communauté universelle - can I trust the notaire?

[Blodwyn]

Still concerned! We went to the notaire who dealt with our house purchase and said we want to leave everything to each other, and our sons will inherit everything when we are both gone. I said we understood that if we do nothing, when one of us dies our sons will inherit two thirds. The house is en tontine but we also have a UK house. He said no, if we do nothing the survivor will inherit. I also asked if our sons need to sign their agreement to the CU as they will not inherit anything when the first of us dies. He said not necessary. (Another notaire said it was necessary and that we'd have to revoke the tontine.) We paid 400 euros and were told the document would be sent. A couple of months later we were emailed to say they had not charged us for advertising and another 170 euros was required. When I pointed out we'd not received the document, they emailed it. When I printed it out to read, I saw they had my birth year wrong, putting it the same as my husband's. As he's been so ill recently, I haven't got round to doing anything. I really don't feel confident in this notaire! I don't know how to check if all has been done correctly and it worries me. Other Brits have had problems when a spouse died and they thought they had sorted the inheritance. I know we could have an English will made, but then it would have to be officially translated and how would we make it official in France?

[parsnips]

Hi,

   I don't quite understand your position ; if you bought in tontine then the house definitely goes to the surviving spouse .   You mention communauté universelle - are you already in it , or considering changing from your UK marriage contract?    A better option is to change to UK law;    to be certain of the survivor getting everything , you can each  make a french will declaring your opting for UK succession law; then put in the will whatever you wish.   It sounds like your notaire is not up to much.  If you are not too far from the Dordogne , I suggest you contact Mê Desautel in Aubeterre  who specialises in UK will options.

NOTAIRE

Alexandre DESAUTEL

PLACE DU CHAMP DE FOIRE

16390 - AUBETERRE-SUR-DRONNE

Téléphone : 05.45.98.58.80

Fax : 05.45.98.59.37

Courriel : [email protected]

Langue(s) étrangère (s) :

Anglais

[Blodwyn]

Hi, thanks Parsnips. Yes, my post was a bit confusing! I did say we paid and the document was emailed - meaning the CU. We decided on that rather than an English will which would have to be translated anyway and a notaire would still be involved. Also some notaires are not up to speed on the 2015 law - as a friend found recently when his wife died. My concern is that if the CU is not correct and also if our kids should have been asked to agree to not getting their inheritance till the second of us dies, it will be useless and French law will take its course. I don't know how or if it's possible to check that a notaire has done things correctly. We have already paid 400 euros and have been asked for more as he forgot 'the advertising'.

[parsnips]

Hi,

    It all depends on how you get on with your children.   If well, and there are none from a previous relationship , no problem ; if not, under french law step children can contest the "attribution integrale" to get their reserved part.

[Blodwyn]

No step children, or CU would not have been the choice. No problems with the children but I worry that they should have been asked to sign. Otherwise they might have to formally reject their inheritance when the first of us dies, which would be hard for them as they aren't well off.

[EuroTrash]

As I understand it, as long as you have the "attribution intégrale" clause, everything goes to the surviving partner. The children would be entitled to nothing on the death of the first partner, so no inheritance to refuse. Never heard of the children having to sign anything to agree to this clause, they have no right of veto over their parents' decision on this.

The obvious drawback would be if it's a high value property, because the kids would only get one tax free allowance if they inherit in one lump, whereas if they inherit half on the death of the first partner and the other half on the death of the second partner, they get the tax free allowance on both occasions.

[Blodwyn]

Thanks Eurotrash. Yes, the first notaire I spoke to did mention that the kids could have more tax to pay. But she was also the one who mentioned revoking the Tontine and getting signatures. Our property is not worth much and as I understand it, the children get 100k euros tax free, but if there is still a UK house that would take it over 200. The problem for them would be not having the money to pay the tax!