le rouge Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 My Mother is French but lives in England and has done so for 50 years now. She still has a house in France which she has told me I can do what I like with as it will be mine eventually. A few years ago I forked out for a new roof and did minor indoor re-decorating. I am now thinking about doing major alterations inside which would cost me about £20,000. New bathroom, knocking walls down, new windows and doors etc.I cant stop thinking that the house isnt really mine. I am there a lot either working on the house or supervising others working on small jobs but now that there are large jobs to be undertaken I wonder whether or not I am doing the right thing. I know I should have thought about this before re-doing the roof but that just needed doing as it was leaking badly!I have taken early retirement, get no pension yet and dont want to move to France permanently. Are there any legal implications I need to think about? Does anyone foresee any problems that I may have over-looked? I have looked into inheritance tax and am prepared for that although the house will never be worth a fortune! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I would talk to a notaire, but as far as I know, property in France will be dealt with under French inheritance laws (even though she is domiciled in the UK) - but I could be wrong. However, assuming that I am not, then her French property would be divided equally amongst her children and there would be nothing anybody could do about that (and you would be liable for inheritance tax also - so any value you add to the property now would impact on that, so you need to be a little careful, imo). So your major worry would be if you have siblings, who would inherit a portion of the property, no matter how much you have spent on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le rouge Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Thanks Cooperlola. I have always understood that it would be dealt with under French Inheritance law. My Mum's French will is with the Notaire in the town. I have a sister but she is contributing towards costs anyway so we will basically share the property. She has no children and I have 2. The intention is that my children will get the house eventually and she doesnt have a problem with that and needless to say I dont either.Yes it is worrying that the more I spend on it, the more valuable it becomes therefore the more tax has to be paid. However the rates are pretty good and the lower limit is pretty high and I am not sure it would actually cost us a lot. Luckily we are a close family and therefore do not see any problems on that score. Just hope I havent overlooked something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ams Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Why not treat the expenditure as a formal loan against the property. Then when the property is distributed the loan is repaid out of the sale, or if no sale deducted from the value for tax purposes. ams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 The above post makes sense to me. Doing nothing seems like a bad idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 [quote user="le rouge"]Luckily we are a close family and therefore do not see any problems on that score. [/quote]Sadly, Le Rouge, even the closest of families can fall out over inheritance. It's best to get things straight now, whilst your Mum is still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinabee Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 You could ask you mum to consider making a donation of the property to you and your sister. The tax free limits for donations have recently increased with the increases on inheritance tax allowances. If you google "donation partage" you should find some useful info. If not, email me and I will send you a link.TB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEO Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 First step;My first port of call would be to visit your own family solicitor in England and take your mum with you .He is likely to advise you both as to the best way forward, which may give you both peace of mind .kind regards,Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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