Cyclohexane Chair

He lived at home.

2. Yes. 3. No. 4. He passed away in France.

Yes, the notaire *should* be impartial. But what are the odds of that? Talking in a friendly manner in perfect French is exactly what my brother is good at.

Thanks so much everyone for your kind replies. You've cheered me up no end. But I still can't decide whether to look for my own notaire on the internet, or hope that the one my brother chose will be honest with me.

I'll try it.

A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client, perhaps.

1. No 2.

Thanks very much for all the replies. You've cheered me up quite a bit. ssomon, you are correct, I don't have any control over who enters the property, and there is no will. Yes, it is a very sad situation. What I've told you is just the tip of the iceberg. Harnser, thank you for the link, which is very interesting. Since there is no will in this case the change in the law will not affect my family. Gluestick, the house is in France. There's no will. I don't know what the size of gross estate is. My brother's notaire said probably less than a quarter of a million Euros. Alan Zoff, of course the notaire should be impartial, but will he be? I have been using Google Translate to send email in French, and to understand the French email I get. It works fairly well. It's quite fun and good for my French. I thought a notaire was a lawyer, not a judge. Is the line between judge and lawyer blurred more in France? Is a notaire somewhere on a spectrum between the two? I heard that under the code Napoleon or something the judge is also the investigator, like in Almodovar's High Heels (set in Spain). Talking in a friendly manner is always a good idea, surely? The French appreciate it when you assume that the default language is French, too, I think.

We are all British in my family. My father died leaving an estate behind, including a house and some furniture. My brother, who lives in France, and speaks perfect French, and is quite good at getting his way, contacted a notaire. Since I don't trust my brother, I am worried that he chose a notaire that *he* could trust to be biased in his favour. I'm living far away in another country, and have not met the notaire. I know that a notaire is *in theory* impartial, but how does it work in practice, and would it be in my interest to find my own notaire, so that my notaire would be loyal to me (or at least not to my brother)? I know only what I've found out in a couple of hour of reading. Thanks in advance for your help in this matter.