Moulin Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 My wife and I are in the process of separating and own a property in France that we bought ‘en Tontine’ about 5 years ago. We have been advised by our Notaire that we will be liable for a heavy tax bill when the property is transfer to sole ownership.Does anyone know a way of avoiding, or at least minimising, this bearing in mind that a divorce on the ground of Separation, which is quite amicable, will not be granted for 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 What taxes are these supposed to be? I do know that placing the house in a sole name is a very costly business without taxes per se. Our neighbours have just done it. They separated in spring and sorted the house out within a couple of months. They too, won't be divorcing for quite some time. Contrary to what Will the Conq mentioned recently, divorce would seem to be in epidemic proportions around here at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moulin Posted November 16, 2004 Author Share Posted November 16, 2004 Teamedup, The Notaire has limited experience of ‘en Tontine’ transactions but believes that it will be classified as a complete sale and new purchase, not just a transfer of half the property. So, as we’ve done considerable renovation and extension, including the purchase of a small adjoining piece of land about 2 years ago, we will be liable for ‘Capital Gains Tax’ as well as ‘Stamp Duty’ on the full value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 I think you should consider getting a notaire that has dealt with such cases before. I'm not sure how the tontine clause will affect this either. Sometimes things aren't dealt with as one imagines and divorce can bring all sorts of things out of the wood work........ Good luck and I hope that you don't end up paying too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Having just had a very interesting conversation with our Notaire on the tax implications of one of us doing the 'clog popping' routine, en Tontine is best if you live in an area of low house prices as we do. She had the books, the calculations and all the rest to hand on her desk but had not had any prior warning of what our questions were going to be about (and there was also no charge as we did not need to do anything).Find a Notaire who knows their job and can answer the questions fully - we came away with actual figures based on our view of the price of our barn when completely converted. Not too scary and nothing much to worry about. I suppose not being that rich has its advantages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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