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Geranium

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Everything posted by Geranium

  1. I am looking for a 2 bedroomed house to rent long term in the Tarn.  We'd like the option to leave after 3 months, or to stay longer.  I'd prefer one of the modern houses, or certainly something on one level. It needs to be easily maintained, and furnished.  We are looking to the west of the department, well, west of Gaillac. One responsible couple, non-smokers and with no pets are hunting now! Maybe you know of somewhere?
  2. I'd like to plant a native hedge and would know where to start in UK. But here I am stuck! We're in the South West so plants would have to survive hot dry summers but severe winters.  Do readers have suggestions and would anyone know where I could find suppliers? Thanks! 
  3. I can see that full expert advice is needed. Who do you recommend? There are various companies advetising in Living France and French Property News but I'd like to have some recommendations if possible. I need to find out quickly as I am seeing my father next week.    
  4. Well I am going thorugh the process I think to become domicilled here;  I am waiting for further information from my accountant. I am working - self-employed and will probably become a Sole Trader and pay tax here on that business although I have a business in UK which will remain taxed in UK.  Mmm sounds a bit complicated.  if no-one knows the definitive answer here, is there somewhere I should go for this advice? Thank you
  5. The arrangement my parents have with the house in UK is Tenants in Common.  We were rather hoping that the arrangemen they have can be kept outside of french Inheritence Law.
  6. My father has taken great care to see that inheritance tax is minimised in UK by giving my brother and myself Power of Attorney, and organising their will so that whichever parent dies first, the other retains half of the property and I then own the other half of the estate.  On the death of the second parent, my brother would then inherit the second part.  This sounds rather like the inheritance tax law in France. However, they are considering moving to France, renting a house here and renting out their house in the UK.  Does anyone know what the position would be with their house in UK then? Would they be able to retain the same arrangements? Or would their UK property come under French law?  They are both 72 and would spend the rest of their lives here in France. Thank you!
  7. Seeing as there seems to be a concurrent thread about who should get what and pay for what, this is what I also think.  My parents have paid into the system in UK for all their lives. My husband and I have also paid in so far. France and Britain have reciprocal arrangements. Therefore why shouldn't my parents come here and receive what is available here plus pay for insurance like anyone else.  Presumably those who move here earlier in their lives (and I am in my forties) will pay into the french system for several years but will hope to receive care here when they are older. Should they be viewed as abusing the system?  What should be the cut off point? Should you have lived here and paid french tax for 10 years or 10 months?  If we went down this route then we should all either stay in our country of origin, or if we emigrate we should go private? Anyway I'm still looking for practical advice and would like to say I'm very grateful to leslauriers who has been brilliant.  Thank you so much.
  8. Does anyone have experience or knowledge of care home fees in France?  One I know of is about 1000 euros per month. In UK my father thinks £650 per week is expensive but I have friends paying £48000 per year and over!
  9. Geranium

    Oxygen

    Leslauriers,  thanks for this. You've also been really helpful on my other post aout moving my parents out here.  However I'm still a little confused as to what cover they will have to take out and please tell me, what is ALD?
  10. Me again as I have just read the last comment from Teamedup.  I think you misunderstood me when I used the word benefits.  Probably quite understandably.  My friend whose husband has Alzheimers benefits from the following:  3 times a week someone comes in to do the housework so that she has more time to spend with him; every mornign a nurse comes in to get him up, showered and dressed; once a week someone sits with him so she can have a couple of hours to herself, catch up etc.  This is what I meant.  There seems to be a far better system here for helping people remain independent for as long as possible and I feel sure that my mother and father could stay in their own place here (I was thinking they could rent a small bungalow near us) for much longer if they could get in the system and therefore have this sort of help.
  11. How great to see this morning so many messages to my post. Thank you so much for all the practical advice and pertinent questions.  At the moment I am simply trying to gather practical information as I can see the situation in the UK deteriorating rapidly.  I cannot be of much help to my parents if they are in UK and I am here.  BTW my husband and I both work from home using the wonderful technology of today, and can therefore be far more flexible with our time. I think the question of who should pay for what has been covered.  Both my parents and us have paid taxes all our lives and there are reciprocal arrangements between the countries in the EU. The question of my mother going into a home is a last resort but I am sure it will come when she finally needs 24 hour NURSING care.  Meanwhile I shall have to look at other options. My father can cope at present and will be able to do more if he has help coming into the home (and I shall be near too). I have a freind here whose husband has Alzheimers and I am watching the situation with interest.  Our best friend here is a french doctor who we have known for 20 years and who speaks excellent english.  I've noticed homes are being expended or new ones being built at quite a rate around here so feel we sould have plenty to look at if we have to decide to go down that route. I don't want them to simply up-sticks unless there is a strong arguement for doing so. But as my father becomes worse, his social circle in UK decreases (for instance he can't manage going to watch football any longer) whereas here he could still be fairly independent and be close to us where he would become part of our social circle. I must admit I got a little confused about the Health Insurance points mentioned with the different cover and quotes.  Could someone spell this out simply as to what those over 75 would need to take out?  Thanks again everyone and I look forward to further replies. It's a worrying time.
  12. My parents - in their 70's - are becoming increasing unwell. My father has a lung disease and is on oxygen and my mother has Alzheimer's.  I am anxious to get them both out here so they are with me and will receive good (better?!) health treatment. My husband and I are still earning - and paying tax - so I don't know what the position is with those who are retired and moving here.  Their income would be pensions but how would we get them "in the system" and receiving benefits as quickly as possible? I have searched the forum but don't know what the various forms mentioned are, so any advice would be very welcome!
  13. Geranium

