Inheritance for step children

[Brian]

We are purchasing a property in France with a view to a permanent move later in the year. We are getting married (next week) and are about to sign the compromis de vente. We understand the principle of the'donation entre epoux' to protect each other in the event of one of us popping our clogs before the other. However I have one son (aged 26) and my future wife has two children (aged 19 and 16) all three by previous marriages and we need advice on how to ensure they get a third each once we both have gone. Can we have a 'separation de biens' with assets divided two thirds to my wife and one third to me? If so do we have to have a pre-marital contract  drawn up in England or can it be sorted in France when we sign the acte de vente. We have contacted a notaire but cannot get to see him until after we are married. Can adult children be adopted in France as this may be an answer?

 

[Debra]

[quote user="Brian"]

 Can we have a 'separation de biens' with assets divided two thirds to my wife and one third to me? [/quote]That's the way we've done it and we're in exactly the same situation (except our children are young).  The only thing we're not sure of is the change of law to make sure all spouses have a share in an estate - we're not clear on whether spouses in second marriages remain excluded from this where there are children from a prevous marriage.  If they are, we may have to have a document each which says we agree to give up our rights to the spouses share.

[Suze01]

[quote user="Brian"]

Can adult children be adopted in France as this may be an answer?

 

[/quote]

It doesn't really answer the question, but for info our notaire told us  that for French families (not available for étrangers) it is possible to adopt your step children without them having to renounce their birth parent, so in effect they legally have two sets of parents.

[Coco]

That's right Suze - we came up against the same problem when my step-dad tried to adopt me in order to avoid me having to pay 60% inheritance tax on anything he may leave me.  Although we were told by one of these "English lawyers specialising in French law" firms in the UK that it was possible I was later told by a French avocat in London and a notaire here in France that it wasn't possible.  So now it seems that if my step-dad outlives my mum it will be the French government who is the biggest beneficiary. [:@]

[Brian]

Thanks Debra for your reply. Its reassuring to know this can be done, was this something you were able to do in France when signing for your house or did you have to have a contract drawn up in England before you moved over(.pre-nuptuial or something like that)? We're concerned as we're getting married on Wednesday and are wondering if we need to get something  drawn up before this. We've been in touch with the notaire but are still waiting for a reply we can understand.

[Debra]

We just put it in the final contract with the correct percentages (ie the notaire did).  I understand the default French marriage regime covers it, as it is assumed that whatever you own individually remains owned by you individually.  We explained why we wanted to do this to the notaire and they were quite happy as it fits in with their general view/way of doing things - ie arranging for the kids to inherit equally rather than trying to deprive them of any inheritance, as they more usually expect from British people.

[Debra]

Just a thought - I see you said 'after you have both gone' - you need to be sure that the notaire agrees that you can will the usufruct to each other, separate from the physical property (which goes to the kids) upon the first death.  I believe this to be allowable under the new rules (since 2004) but I haven't checked it with a notaire as yet because we're not yet living in France and at the moment, have no problem if our properties go direct to the children upon the first death and are then jointly owned between the survivor and the children.  However, once one of them becomes our main home this will be an aspect we need to sort out via a will (or risk one of us being chucked out of our home or forced to sell it by the other's kids - or their other parent - after the first one of us goes). 

The question you need to ask is: "if we buy this property in the proportions one third to two thirds, can each of us leave the usufruct of our proportion to the surviving spouse when we each have children from a prior marriage." 

Someone else once mentioned that you can also gift the usufruct - or buy the physical property and the usufruct in each other's names in the first place (ie you own your share and the other's usufruct and vice versa) - but if I remember correctly, their notaire said this couldn't be done as it was meant to deliberately disinherit the children.  It might just depend upon the notaire!  The other way mentioned previously is to buy the physical property in the proportions you want but buy the usufruct en tontine together - but again some notaire's may have a problem with this.

Please let me know what the notaire says!!

[Brian]

Thanks to everyone that replied, particularly Debra who asked me to let her know how we got on at the notaire. We've just returned from  France after a meeting with our notaire and the solution to our problem is fairly straight forward. We are to own the house in one third, two thirds split as we thought which will enable all 3 kids to inherit one third each and we are to have a reciprocal donation entre epoux which gives us both a lifetime interest in the house on the death of the other which means the remaining partner can stay in the house until they die. The new law which allows the remaining spouse to inherit  automatically can be waived, as in this case it complicates matters. The notaire can help you do this when he prepares your wills, it seems you can agree to disinherit each other. The overriding factor is that this is fair to all 3 kids but the surviving spouse cannot be kicked out of the marital home.