Loiseau Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 I went into my French bank today to ask about the mechanics of adding my daughter as a co-holder of my French current account, from which various standing orders etc go out for the running costs of my holiday cottage.My thought was that if I should drop dead, the account would not then be immediately shut down, and would continue in my daughter's name, so that the outgoing payments would continue (as long as she regularly topped up the account of course).The young man on the desk assured me that it was very simple, and would only require the two of us to go in with her passport and a UK utility bill to confirm her address. (I fully expected her to have to provide certificates for birth, marriage etc, but he assured me not.)He kept saying this was a "procuration", while I reiterated that it was to ensure the account continuing in her sole name in the event of my death.On reflection afterwards, I have been thinking that "procuration" is like UK power of attorney, in that it gives someone the power to sign for me in my absence or incapacity, but surely I would need to still be ALIVE.Can anybody put me right on this?Merci d'avanceAngelaPS. I am absolutely aware of the need for the account to be in the names of "Madame Loiseau OU Madame X" rather than "ET". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 As far as I am aware a 'procuration' is a proxy...not the same thing as a joint holder of an account, but perhaps it has the same effect, since it presumably allows the person who holds it to operate the account.I am not a banking expert however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Ah, I think I have just answered my own question, and I was right to be sceptical.https://www.lcl.com/guides-pratiques/succession-donation/heritage-succession/succession-blocage-comptes.jspShe needs to be a "co-titulaire" for the account to continue, and even then she has access to only half of what remains in the account - the other half being part of my estate.I presume she would be allowed to top up the account with more money, to which the EDF, water board, France Telecom, tax offices etc would still have access.I feel another visit to the bank coming on tomorrow...Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Thanks for the rapid reply, Norman, and I think you are quite right.It does make me cross that the staff can give you such wrong info on something so important.At the same time, I took in a "certificate of fiscal residence" from HMRC, which the bank had suddenly asked me for, and he didn't have a clue what to do with that until an older colleague popped by to tell him.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 However, I did have a word with my notaire the other day about using this as a means of splitting capital for estate duty purposes and he tells me that the fisc is now looking at the 'real' ownership of the funds. In other words you cant simply set up a joint account when the dosh essentially 'belongs' to one party and hope that this will get round estate duty.Not that any of us have the kind of funds that would make a difference, except perhaps Norman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 My tiny estate has already been inherited, in the sense that the nue propriété of my main 'barrel' is my son's and I am only usufruitier http://www.leparticulier.fr/jcms/p1_1579651/usufruitier-nu-proprietaire-qui-paie-quoiI set it up like that when I bought it in 1999, and he will simply inherit the usufruit as he already holds the other.At the same time I have a life ownership of the right to live in it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Loiseau said : It does make me cross that the staff can give you such wrong info on something so important. The problem seems to be that these bank branches are just agencies with many staff that are starting out therefore learning along the way. The really knowledgeable bods are locked away in some regional office somewhere. If your local agency staff do not have the nous to ring and consult an advisor about a request such as yours then the reply you will get from them is more or less a guess.We had a truly brilliant advisor a couple of years back and she could magically 'sort out' any snag/problem we threw at her.So, naturally, she was promoted and moved somewhere else after about 18 months.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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