jjmb

My sister and I have been trying to close our parents French bank accounts for months now as their house finally sold. I am the signature on their account due to their ill health issues on leaving France. I have not had to use this since they left France in 2015 and as their house was unsold until this year, we had to keep the account open. My sister is their legal guardian in the UK. I have send several emails and my sister has sent all the legal notarized copies of the documents regarding her legal guardian status. So far, with no success. My Mum died last Friday and as I will over to the UK for the funeral, I am going to go to France to close the account in person. I don't really want to Baud in Brittany to do this and hope I can do this at the Banque Populaire in Calais.

they have the following apart from their day to day account, which I assume are some sort of investment accounts. Apart from one, they have no real money in them. Will there be issues with them. I am so tired of all this French stuff especially as my French is non existent.
Compte Titres
Livret A Particuliers
Livret Developpement Durable.
Livret A Particuliers
Fructi-Pulse

They also have several payments going out and I have no idea what they are. I know we should have sorted this out a long time ago but, to be honest, communicating with the french bank is a hassle from aboard and they never reply anyway.

PRLV SEPA DIRECTION GENE
PRLV SEPA BPCE Prevoyanc
PRLV SEPA BPCE Vie
PRLV SEPA DRFIP GRAND ES5 ( this is new I haven't seen this before)

thanks for any advice.

cyrian

Hi
If the house has sold then there is no further liability for Taxe Foncier or Taxe D' habitation after December 31st.
If they paid by direct debit (prelevement automatic) then the final payments should be in November and December.
You should notify the tax office of a contact address in case there are any payments outstanding.
You should also notify the notaire of a contact address in case there is a refund of his fees (quite common) or any other outstanding items.
In addition, you should notify him of an alternative UK or USA bank account.
You need to notify gas; electric and water of the change of owner (possibly already done).
HTH

jjmb

Thanks for that info. What is Taxe Foncier or Taxe D' habitation? The notaire has been paid in full as far as I know. My sister was dealing with that and she had to change notaires due to some issues with the previous notaire who was saying she couldn't sell the house, despite being their legal guardian. The actual house sale went through in April.

I really wanted to know what the various payments are, that are going out still. I also read on another thread that a form has to fill out by the HMRC before the investment funds can be released. Its a tiny amount but ,maybe, that is why they haven't responded to our request to close the account. As neither of us have ever receive a reply to our correspondence, its hard to tell. I just want to be prepared as much as possible when I go in person, as I plan to visit a branch, while I am over in the UK for the funeral. I am hoping but not expecting that someone will be able to speak English at the Calais branch.

cyrian

Yes the notaire can be paid in full but sometimes they initially overcharge and then refund any excess.
This is to cover themselves in case extra fees or taxes arise.
The two taxes are the tax paid to the local commune and region - one by the owner of the property and one by the occupier.
Sorry can't help with the bank abbreviations .

Novocastrian

I don't fancy your chances of closing the account in Brittany at a branch in Calais. But best of luck and sorry about your Mum.

Tweedpipe

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.
Normaly to close a bank and other accounts 'cloturer un compte', one has to send a registered (recommandé AR) letter which officializes the procedure.
The following is a brief summary of what the linked article mentions: 'The account holder (or in your case the legal guardian) must send a closing letter to formalize the application. This applies to all banks etc.
https://www.jechange.fr/placement/ba...-bancaire-1894
Le titulaire doit envoyer une lettre de clôture de compte pour officialiser sa demande. Cette procédure vaut pour toutes les banques, que le compte détenu soit à la Banque Postale, à la Banque Populaire, au Crédit Agricole, à la BNP, etc.
https://droit-finances.commentcamarc...nger#newanswer
Other useful links in English:

