Avoid becoming elderly and ill in France

[alittlebitfrench]

2 hours ago, DaveLister said:

My OH died 5 years ago. No funeral plan. The total cost including cremation came to a little over 2,400 euros.

They forgot to tick the cremation box on their plan.

Now the body has to be transported from Nantes to Burgundy to be buried with her parents. All within one week. That is the law.

That means also opening and existing grave to put the coffin in.

Very expensive stuff .

That said, you can’t transport ashes by yourself interdepartmental in France. So it done by funeral people if you are going outside the department.

 

[alittlebitfrench]

8 minutes ago, Lori said:

If you don't want all the furniture can you donate to an organization who would come take it off your hands ?  We did that with 50% of our goods when we moved from Bédoin.  Took quite a few phone calls to find organizations that would come take it, but we did in the end.

** This was to give it all away, not to sell it.

This is 7 floors up in the sky with a lift designed only for people. That means the stairs….and limited parking downstairs for a truck. The furniture is not worth anything. Although it is quality stuff.

We are talking a very high flat.

Edited July 24 by alittlebitfrench

[alittlebitfrench]

4 hours ago, NormanH said:

Thanks. As I have said before always look at links to official sources rather than wild rambling rants

Just telling you about the real world out there Norman. Official sources is not the real world. It is just a website to spin you.

Like everything else.

 

[menthe]

3 hours ago, anotherbanana said:

Getting bulky objects in and out or high flats is usually done using an external lift which takes the thing right to the road outside. Seen it done many times in Belgium.

Yes, seen that done in Clifton in Bristol, a grand piano, winched up and delivered through the window.  Mind you, if the window were too small, you might have to enlarge the opening.

[DaveLister]

4 minutes ago, alittlebitfrench said:

Just telling you about the real world out there Norman

And I am also quoting real world experience. It is perfectly possible to have a reasonably priced funeral in France without a funeral plan.

I'm sorry you've been left with such a mess ALBF but your experience is not universal.

[alittlebitfrench]

11 minutes ago, DaveLister said:

And I am also quoting real world experience. It is perfectly possible to have a reasonably priced funeral in France without a funeral plan.

I'm sorry you've been left with such a mess ALBF but your experience is not universal.

Of course it is not universal, I agree with you on that point. 

I just wanted to give everyone on the forum and those looking to move to France a snapshot into ´real’ French life and the costs involved in staying in an ehpad and death afterwards. It is not cheap or easy to organise for those dealing with the issues. You need a command of French and able to handle the administration.

Make a plan. Have a plan…because it will be a nightmare for others to pick up the pieces afterwards.

In our case….this is just one of four. Three more to go.

I would say on a final point, emptying flats and houses is the hardest thing. Especially when they are so far from where you live. The medical stuff and funeral arrangements is hard and expensive…..but the aftermath is more so. If you know what I mean.

Funeral tomorrow. 4 hour drive.

 

 

[NormanH]

I  have plenty of experience of coping with the real difficulties of  being old and ill as I explained in my earlier post. The difference  is that I have both first-hand experience and a command of the administration  that I can demonstrate through references to official sources. I am not interested in spinning unsubstantiated  tales or making wild attention-seeing assertions. I have enough   do  coping with reality.

[alittlebitfrench]

12 hours ago, NormanH said:

I  have plenty of experience of coping with the real difficulties of  being old and ill as I explained in my earlier post. The difference  is that I have both first-hand experience and a command of the administration  that I can demonstrate through references to official sources. I am not interested in spinning unsubstantiated  tales or making wild attention-seeing assertions. I have enough   do  coping with reality.

You have first hand experience of French family dying ? First hand experience of viewing, signing for an ehpad for another person in a different region of France ? Booking medical taxis to transfer the patient on a 7 hr journey. Speeking to doctors and nurses concerning their end of life care. Speeking funeral directors to arrange a funeral and mass in one region then have the body transfered to another to be buried ? Sorting out their possessions ? The administration…..which never ends. Canceling a phone contract, internet contract, peage contract and all the rest. Dealing with a dementia patient who has no idea what is going on. Finding them a place to live. Visiting them everyday, shopping for them. Finding them a doctor, dentist, eye specialist. Finding them a neurologist.
 

This has been a full time job since January.

You are a very rude person.

[DaveLister]

You're going through a tough time at the moment ALBF but let's be civil please. There are many people on this forum with a wealth of experience and talents. As I've already said yours is not the universal truth. I've lived in France for 22 years and my experience is bound to be different to yours and Normans however do you honestly think there is no one else out there that has had to do the things that you are having to do at this moment? Administration ha!! Try going through probate in three different tax jurisdictions when every tax lawyer you contact refuses to touch it. Also trust me, arranging for remains to travel between departments is nothing compared with trying to take them out of the country. Frankly in my experience, when it came to coping with the death of my OH, the French end was a doddle.

None of that negates any of the difficulties you are going through at the moment. I truly am sorry for your loss and I hope the day goes as well as possible for you under the circumstances.

Let's just try to cool the temperature everyone.

[betise]

5 hours ago, alittlebitfrench said:

You have first hand experience of French family dying ? First hand experience of viewing, signing for an ehpad for another person in a different region of France ? Booking medical taxis to transfer the patient on a 7 hr journey. Speeking to doctors and nurses concerning their end of life care. Speeking funeral directors to arrange a funeral and mass in one region then have the body transfered to another to be buried ? Sorting out their possessions ? The administration…..which never ends. Canceling a phone contract, internet contract, peage contract and all the rest. Dealing with a dementia patient who has no idea what is going on. Finding them a place to live. Visiting them everyday, shopping for them. Finding them a doctor, dentist, eye specialist. Finding them a neurologist.
 

This has been a full time job since January.

You are a very rude person.

I sympathise with your predicament ALBF, I have first hand experience of almost all of that, with my mother, step father and parents in law.  The worst is dealing with the administration, for sure.