robkat Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 A friend of mine who lives in France has told me that ex stepchildren can inherit a share in the french property. I find this hard to believe (my husband & I own a house in France but live in the UK at the moment). I had 3 step children who I never met & who probably did not even know about me! My ex is now dead & I have no idea where his children are (they are all in their 50's now). Can anyone enlighten me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 No, they cannot. They are not a blood relative of the deceased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robkat Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Phew! That's put my mind at rest. Anyway I thought that was the case & will let my friend know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 EDIT: Robkat, I have only just realised that you might now have a second husband who is still alive? What I say below would only apply if your first husband (now deceased) owned the French property with you at the time of his death.If it is only with your present husband that you bought the French property, then of course there is NO way your ex stepchildren would inherit.END EDITYour stepchildren should have inherited their share when their father died, as they were HIS children.This happened to me, when my husband died. The notaire then strongly advised me to buy them out of their shares at the same time, so that the house (a holiday home) would be entirely mine to keep or sell in the future, as I wished. However, in our case, we all have very frequent and amicable contact, plus we were in the process of selling one of two adjoining cottages, so luckily it was not too hard to find the buyout money. And things are simplified now, with the remaining house being solely in my name.I don't know what happens if you did not go through that inheritance process after the death of your husband. (I expect it was traumatic enough to deal with, without trying to track the stepchildren down.) Was the property you held then formally transferred to you, without any mention being made of his having children? I expect somebody will be along soon to give you advice on whether you should stir up the process, or let it lie. [8-)]On YOUR death, only your OWN children would inherit. In my case, I should have liked my property equally divided among my daughter and stepchildren, but under French inheritance law that cannot happen; only my daughter will get it.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I think that the thing with the poster is 'ex' step children, so the 'ex' spouses would hopefully have settled all their financial dealings at the point of divorce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Thanks idun; see amendment above! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 LoiseauIt was my understanding that you can legally adopt your step children (even though not blood relative) and even at the adult age. This then puts them on a level with your own children.It might be worth looking into to see if my understanding is correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I have asked about that, andyh, and was told No (not sure if it's something to do with them, too, being in their 50s now). But I am about to tackle a new lawyer, so will ask again.Thanks for the suggestion.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote user="andyh4"]It was my understanding that you can legally adopt your step children (even though not blood relative) and even at the adult age. This then puts them on a level with your own children. It might be worth looking into to see if my understanding is correct.[/quote]The same advice has been mentioned to us in the past. Apparently, as there are many second marriages in France, adoption of step-children is much more common here than in the UK; where, of course, you can leave your worldly goods to whom you like.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judie Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote user="andyh4"]LoiseauIt was my understanding that you can legally adopt your step children (even though not blood relative) and even at the adult age. This then puts them on a level with your own children.It might be worth looking into to see if my understanding is correct.[/quote]According to 2 notaires in our area, this is only available to people from countries where their laws allow the adoption of adult children, which is not the case in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Ah, that probably explains it, Judie. Thanks for that.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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