Jump to content

2 Families on the move


Recommended Posts

First off all hello to you all, please be gentle this is our first post  [:)].

We are two families that wish to sell ours houses in England and buy one property in France to which we would like to run a business from.

We will have no mortgage to worry about paying and a little bit left over to tide us over so to speak.

I have a few questions i hope you wont mind helping us out on ?

1: Can you still claim incapacity Benefit while living in France ?

2: Can you still claim Child Benefit ?

3: When we do take the plunge and move across the busnisess will take sometime to get of the ground so are we liable for any taxes and the like ?

4: We are two families so have 6 kiddies coming with us so education is uppermost in our minds, so is it right that you have to be resident to be able to get the kids into school?

5: im a little cofused as to all the taxes that everyone seems to mention on the forums, could someone please explain exactly what you do have to pay ?

Hope that is not to much to ask on a first visit [:)]

Thanks in advance.

Mr Riff

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 143
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Dear Mr Riff - or can I call you Raff?

Welcome to the forum. These are issues which have been discussed many times, and people may not want to go over topics they have covered many times in the past!

Can I suggest you use the 'Search' facility - the box is at the top right of the screen. It isn't great, but it may help you with basic info, and then you can refine your questions, rather than such a 'big ask' which would take pages to answer.

Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beat me to it, Dick.

Far better to search and then ask more specific questions, however it would help forum members to help you if they knew the type of business, your language proficiency or otherwise and the ages of the children involved.

It might be a good idea to start with property purchase where two families are involved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="riff_raff"]

We are two families that wish to sell ours houses in England and buy one property in France to which we would like to run a business from.

 

[/quote]

 

I would start with the laws surrounding inheriting property, what you are proposing sounds like a legal nightmare!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi ya Gang, and sorry to have asked the wrong thing.

We have been looking at threads but just cant get the proper answers.

The plan is to buy a property with a  lake ( have a friend that lived in France for years and knows the lake owner, and some of the ins and outs.) and advertize it mainly in the uk as a holiday venue for carp fishing, but also have day tickets availible for french german dutch etc

The ages of the children are 4,5,6 9,10,11

Language is not ideal but one we all will work on and also get private tutor once there.

Ok can we start where you advised?

Is there problems involved with a purcahse of property when two families are involved ? if so is this a UK legal problem or a French one?

Thanks in advance.

Mr Riff or Raff [:)]

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've no idea whether or not a joint purchase is easy or not (I suspect it may cause problems because of being uncommon practice) but the French inheritance laws are something you need to research and consider. Effectively, in the normal case, the children of the owners have equal inheritance rights. Where that goes when one person of the two families dies, or chooses to move away I dread to think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes we intend to move perminently, so does this rear anything ugly ?

We are very close friends and have been for years, myself (Mr Riff) and Mr Raff  [:D] have fished in France for over 15years so know most of what is needed to make the business grow (we hope).

Is it a bad thing to have your assetts governed by the French ?      we dont want to earn millions just want a better life for our children and to make a living through what we enjoy as a pastime.

Thanks all.

Mr Riff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just do a Google on "French inheritance law" and  you should find enough information to understand the basics, then imagine how much more complicated the situation would become if and when someone dies and a property is jointly owned by two families. This will possibly enable you to come back with some specific questions because, at the moment, I can't think of anyone on the forum who has done what you're planning to do. Without wishing to discourage you, what you propose (in terms of its legal implications over the long term) is probably being looked at by people and thought of as too complicated to contemplate, let alone explain, hence no-one's immediately jumping in with specific answers to your very vague and general questions!! It's a complex area, and as many people say on here, it's one where you almost certainly need to consider paying for professional advice to be certain of getting information that's totally appropriate to the scenario you are proposing. However, one thing is certain: if you want to move lock, stock and barrel to france and set up any sort of business, then the question of whether it's better to be governed by UK or French tax/inheritance law is academic. You don't have a choice. It'll be French.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"What are the pro,s and cons to have the French governing your assets ?"

Basically that under French inheritance law if one of you shuffles off this mortal coil the French state will take 60% of the value of what you leave unless you get things set up properly, and to do that is not very easy in a property jointly owned by people who are not blood relations. And running a business can make it worse. You need to quote the magic letters SCI (a property owning company) which should help in such circumstances, but most important of all you need good advice from somebody qualified to give it.

You also mention not paying tax while the business gets up and running. It's unlikely that you would have to pay a lot of tax as such, but what you will have to pay, regardless of whether the business makes money, are the cotisations - a sort of expensive equivalent of NI in Britain. Again, there are ways of limiting this, and again, you need professional advice.

Edit - Betty posted while I was writing this - glad we seem to agree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a lady on the forum last year that was trying to sell a property or buy out her friends' half and there were all sorts of complications ( and both parties were still alive). It was a friendship threatening and costly situation to be in.

I don't know how it all ended.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can i Just say thanks so far for your help, and i really do appreciate all the advise given so far, even if my questions are  "very vague and general questions!! " im sorry for that, i just thought that is what a forum was for, to ask those that may know....

So im off to google for a while and see what that comes up with....[:)]

Thanks.

Mr Riff [:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="riff_raff"]

Can i Just say thanks so far for your help, and i really do appreciate all the advise given so far, even if my questions are  "very vague and general questions!! " im sorry for that, i just thought that is what a forum was for, to ask those that may know....

So im off to google for a while and see what that comes up with....[:)]

Thanks.

Mr Riff [:D]

[/quote]

Sorry, I wasn't having a pop, it's just that unfortunately once you do know a bit about the subject you realise, as I said (and so did Will) that asking on a forum is all well and good, but no subsititute for professional advice. People can only give specific answers to specific questions and these answers will usually be based on personal experience. As you can see just by reading a few threads, personal experiences in France differ enormously, and in cases like this, a little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. There are a number of brilliant people on here who are ready, willing and qualified to give excellent professional advice on a range of subjects, but some things are just too complex and your situation looks like it could be one of those!! You need at least a solicitor qualified in French property law, and possibly a similarly qualified accountant to give you a full picture of what you're planning to take on and its implications, IMHO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In answer to the question about specific companies, the best thing is to talk to the notaire (French lawyer) handling the sale of the house . If you want information before buying, which would be a very good idea, then there are several specialist lawyers who advertise in the magazines. You can also google Headdon Consulting, and look on their forum, you can find out a lot there and the information is mostly reliable.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Ladies.

I have read the post that Beryl posted and can see the nightmare, but ....... you dont wanna hear this lol, we are still doing this [:)]

Im going to find a solicitor in french law tomorrow and arrange a meeting for us all to go to and see what can be done, if something can be done then its off to an accountant to sort that siad out, hows that sounding?

Thanks

Mr Riff [:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...