woolybanana Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 There is currently a commission trying to find out what needs to be done to make France a more innovatory country (simplification or regulations, more flexible administrations etc). The chairman commented that France is not naturally innovatory when it comes to acquiring wealth but more concerned with heritage (inherited wealth) as a means of acquiring it. He has surely got a point when one considers the emphasis on property inheritance and the sheer complexity of the system. (And the reluctance to part with property too, to the extent of leaving it to fall into decrepitude rather than sell).The word patrimoine is often used I have noticed, which also indicates an attitude to acquisition.As does the whole notaire system which strikes me as being almost exclusively concerned with the ramifications of acquisition.This little article which is about French owned second homes would seem to bear this out.http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfieldrsquos-france-in-the-land-where-everyone-is-at-home-in-their-maison-secondaire-1765908.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Interesting article - quite how you go about acquiring wealth by inheritance is a mystery to me.Vive la France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 You marry it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Or work damned hard to get it, and keep it, and then pass it to your kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I'm interested in what you re saying, as we are in the middle of an inheritance in my family.Please could you explain a bit more what you find strange about " the French way " .. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Well, the Germans and the Scandinavians appear innovation based and less obsessed with 'passing it on' to the next generation. Whereas, everything in France is owned and labelled and has its inheritors; to sell it off and break the line would somehow not be right. And then there are the discussions over bits and pieces, the disputes over property which waste so much energy and resources.It seems that the older the inheritance in terms of generations, the more respectable it is, and that this gives a sense of respectability to the ownersIf the energy spent in achieving inheritance was spent on innovation, France alone could get to Mars in a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 [quote user="woolybanana"] obsessed with 'passing it on' to the next generation. [/quote]Well, I don't know if I am obsessed by it, I wouldn't say so, but I know I'd pass away in peace if I knew I was leaving something behind for my son.I thought all nations were the same.. [blink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 [quote user="Frenchie"][quote user="woolybanana"] obsessed with 'passing it on' to the next generation. [/quote]Well, I don't know if I am obsessed by it, I wouldn't say so, but I know I'd pass away in peace if I knew I was leaving something behind for my son.I thought all nations were the same.. [blink][/quote]And if you don't have a son (for male read also female) to leave your property to? Now that's when the French system falls down, as I know only too well. I feel quite insulted that if I were to leave what is left to my sister, she will be penalised. Since she is about as close a blood relative as you could get (we are triplets), it is an insult to me for the French system to say that I cannot treat her as my own family (of which I have none). Because of this, her children are also my "next" generation.Everyone likes to leave something for the next generation, but in England this can be done in many different ways (including giving to charity) without the penalties imposed by France.[And, before anyone posts to say that there are ways round this - I know there are, and I have used them, but here I am talking about the principle rather than the practice.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just john Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I have been told that a strong part of this desire to own property in the country, stems from a desire to have a burial place in the village graveyard? However our experience was different, inasmuch as the father had passed on and the property had been inherited equally by the Son who lived in Paris and the Mother who had been moved into a retraite. The little Sisters of mercy had laid claim to the son for Mothers upkeep and he had refused, saying let her sell the property, which she did; unfortunately for her, the loving son insisted that the executor's passed his share on to him, he didn't even attend the signing which was done by the executor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Yes, the Sisters of Mercy have good accountants, almost as tough as the RSPCA I am told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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