Naughty Notaire?

[MF]

My Aunt has lived in Paris for 36 years, retaining her British citizenship. In 2006 it came to her attention that her marriage to my Uncle in Scotland in 1963 may pose some problems with regards French marital law. She therefore consulted a Notaire who suggested the correct way to overcome any future problems was to draw up a document which he referred to as a Donation Entre Epoux. One of these was drawn up for both my Aunt and Uncle and signed in front of the Notaire. They were informed at this point that there would be no further problems under French Succession Law as, in the event of either one passing, the other would inherit all the assets including the family home. The Notaire suggested at the time to contact him in the event of the death of either my Aunt or Uncle.

Since the death of my Uncle 5 months ago my Aunt seems to be caught up in a bureaucratic  nightmare as the same Notaire is only now saying that he cannot proceed any further with settling my Uncle’s estate as my Aunt doesn’t have a Certificat de Coutume.

As it is impossible to get a Certificat de Coutume as my Uncle has died, how can my Aunt quickly resolve the fact that French Law does not seem to recognise that Certificate de Coutume does not exist in the UK?

The period to reclaim succession in France is 6 months after death. Time is therefore running out for my Aunt who is shell shocked that the Notaire has been unable to solve this legal barrier. Especially has he previously advised there would be no problems if a Donation Entre Epoux was arranged.

 

Any suggestions of help would be most welcome!

 

 

[Clair]

There is a document you can download on the British Embassy page. It may help.

http://ukinfrance.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/living-in-france/marriageinfrance

[MF]

Thanks Clair - I called the Foreign & Common Wealth office today and was put through to the Consulate Protection Desk. They gave me the details for the British Consulate in Paris. My Aunt has previoulsy called them and did so again today. They can't help her directly but gave her a list of Notaires to contact....she'd tried this previously and gave up. However this time she was succesful and fingers crossed will get better advice this time. Thank you very much for taking your time to respond. I'm sure many expats must have experienced similar issues and would love to hear from anyone who has had same experience.