https://www.french-property.com/guid...spouse-partner

Luis in Paris: French Bureaucracy: How to close a bank account

I note also there is a Livret A account amongst other things. This could well have been taken out at the same bank where the current account is held, but you should note that The Caisse d'Epargne (Savings Bank), La Poste, and other banking organisations all issue a Livret A, so you need to check exactly which savings orgainisation issued the Livret A.
Also on your trip, come prepared with as many copies of the death certificate as possible, as most organisations will certainly request one, in addition to a copy of your Mums passport, birth certificate and everything you can think of that may be useful. You will probably also be asked for the 'Livret de Famile' which all the French have, but you will have to explain - if they don't already know - that such a livret (family record book) is never issued by the English authorities. So don't worry if they insist, you don't have one, and don't need one - I'm assuming here there was no official French partner.
I'm sure there are other bits of paperwork I've overlooked. Bref, take every document you can find, even if you think it's unimportant - almost certanly it will be required. I don't envy you on your trip. If you make tentative plans for a second (or even a third) trip, I'd wager that another will be required.
Last point. So many banks are closed in the afternoon to the public, but there may be access on certain afternoons after making an appointment to see a bank adviser (conseiller bancaire).
Good luck, you're sure to need it. I'd willingly help you through this quagmire on site for an afternoon or two, but I'm located the other end of France.

BritInParis

Not sure whether it’s helpful or not but I closed my French HSBC account simply by writing a letter to my branch in French stating I had left France and returned to the UK and give them the IBAN details for my UK building society account. I received the leftover funds about two weeks later.

EuroTrash

It looks as if the life insurance company is still taking premiums, have they not been informed? Presumably any premiums they took since your mum passed away should be refunded, which they won't be able to do after the account is closed.
Sorry to introduce another complication, I do sympathise with all my heart. French admin rolls on regardless so I can imagine what a hard slog it is.
Can't the notaire deal with the bank account for you? Even if you have to pay him a small extra fee, might be worth it.
Bon courage..

EDIT - sorry, on rereading I think your dad is still living? so I don't know about premium refunds if it's joint insurance. But unless you want to continue them for your dad, the policies will need to be cancelled which has to be done correctly or they will keep chasing you for premiums if they find out where you are.

Chatter Static

Sorry but...

HSBC is normal banking and completely unlike how other French banks operate.

jjmb closing a Banque Populaire Grand Quest account in a Banque Populaire Nord region will be difficult to nigh on impossible. Strange as this sounds in France if you move one village too far in the country you have to open new bank accounts. Here most banks won't even let you pay checks in in a different branch.

BritInParis

Oh, I’m well aware. I had to go to my branch on the Champs Elysees every bloody time I wanted to do anything other than withdraw cash. They still closed my account in the manner described.

Chatter Static

The Île de France is another country all by itself once you hit Chartres all the shops are open on Sundays, people smile are helpful you can buy a nice curry and all the drivers are moving around a demilitarised zone like they are under fire, we live 2.5 hours from Paris getting a beer after 20:30 is hard work since they banned petrol stations selling it and everyones idea of fun is counting the layers in Andouillette.

jjmb

thanks for all the replies. I am reconciled to the fact I will have to make an out of the way trip to Baud to close the account in the 2 wks I am in the UK. I did speak to a very nice man on the CS phone line but he confirmed the person who liaises with my parents account, does not speak English. Also as Eurotrash mentioned, I think the payments that are being taken out are some sort of insurance, so I will probably need to sign papers to cancel them. On top of that, I noticed that my Dad state pension was paid into the account today. Has not been paid into that account for 3 yrs and my sister noticed today, it hadn't been paid into his English bank account. On contacting them, it seems another company has taken over the payments and the girl on the phone could not explain why it had suddenly paid into the French account!

Xrayspex6263

EuroTrash

Ask your bank?
Make sure you won't have any more bills to pay in France before you close it, eg taxe d'habitation, taxe foncière.

Tweedpipe

If still in France I'd say do it the easy way. Make an appointment. Visit the bank, get their advise and close the account face-to-face.
If you email them don't be surprised if you hear nothing/get no reply.
If now in UK, send the bank a registered letter (standard closure letter in French) with your intention. More general info HERE from previous posts.