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Office Notarial de Baillargues
340 rue des Écoles
34670 BAILLARGUES
Tel. (33) 04 67 87 66 15
Fax (33) 04 67 70 06 51
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| French properties are subject to French inheritance laws, which can raise all sorts of legal issues concerning inheritance and family wealth. ONB can help to guide you through them.
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Married property owners and French inheritance law |
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When a UK couple buys their dream house in the south of France, they’re often surprised to learn that their children will inherit most of the French property’s value if one partner dies.
For couples without children, surprise soon turns to shock when they realise that children from a previous marriage have greater inheritance rights in France than the surviving spouse. Worse still, if there are no children at all, then the bereaved partner may have to share the house with their in-laws !
An example...
An Englishman, Mr Charles Prince, marries his second wife, Pamela Anderson. They live in the UK but Mr Prince wants to buy a second home in France. He has two sons from his previous marriage, and owns property and other assets in England.
His English assets will be inherited according to UK law, but the house in France is subject to French law, which means that Mr Prince’s sons will inherit three-quarters of the property, and Mrs Prince will only be entitled to one-quarter.
The solution ...
If Mr Prince wants to leave the French house to his wife, he should talk to the French notary who is drawing up the contract for the property purchase. The notary can add certain clauses to the contract to improve the spouse’s situation. There are various things that can be done, but each case is dealt with according to the individual circumstances.
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