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Posted by Sunny
So many people are relocating to France. Which is great. It’s a beautiful country. They have cheaper homes, lower cost of living, great wine and cheese, fabulous markets, they are stylish, fairly friendly and the scenery is just wonderful. I really can’t fault the place. I would love to live there too. But for one thing. The French Inheritance laws.
People watch these relocation programs on TV. They honestly think you can just pack your bags, stick your stuff on a van, grab the kids and fly off to wherever. It just doesn’t work like that. Or if it does you fly off and are left totally stricken in your new country not understanding anything about it, the laws or the language.
A little bit of research wouldn’t go amiss. Or a lot if you really want some sort of chance of it all working out. That is what these pages are about, we do the research to make it easier for you, hopefully anyway.
Now one of the most important things to research when you decide to leave your country of origin is the inheritance laws of your new country. I have asked so many people if they have done this and the answer is no in all cases.
Every country has not only it’s own language, customs etc. It has it’s own laws totally different from the ones you are used to.
Whatever you do if you are not French don’t die in France. It is red tape hell. The laws were made by Napolean and haven’t been updated yet. No time with all that wine making and drinking I suppose.
If you have sold your home in your native country you are considered domiciled in France and therefore liable to pay inheritance tax. They don’t have executors, the French Notaire takes over completely and you won’t see a penny piece until he is finished. This can take more than a year and two years is not uncommon.
If you leave your estate to your children and they were not born in France they will not of course be in the French “family book” which details births, marriages and deaths. So you will need to pay a genealogist to prove they are your children and that you don’t have any others hidden away anywhere. Heaven help you if you are divorced and have step children that is a whole load of problems.
And so it goes on, taxes on home, chattels etc then of course you may still have probate to face in your home country. All of this in a foreign language ( unless of course you are lucky enough to be fluent in French) , at a time you are at your most vulnerable and upset.
So my main advice is not to die in France if you can possibly avoid it, also make sure you are not considered domiciled in France make sure your lawyer knows your intention to return to your home country at some point in the future . Or just put up with it. You’ll be gone, if the kids have been a trial make their lives hell right to the end and beyond.
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