Pads Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I have just read that now a expat can have his English will, as appose to having to leave to family like the french is this correct ? http://www.catharcountryinfo.com/index.php/business-a-property/business-finance-a-legal/136-legal-matters/1042-changes-to-inheritance-laws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 As this has been mentioned on here recently. Here is something to think about.Say a british couple have children in France, if the family stay and then that child will automatically be french even if they do nothing about nationality. So how would that family be affected? I love the idea that the rules became more liberal, but I would treat this with caution and if we still lived in France, would be getting plenty of good french legal advice and not from legal eagles in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 See the following thread:http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance/cs/forums/2700951/ShowPost.aspxEven if this were to happen, it will not affect the inheritance TAX position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsnips Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Hi, A properly drawn up and witnessed UK will has always been accepted as a legal instrument in France. But only those provisions which did not conflict with french law would be enacted-the notaire would try to comply with the spirit of the will, within french rules. Under the new proposal , it appears that things won't be much different in fact. (If the UK signs up) A french resident of UK origin could make an english will dealing with his worldwide estate and leaving it to whom he wished , BUT (if you read the technical papers dealing with this) french forced heirship rules ,and inheritance taxes would still apply, so apart from making life easier for lawyers, not much would change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 [quote user="parsnips"]Hi, A properly drawn up and witnessed UK will has always been accepted as a legal instrument in France. But only those provisions which did not conflict with french law would be enacted-the notaire would try to comply with the spirit of the will, within french rules. Under the new proposal , it appears that things won't be much different in fact. (If the UK signs up) A french resident of UK origin could make an english will dealing with his worldwide estate and leaving it to whom he wished , BUT (if you read the technical papers dealing with this) french forced heirship rules ,and inheritance taxes would still apply, so apart from making life easier for lawyers, not much would change. [/quote] So how would that affect UK residents who own French property? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsnips Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Hi, Where a UK resident owns a french house the UK/France Double Tax Treaty gives France the right to "first dibs" with inheritance tax, then if the UK taxable estate is liable to UK IHT (ie over the tax-free limit) the UK has to give credit for french IHT paid before taxing the french house. The new proposals would not ,as far as I can see , change that. The french house would pass under the UK will , but only a french notaire could transfer ownership to the beneficiaries and heirs whether they were UK or french residents. If , as the proposals state, national forced heirship and IHT would not be affected then the notaire would ensure that the reserved heirs got their legal shares (if they were not also the beneficiaries named in the will), while any named beneficiaries -distant relatives or non-relatives-- would share what was left of the house value , and pay the appropriate french IHT---just like now! If the testator died UK resident , then only the french sited real-estate is subject to french IHT. This would be important if the beneficiaries were french resident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJT Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 I have been reading for a while now that there is an EU directive that will allow a person to choose the country of origin or domicile for inheritance purposes. I thought it had been put forward in France and was recently voted on but not passed yet?I know some papers get things wrong but how can the Connexion get their front page story so wrong? If this is true perhaps we should see a correction for their totally incorrect front page article? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Thanks for the answer Parsnips, so it seems that nothing changes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsnips Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 [quote user="WJT"] I have been reading for a while now that there is an EU directive that will allow a person to choose the country of origin or domicile for inheritance purposes. I thought it had been put forward in France and was recently voted on but not passed yet?I know some papers get things wrong but how can the Connexion get their front page story so wrong? If this is true perhaps we should see a correction for their totally incorrect front page article?[/quote]Hi, I stopped reading the Connexion some time ago, so have not seen their article. I have based my comments on the official EU publications :europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/150at=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=eneuropa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/917&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=eneuropa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1551&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en Edited to make links live - RHI assume that the Connexion must have used the same sources.Perhaps they should rename it the "Correxion"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The title of this thread infers that english wills are not accepted in France and are the exception to the rule. The correct wording is accepted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 We just went thru this.. our case is simple wife and husband No kids.. but a living mother.. We have a french will , leaving our french house to each other.. what happens when we both head for the pearly gates ? The English will takes over and is recognised .. The French will was drawn up by the french notaire, who as he laughed , tore up our simplified hand written one.. which I thought would do the trick at no cost..! . The invoice follows !!!! I have so much to learn !!! Bill ps I should add, at this point I will be beyond caring about who gets what ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsnips Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 [quote user="Bill"]We just went thru this.. our case is simple wife and husband No kids.. but a living mother.. We have a french will , leaving our french house to each other.. what happens when we both head for the pearly gates ? The English will takes over and is recognised .. The French will was drawn up by the french notaire, who as he laughed , tore up our simplified hand written one.. which I thought would do the trick at no cost..! . The invoice follows !!!! I have so much to learn !!ps I should add, at this point I will be beyond caring about who gets what ! Hi, You should each give some thought to making wills for who you want to inherit from the survivor, after the first death. Bear in mind that distant or non-relatives pay very high inheritance taxes--but recognised charities don't. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Bill, there is nothing wrong with hand written french wills, as long as it is done properly, nothing at all. If it wasn't done properly then the notaire should have torn it up, I hope that they were not taking the mickey.Care, well, the only thing I'd care about was the state getting the lot, or most of it. That would make me make sure that they didn't. I have no idea how all this will play out, but the french govt often get a decent amount of death tax, and will they really want to give it up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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