luneau123

Any judgement obtained here in France can be executed in the UK. You would be wise to try and sort a payment plan rather tyhasn let it go to court. Much cheaper.

greaterbelfastguy

Hi; what's that opinion based on..? How do you know this..?

luneau123

Call any debt collection agency in the UK and they will tell you the law.

dmu

Hi,
I haven't found an official document, but my French OH who is a retired lawman says that unpaid debts in France have no boundaries in the EU.
If you don't believe the (free) advice we are giving on the forum, then consult a lawyer with knowledge of French/European Laws!

Tweedpipe

A very interesting question here posed by NovoC which I see you've made no reference or return comment to.

If your father died intestate, if similar to UK law I believe an Administrator would have been officially nominated. Or, were you appointed Executor expressly from a will? Assuming the former, have you tried contacting the administrator inquiring why apparent outstanding taxe d'habitation and taxe fonciere payments were never declared and/or paid from the estate.
Or do we assume that you acted as as executor for the estate, "His assets in France were sold, and all outstanding debts that I found to exist at that time were settled."

greaterbelfastguy

Whoa, steady-on there. Someone made a statement and asked them to substantiate it. Or was I meant to blindly accept it as fact..? Doesn't seem the wise thing to do...

greaterbelfastguy

I've been mulling it over and getting the situation straight in my mind before I put into print a response.

Yes he died 'intestate' as they say, no will. A local notaire was recruited to deal with the estate. As I said, I gave them all evidence I could find of unpaid bills so they could deal with them.

I guess I'm thinking; can I blame them for not paying it at the time, since they (and I) weren't aware of it? Or is it the case that they have ways and means of tracing such outstanding tax debts, and this is in fact what they should have done at the time..?

Novocastrian

Interesting. I think it's worth contacting the notaire. He's probably got insurance for this sort of situation.

Ka Ora!

Far from the Truth, I have never come across a UK debt collection agency that wholly acted within the law they often gloss over avoid correct answers force doors they should not just to collect. Some of the agencies have been known to harass other family members for cash and never live in a "house of multiple occupancy" with known debt issues.

dmu

Hi, sorry for my reaction, but maybe you should have specified the important word "intestate" and the fact that you weren't an executor, earlier on?
As suggested, you should contact the Notaire who dealt with the succession - he should have checked non-payment of these Taxes and hopefully his insurance will pay the bills.

Ka Ora!

I honestly think YOU need to sit down with the Tax Office "Impots" and the notaire to discuss the bill/demand are a period whilst you farther was alive and owned the properly in France. If they are then the debt is owed and they can chase you to the UK for it, Unless the notaire was responsible for locating and paying the debt in the process of winding up the estate and they have some form of indemnity insurance for this. The Impots don't get everything right and the methods in which they enforce things is quite often down to one persons interpretation of a rule book they work to. Their system is really flawed in this aspect as answers to questions will change on a daily basis depending on the person you talk to.

Tweedpipe

Very true from what I've read on numerous web sites.

Tweedpipe

Good advise, and if indeed it comes from a retired lawman it would effectively appear to answer the OP's original question.

DMU,
I recall from a previous post of yours that you quoted some very interesting info relating to death-in-France administration, from a document handed out from your Pension/Mutuelle. Namely:-
"WITHIN SIX MONTHS: Remit the Déclaration de Succession to the Impôts (according to French OH, for the Tax Office to calculate Inheritance Tax, but the Notaire will explain this). Pay deceased's Income Tax, Taxe Foncière, Taxe d'Habitation."
As suggested elsewhere, wouldn't this have been part of the Notaire's responsibility?

Here's a link to that post (No. 22), which UK Expats in France would be wise to carefully file away - as I did - just in case of the loss of a loved one (or the mother-in-law) in France.

Good advise above from Ka Ora too.

dmu

Gosh, it didn't occur to me to look at that pamphlet (I was hoping not to have to refer to it again for a long time...). It seems the Notaire should have paid all due Taxes before remitting the Déclaration de Succession.

Novocastrian

It also seems to me that since the father's house has since been sold, that notaire should also have discovered the tax debt. If the two notaires were one and the same, I'd say the OP has him by the short and hairies.