Loiseau

Won’t the régime under which the property was purchased be stated in the deeds? Maybe the OP has access to those. But, yes, I agree with all those above that a notaire needs to be consulted - preferably the practice where the purchase was made, who would be sure to have a copy of the acte in their archives.

Oh poor Blodwyn. How awful, after all you have gone through. I feel for you...

I'm afraid my techie knowledge is sketchy, Blodwyn, but have you tried the obvious thing of turning the whole phone off and then restarting it?

Well, it's passed the 2 million mark now, GG!

So sorry to read about your bereavement, Antonia.

Thank you for that post, Blodwyn. It always seems to be a scramble, organising a funeral - especially in France with the time limit - but it sounds as if it all came together splendidly and made a moving and fitting farewell. Very good point about the passwords and social media, too.

I quite agree about the KitKats, idun! I used to be partial to the odd one, but now the “ chocolate” element tastes like some sort of gloop.

Also, mint, if you are on medication or other treatment that might affect your taste. I know when my father was ill he would look forward to a meal with dishes he enjoyed, only to find they tasted disgusting and he didn't want to eat them at all.

And Norman's right about it being connected with the Crédit Agricole. Good luck!

I so agree, Patf, about telling the bank about the sale. They are SO jumpy about large sums of money coming or going these days. In fact, the notaire gave me a special document with the sale price on, to show the bank to confirm the origin of the money. And I had a similar one (with no mention of price) that I think I had to show to the rubbish-collection office to prove I was no longer the owner of the house. I repatriated most of the sale proceeds to my UK account (I showed them the notaire's document, too, to explain where this money was coming from). I did it in stages, via one of the foreign exchange specialists, and even then I had to speak each time to my conseiller at the French bank, who was very suspicious of every movement - specially as the forex people were sending my money via Ireland before it reached my UK account! Loire, I started off with a France-based UK agent (this was early 2017) who produced hardly any viewings. So I moved to a local French agent who had been recommended by some French friends, and she was brilliant; found French buyers within two months. She worked for an agency called Square Habitat. So I would ask around your local friends, to see if they can recommend someone.

I phoned EDF with the final reading the moment the sale went through. Ditto the water board. Sorting the rubbish collection switch involved me going to the canton office with something to prove the sale. ( The purchasers were going to have to go in person to sign on.) The TdH and TF I also told, but they went on taking my monthly payments for at least three months thereafter. Obviously I remonstrated with them, but I just think their wheels grind incredibly slowly. They did pay back all the excess they had taken eventually, though. But, don’t close your French bank account too quickly! Those taxes were repaid into mine some months after the sale. In fact, I have kept the bank account open, as I go regularly to France and it is sometimes useful.

QUOTE Eurotrash Just for good measure you could add the town of Sées, in Normandy. CLOSE QUOTE I think the final S is pronounced in the town name: SAYSS No doubt a local will correct me if that is not the case.

Ooooo, good question, mint! Can’t wait to read Eric’s take on it.

Ooooo, haven't made gratin dauphinois for years!! Why not? It's sooooo delicious. Thanks for the reminder, Patf

Dommage, Norman; "ce n'est pas disponible" where I am. Sounds interesting though. They are such an institution.

I seem to remember from distant school days that omitting the "pas" (as in the OP) only applies when using certain verbs. “Pouvoir” springs to mind. “Je ne peux le faire" Not sure if there are others. Ah, [url=https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/ne-litteraire/]here[/url] is something on the subject. It's hellishly complicated... EDITED - among other things, to try and make a live link following Cajal's wonderful instructions of 27 Dec; but I see I have failed miserably, so here is the plain link again: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/ne-litteraire/

Yes, I read that too, Betty. It specially struck me, as my lovely daughter and son-in-law have just had a beautiful baby carried by a wonderful surrogate in Cornwall. In the U.K. it is illegal to pay for this service; only verifiable expenses allowed. There is a move to change this, and to authorise payment of surrogates here, but my s-I-l, dd, and surrogate are hugely against this development as it would remove the present extraordinary altruism that underpins the whole undertaking here. The subject is under much discussion in France at the moment where surrogacy is totally illegal, forcing people to go abroad. Marc-Olivier Fogel is campaigning for a change in the law to allow what I think is called GPA (gestation par autrui); he and his partner arranged their paid-for surrogacy in the US.

