CHANGE NAME OF DEEDS

[Chatty Cathy]

Both my husbands my name is on the deeds and mortgage of our french property, but I pay the mortage.  My husband owns a limited company which is currently experincing a few problems.  Because of this reason and to protect our asset we would like to change the deeds and mortgage into my name only.  Does anyone know how I would go about doing this and how much it would cost or where to get assistance from.

[Will]

You are entering a very complex area of French law.

You don't say if you are permanently resident in France or if the company is based in France or elsewhere.

Changing the registered names of the owners of a house, and the holders of a mortgage, would need to be done through a notaire, probably the same one that handled the transaction when you originally bought the house. It's possible, but not cheap, and can take time, which it sounds as though you may not have. The value of the house and the amount of the mortgage will govern the cost. 

But changing names may not by itself protect your home in the case of the business failing - you would need further professional legal advice.

It may not be necessary to do anything though. It is possible, when setting up a French business, to do so in a way that if it fails, the family home is protected against creditors - might this apply in your case? Another way of safeguarding the home, which was sometimes done by French people before the simpler procedure mentioned above was introduced, was to change their marriage regime to 'séparation de biens'. It so happens that an English marriage is regarded under French law as being a 'séparation de biens'. It also happens that for a while, it was the done thing, again before a change to succession law, for people married in England but buying a house in France to elect for the standard French marriage regime (communauté universelle). If you did not do that, you may be safe. But you definitely need to check with a lawyer because there are so many possible variables, and something you do to protect your home could have a bearing on other things like inheritance and vice versa.

Notaires deal with legal matters concerning deeds and other legal documentation, so this is one case where you do need the services of a notaire rather than an avocat. Notaires basically work for the government so their fees are controlled, and costs will vary little between notaires. Initial consultations are generally free. But information given by notaires is not always reliable, so it always pays to consult more than one.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

To give an idea, it's costing me 3% of the value of my property to get my wife's name off the deeds in our divorce.

Talk about money for old rope.

[woolybanana]

Wouldn't have been cheaper to put out a contract on her, then?

[Anton Redman II]

My first action would be to see a solicitor in the part of the UK in which you are resident. If a UK limited company fails in most circumstances Director's liabilities are limited to any gurantees they gave to banks in respect of compnay borrowing and or guarantees to individual suppliers. What you are proposing may be either ineffective or unnessesary depending on particular circumstances.

[Chatty Cathy]

Will

My husband's company is in England.  We brought the apartment as an investment because my husband at the time of purchase was a self employed builder with no pension.  My husband and his partner owe the tax and VAT man quite a considerable amount of money and have been told by their accountant that they will need to inform the Tax man of all their personnel assets as he will want to recoup some of the money that they owe him.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Wouldn't have been cheaper to put out a contract on her, then?[/quote]

The recession has rendered house prices lower than hitman prices :)

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"][quote user="woolybanana"]Wouldn't have been cheaper to put out a contract on her, then?[/quote]

The recession has rendered house prices lower than hitman prices :)
[/quote]So you've checked then?.....

[Will]

As it's an English company, and you are presumably UK resident, I would agree with the above advice about seeing an English solicitor at least to begin with. It would be advisable to find one with some knowledge of French law, because there may be implications. You will find several advertising in the French property magazines, or a Google search will bring up some names.

Whether changing the deeds at this stage will prevent HMRC getting their hands on it I don't know, but a solicitor will.

 

 

[Russethouse]

[quote user="Chatty Cathy"]

Will

My husband's company is in England.  We brought the apartment as an investment because my husband at the time of purchase was a self employed builder with no pension.  My husband and his partner owe the tax and VAT man quite a considerable amount of money and have been told by their accountant that they will need to inform the Tax man of all their personnel assets as he will want to recoup some of the money that they owe him.

[/quote]

  Are they a limited company ?  If not can't the accountant broker a more palatable repayment arrangement ?

[Anton Redman II]

My original advice still stands but without knowing the maths involved it is very hard to comment

[AnOther]

I can only urge you to be both careful and circumspect in your dealings with the tax authorities. Whether the French property is at risk in the situation or not wilful non disclosure of material facts or dubious transferring of assets could land you with far more grief than an unpaid tax bill.