    Oxygen

    Leslauriers, I hope you don't mind me jumping in here, but you mentioned your father.  Mine is in UK but with increasing health problems, including being on oxygen (which is why I looked on this thread).  I would like to bring him out here and get him on the system so that he can be with me and receive the care he needs.  Could you give me any advice on this at all please?
  14. Hi, really useful replies - thank you.  I'm going to look into it further as I think they are brilliant workers.  They work hard, they're cheerful, they don't stop for endless cups of tea like the british and they don't take 2 hour lunch breaks and disappear at 4pm like the french. Does anyone know of anyone who has employed them over here?
  15. So I could bring over 2 -3 eastern european builders who are currently working in UK, for less than 6 months, and providing they have insurance and I pay them in UK in sterling, we shouldn't have to do anything else? Sounds good to me.
  16. Hi, Thank you, yes!  I am aware that there is no such thing as remortgaging in France but we do have a house we own outright.  However we do have a hefty mortgage on our main property. Would this affect us? What are the criteria likely to be? Should we just go straight to our current bank (CA), shop around or are there loan companies?  I'd just like to know what others have done to raise money here. Thanks again
  17. We're about to start a building project and have read the different arguements for using French or British builders. But what about bringing Polish workers over?  We used them in UK and had good experiences. Has anyone done this or knows of someone who has?   Any advice, anecdotes, warnings or encouragement gratefully received!
  18. We are living here and own a house outright. However we need to raise about 100,000 pounds.  What is the simplest, quickest, cheapest way to do this?  We already have a french mortgage on another property here. Also can someone tell me what I have to do to get a notification email that I have received a reply here? Thanks!
  19. I want to get over to UK by ferry. Is there one website that will correlate all the different options and save me hours of searching and comparing? Thanks!
  20. We have just moved here and because my husband thought he would be breaking the law by keeping Sky, he has cancelled our subscription.  Now we've had a nice letter from them and after reading all the advice about using Sky in France, I am inclined to call them and tell them it was a mistake and that we have just moved house - giving my parent's address in Suffolk. We still have the box and the dish, but won't Sky then try and fix an appointment to come a connect us 'in Suffolk'?  Also I have heard that we can't use our UK TV that we brought (though reading the FAQ maybe we can).  Do I need to hit the Sleas quick and get a french TV. We want a basic Sky package so that we can receive the usual land channels plus Channel 4 and 5 and my son wants Sky Sports.  It's the only thing that may persuade him to visit us at present! All advice would be very gratefully received. Many thanks!
  21. Thank you to those who offered advice about renting.  I didn't receive any alerts that I'd received responses!  The websites sound a good idea.  What about attracting french people who need rentals?  Who perhaps have the builders in or have just been relocated?  Has anyone done this or just stuck to british house hunters? 
  22. Hi, Our permenant move is iminent and while I've been having french lessons in London, we both need to keep at it.  I know there are plenty of British and Americans living near Toulouse, either in Herault-Garonne or Tarn, does anyone know of classes? I live half an hour east of Toulouse. Where am I likely to find out this information? My marie is very small so may not know of anything, but there must be classes in the area.
  23. We're moving to the Tarn in a few weeks and will be looking for a practical car to see us through those first months (years?) of lugging around plants, bags of sands and guests' luggage. So we're selling our lovely convertible Saab in London and will be searching for a second hand estate car.  We've heard of the Peugeot Rapier being rather like Mary Poppins' carpet bag but where do we start? Is it best to buy second hand through a dealer, or from local adverts or magazines?  In the UK I would go to a dealer to get the reassurance of a guarantee etc. Is it best to do the same in France or would we be paying over the odds?    Any advice on buying second-hand or indeed on the Peugeot Rapier or other estate cars would be appreciated.
  24. Looking into the rental agreements in France I realise that if I let out our village house in the Tarn under normal arrangements, we have to have tenants for 3 years and they have all sorts of rights (including right to buy!).  It's a lovely 3 bedroomed house and fully equipped but I want to let it out to people who are perhaps wanting to house-hunt in the area, or having building work done. We have a larger house half an hour away.  How should I advertise it though? The local press and estate agents only seem to cover those 3 year rentals.  So apart from advertising in Living France of course, how do I find those tenants?
  25. Hi, There are loads of Brits in the Tarn - I have heard it called Kensingtarn!  We have a house near Realmont and are working on one near Toulouse. Do tell us a bit about yourself and your family. Castres is a great town and I'm sure you must hear english voices at the market on a Saturday morning! I am looking for french classes in the area - have you heard of anything?
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