Mikep

Coming back to the original point, the standard "Mandat" contract allows the agent to sign the Compromis de Vente on your behalf at the (full) contract price, without prior reference to you - unless you have notified them by registered letter (recommandee avec accuse de reception) that the property has been sold elsewhere.

Just another thought - ask your (French) lawyer to insist on seeing a signed affidavit from the Belgians that they are ready to buy at the full price - and offer to sell it to them. If they accept, you're still in pocket, although you would have to pay out to the disappointed buyers.

It should be a warning to us all. The standard "Mandat non exclusivif" contract provides that they can sign a Compromis de Vente on your behalf without reference to you, provided it's at the full contract price (I checked ours). You were obliged to notify them in writing of the sale by registered letter with proof of reception to stop this happening. However, since you notified the Notaire first  and then the agent in writing, you at least have a case to argue. Try the Notaire first to see if he can act on your behalf. If not, I suggest that you will need your own lawyer (Avocat, not Notaire). Even if you back out of the sale and let the "Belgians" have it, you will be obliged to forfeit the amount of the deposit to the first buyers (not just return it!), so there could be a lot at stake. Alternatively, it might be worth offering the agents a lump sum to go away and leave you alone. It's blackmail, but may be cheaper than lawyers' fees.

I think you will find it's a demand for the first (of three) payments for the last tax year (2010, payable 2011). They use the previous year's tax as an estimate for the tax due in 2011, and ask for one third now. They will make a correction in your final payment later in the year once you have filled in your forms. I received a similar demand last week, exactly as in previous years.

Talking of which, check if you are still paying "trail commission" on your bonds - I was paying 0.5% every year and getting nothing for it. I wrote to CMI insurance who were quite happy to cancel the arrangement.

Freddy's right - if your (later) English will does not acknowledge and accept the existence of your (earlier) French will, then lawyers will reasonably assume that it invalidates it. It might not actually change any of the provisions, but it could cost a lot in fees to establish that!

If she's convinced it's her tree, why not let her pay to have it taken down? When there's money involved, timescales often stretch to infinity . . .

I use Bank of Scotland, Jersey and have found them very efficient. We were previously with HSBC Jersey who threatened to charge us heavily if we didn't keep a large amount in our current account. We told them to get s*****d and haven't regretted it.

We had a full set of "diagnostiques" done last September prior to putting our chalet on the market (energy, asbestos, natural and technological risks) for 365 euros. Electricity survey wasn't necessary as the property was less than 15 years old.We are 185 sq metres.

The most significant change (I think) is that there used to be an allowance before capital gains became declarable, and therefore taxable - you could sell up to (I think) 25,000 euros of value before you even had to make the calculations of gains. This was the "Seuil de Cessions" (ceiling of sale values). This has now been abolished - you have to declare everything sold right from the first euro, and all the gain is taxable. This can make any share dealing a nightmare.

Would it not be simpler (and much quicker) to ask the Maire for a short letter confirming that the Commune does not anticipate any legal action? I'm sure there is some period beyond which they cannot raise objections - unfortunately I don't know how long.

Most people retiring in France will need a sterling account for their pension to be paid into (UK State pensions can be paid in euros direct to a french account, but company and personal pensions usually can't). I haven't tried to run a sterling account with a french bank, but I imagine their charges would be even worse than for a euro account. You can't open a UK sterling account once you're here, but there's no problem keeping an existing one going indefinitely. I opened a sterling account in Jersey which works well, but is increasingly scrutinised whenever I make a transfer to France, so it's important to declare it and pay tax on any interest received (you should be so lucky!). You have to fill in a tedious two-page questionnaire (ref.3916) for each overseas account you hold, every year, so it's not a good idea to have too many separate accounts. There are heavy fines if you fail to declare any account, even if you don't use it or recieve interest. I was with HSBC in Jersey initially, but they wanted to levy excessive monthly charges unless we kept a high level of cash in our non-interest bearing current account. We moved to Bank of Scotland who have been excellent and with no silly restrictions. You have to go through all the anti-money laundering performance of course, with certified copies of documents, but I guess that's the same with any new account now.

Thanks for the correspondence, everybody. You just reminded me that I'm due a tax refund from HMRC - we've been resident in France for 14 years, but they taxed my pension from a former employer when it started in payment last year. The tax coding is all sorted now, but I'd forgotten to claim the refund - just hoped they would send it automatically. Some hope!

This is all getting a bit heated! Is it not the case that Annuity income is reduced by a significant percentage before tax is calculated, since a large part is considered repayment of capital? According to PKF Guernsey in 1998 (my copy of their book, since no doubt updated) the amount counted for tax goes from 70% at age under 50 when the annuity was taken out, down to 30% over age 69. Please don't rely on this, but by all means check the current situation for yourself.