Absolutely brilliant, mint!! Thanks so much for posting.

I totally agree about the commitment, Betty and Noisette. Hence, having a boy/girlfriend of the desired language is a huge help towards fluency. I also think, to make progress in pronunciation and cadence, you need to be a good listener and to notice for yourself how people around you say things. I must say, I had a slight shudder starting reading this thread about experiments on twins, as I have just come back from viewing an amazing documentary "Three Identical Strangers”, in which it turned out that twins or triplets up for adoption had been intentionally separated at birth and placed with families of different social milieux to test the effects of nature v nurture.

My mother used to bake slices of stale bread, to crush and make into breadcrumbs. But sometimes she would give us one of the pieces of baked bread to chew on as a rusk . Yummm. The fame of Sophie the giraffe has spread; I saw them on sale in John Lewis recently...

O Judith, you are absolutely right! https://droit-finances.commentcamarche.com/faq/589-succession-les-avantages-de-la-tontine It seems it is as if the deceased never owned it.

Yes, Blodwyn, I seem to remember it did take quite a long time to get to the end. And probably the notaire's bill was quite high - but I think that might be the official charges for registering this and that rather than his/her fat fee. You could ask for an estimate at the outset, I should think. The children had to be paid their shares, but luckily we were in the throes of selling one of the two cottages we owned at the time so I had some cash to pay them with. Not sure if it is possible to delay paying them their inheritance until your own death, but it's another thing you could ask. Maybe your having bought en tontine means that the children don't have a claim at this stage, though. I didn't need to list possessions; maybe have an idea of an overall figure in your head, in case you are asked, but not item by item unless you have something very valuable.

Hah! I got called away while writing this, and suein56 has popped up with this info already! Sorry for reiterating it. Blodwyn, I had to do this a long time ago - and admittedly as a second-home owner. I expect the notaire will need birth and marriage certificates (and divorce certificate, if relevant, even if long in the past). Do you get a death certificate in France? Not sure, but if so you would need that, too. Details of house-ownership - maybe the deeds - that show the marriage regime you purchased under, which can affect the way the inheritance is sorted. Names and addresses and dates of birth of any children, as they have their "reserved" parts of the estate. And if you did a "donation entre époux" during your husband's lifetime, that will come into play and protect your right to remain in the house for your own lifetime. Oh, and did your husband make a will? If a French one, then the notaire should be able to access that somehow. But, as said in an earlier post above, best to ask before attending the appointment so you can be sure to take everything relevant. Bon courage.

I wouldn't be too confident about the insurer knowing the answer, YCCMB. When I decided to keep a French-reg voiture secondaire, my French insurer assured me that it was absolutely ok for me to drive the car in the U.K., if i ever needed to. It was only after reading (probably on here) that it was against the law for a British resident to drive a foreign-reg car in the U.K. that I realised I had been driving illegally the couple of times I had brought it over. As far as the insurer was concerned, yes it was covered in other EU countries, but he would not have known about the legal side in the U.K. . Re international driving licences, as far as I recall from holidays in the 1960s, they were just a booklet that translated into several languages the fact that you held a current U.K. driving licence. They were not in themselves a licence; just a confirmation that you held a valid U.K. licence - hence they cannot sneakily be used by people who have lost their U.K. licence for a driving offence. Oh, they did have a photograph of the licence-holder, cos in those days we didn't have photos on the actual U.K. licences.

I'm so sorry, Blodwyn. I hope you are well supported by helpful friends and relatives.