.
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Still concerned! We went to the notaire who dealt with our house purchase and said we want to leave everything to each other, and our sons will inherit everything when we are both gone. I said we understood that if we do nothing, when one of us dies our sons will inherit two thirds. The house is en tontine but we also have a UK house. He said no, if we do nothing the survivor will inherit. I also asked if our sons need to sign their agreement to the CU as they will not inherit anything when the first of us dies. He said not necessary. (Another notaire said it was necessary and that we'd have to revoke the tontine.) We paid 400 euros and were told the document would be sent. A couple of months later we were emailed to say they had not charged us for advertising and another 170 euros was required. When I pointed out we'd not received the document, they emailed it. When I printed it out to read, I saw they had my birth year wrong, putting it the same as my husband's. As he's been so ill recently, I haven't got round to doing anything. I really don't feel confident in this notaire! I don't know how to check if all has been done correctly and it worries me. Other Brits have had problems when a spouse died and they thought they had sorted the inheritance. I know we could have an English will made, but then it would have to be officially translated and how would we make it official in France?
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I can't work the link, but I've heard that too. The problem is not having an account, but having one where I can use a UK address. I'm not on the electoral roll anywhere, I just need to use a UK postal address for the account. It's not fraud, I haven't any money to launder and wouldn't know how!
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We have a Nationwide account, no problem with us living in France. We kept the Smile account too, using our son's address (I asked and Smile had no problem with that) because sometimes when making a credit card payment it will only accept an account with a UK address.I just went online to check a payment had gone through, and the Smile and Co-operative Bank sites have been down for some days. I would like to give up on Smile, but I suspect opening a new UK account, while living in France, would be impossible. When a friend returned from Canada she had huge problems opening a UK account, even though she was putting money in!
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Thanks people! I've had varifocals from Specsavers for years and get on fine with them. I don't wear glasses all the time (one eye short sighted and one long seemed to balance out) but find I need them more now. Small print seems even smaller! And I use them for the computer.
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Oh dear! My prescription is over 3 years old and I need varifocals.
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Fair enough if you don't want a transplant, but why refuse to let someone else have a bit of you when you no longer need it? Having said that, as we get older, some bits might not be any use. I do think that anyone who opts out should not be given any sort of transplant, nor should their children.
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We both need new glasses and are unlikely to get to Specsavers. OH has seen ads for Lunettes Pour Tous, 10 mins, 10 euros. Although I suspect the cheapest frames would be hideous. Has anyone tried them?
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I have a cheap mobile and a Free 2 euros a month contract. I often forget to charge it, or take it with me!The point about the landline is I want to stop it ringing and waking OH up but I don't want to miss urgent calls. I don't answer most unknown numbers, especially 01 and 04 ones but they still disturb us. Some people think calling mobiles cost more.
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We tried the Orange one, it only blocked withheld numbers, including our doctor! So we cancelled. Some phones claim to block specific numbers, with a 'blacklist' of up to 15. Must research it, I just wondered if anyone had tried them.
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I hate those nuisance calls! Particularly as now OH is ill and often sleeps in the day. I can turn the ring off but then could miss important calls, and the answerphone kicks in which also disturbs him. There are phones that can block numbers (at least that would stop the repeat offenders) also some that won't accept withheld numbers, tho we don't get many. The problem with that is it would block our GP.Has anyone tried these phones? I've seen a couple online, not sure if available in France.
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I think the French are generally more polite than Brits. OH and I often let someone go ahead of us at the checkout if they only have a couple of items, and they always say 'Thank you'. It's when you join a queue as the person in front has few items, then they pull a load more out of a shopping bag! And my heart always sinks when someone, having taking ages to pack their bags, reaches for the cheque book. Why can't there be a 'no cheques' till?
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This thread turned into a discussion on French cinemas! Back to the subject: I don't like to complain, as an incomer, and you can't blame locals for saying 'If you dislike it so much, leave'. However, I agree about 'Sorry'. We got a letter about an unpaid bill from months back, and when I phoned to say we'd paid it on the day at their premises, I got no apology. The other thing is when you are waiting and the official is busy or on the phone, you are totally ignored. At the dump, you have to present yourself to the jobsworth. So we waited, and waited, while he had a long phone call, knowing we were there. He could have said 'Hold on a minute' to whoever he was talking to, checked our car and waved us on... Same in shops, where people seem to have interminable conversations with staff. They never catch your eye, let alone say 'I'll be with you in a minute" or take your money before turning back to the Ancient Mariners!As for bureaucrats, ours is not to wonder why. My French neighbour used to answer my frustrated comments with 'Mais, c'est comme ca'.
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Norman, I can't help wondering if your meter readers bring their own ladder!
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Thanks for responding. Yes we are in the French health system and husband is 100%. , so gets a free ambulance taxi to hospital appointments. But it's an hour and a half journey each way. Some people get help with housework etc. via their mutuelle, some with low income get help from the state. But they are living alone. It's more about nursing care, and carers, to enable my husband to stay at home rather than dying in hospital. I will ask our GP, though it's a bit early. I don't think there is the equivalent of MacMillan/Marie Curie nurses here and Cancer Support France can only offer a befriending service.. Just trying to think ahead!
Changing name on carte grise
in Driving in France
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