Nothing too complicated! Code Etablissement = Bank sort code (eg 18106) Guichet = Branch code (5 digits) Releve d'Identite Bancaire = a slip showing the above details plus your account number and International codes (IBAN). Usually there are two or three in your chequebook for passing on to people who need your details to set up direct debits (prelevements) - for example, Tresor Public for your tax bills. There is also a two-digit "Clé RIB" tacked on after the end of your account number - don't know why.

Your biggest risk is adverse currency movements, whatever you choose to do. I'd be inclined to move half into euros, so whatever happens your glass is half full. I appreciate this is not logical (the glass will also be half empty) but it just feels better afterwards.

I notice on my Taxes Foncieres bill that a Taxe Ordures Menageres (dustbin tax) is now included, some 20% of the total. This used to be charged separately up to 2004. Might be one reason for the earlier increase? The back of the TF form tells you how to contest the total. We had a guy came round a few years back and camped in the Mairie, available to discuss and review valuations, and to come out and survey if necessary - he's probably who you would need to help contest the rateable value. I would suggest that you ask your local Mairie for help - the Tax office (and presumably hideous woman) only crunch the numbers and send the bills out. Might be worth making sure you're registered to vote in the local elections first - seems to help visibility!

A tontine seems to be recommended quite often, but as I understand it there is one big disadvantage - because the property passes to the spouse, you fail to use the childrens' tax-free allowance of 156,974 euros for each child on the first death, unless you have a substantial estate in addition to the property. If inheritance tax is likely to be an issue, you may be creating a bigger problem on the second death. As far as I can find, there is no "transferability" of allowance from fist death to second, as was introduced in UK a few years back. As usual, there's no substitute for understanding the rules yourself, even if it is horribly complicated!

p.s. Just opened the Autumn edition of Living France and there's a Bill Blevins article on this topic, which seems to support my view expressed above. If you read the article, be a bit careful about the QROPS topic - it lists all the good points, but there seem to be some disadvantages - being treated as annuity income for example saves you some income tax but this may be more than outweighed by the socialist contributions of 12%+. I have quite a reasonable pension income and my marginal income tax rate is only 14%, with no socialist contributions to pay.

Since it's tax free in UK, your pension provider has no need to inform UK Tax authorities. They in turn will therefore not need to inform French Tax authorities. In any case, it's a return of contributions, not income, so I don't think you have any liability to report it and cause unnecessary confusion to your Hotel des Impots. There was some talk a couple of years back about these sums becoming taxable in France, but AFAIK nothing came of it in the final law passed, so it's still seems slightly indeterminate. If you ask a French accountant, he will probably conclude that you should report it (since he will find nothing to say that you don't need to), but I would suggest keeping your head down -  I did on two occasions (two separate personal pensions) with no problem. If it's a big lump, it might be worth keeping it in sterling for a while, rather than turning up at your French bank with a big cheque. My bank (Credit Agricole) recently called me in to explain a transfer from me to myself! Luckily it was a well-documented annual pension payment which I have (of course) always declared for income tax. On your annual French tax return, personal pension payments (normal monthly or annual) go in box 1AS (or box 1BS for your spouse), and then do not attract Socialist Contributions.

This might be a simple answer to a question you haven't asked, but here goes anyway. If you're approaching retirement, bear in mind that your wife (assuming!) becomes entitled to her state pension at her age 60, and therefore is also entitled to an E121 then. You are also then included as her dependant whatever your age, and entitled to standard french health cover without having to pay contributions. Of course this is only partial cover (70% normally) and you will probably want top-up insurance, but this is much cheaper than private health insurance. By the way, you might need to change your nom de plume - your questions (and answers) are a long way from daft - I wish all UK immigrants were as well clued up!

There's an article in today's Dauphiné: http://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2010/09/01/le-pompage-se-poursuit-sur-le-glacier You might need to paste this into your browser's address bar. It looks like they're working on the problem!

Might be worth looking at other ski areas - we have lived in the Morzine/Chatel area for 14 years and love it. Since the highest mountains are only 2,450 metres, glaciers are just not a problem - but the area is plenty high enough for all winter (and summer) sports. I ski a full five months every year (Portes du Soleil area, 200+ lifts). I think you will find property cheaper here as well, although it's very dependent on position (walking distance of a ski lift adds 50% to prices).

I recently changed my computer, and couldn't get my head round transferring the certificate - so I just cancelled the old one (on the old machine) and asked for a new one on the new machine. Easy!

You two are being very English! Have a glass of wine and lighten up!