ALLYCATH1

cyrian

Hi Ally,
Welcome to the forum.
We declared a french contract of marriage (communaute des biens) which means that you own the property (and all other french assets) jointly and the remaining spouse becomes the joint owner. This delays french inheritance law until the 2nd death.
If possible declare the marriage contract prior to buying the property because your marriage contract is listed in the property deeds.
We declared our change of marriage regime the day before signing the Acte de Vente. (exchange of contract).
It cost ~ €300 I think.
Your UK Will should be valid in France - discuss that with your notaire but any Estate Taxes for french assets would be payable in France.
Have a look at this site:
Notaires de France
Don't rush in to buy a property - the market is not like the UK and haggle over the price.
HTH

ALLYCATH1

Pulaski

Go on, take a guess!

cyrian

In that case, the notaire would probably suggest a "Clause Tontine" which works the same way but only for the property not your possessions.
If your children are both your children then there should be no problem but if the children are related to just one of you then there could be inheritance tax issues.
If either of you have any children from previous relationships then things can become complicated.
If you don't want to get married then you could consider getting PACS'd (civil partnership).
France is not "partner" friendly and there can be inheritance tax issues between "partners".

dmu

Hi, take a look at the "Partner status" thread in the Read-Me Moving to France FAQs above. As said, France isn't partner-friendly, especially concerning Inheritance. The surviving partner in the event of death would have to pay 60% of the value of the French property as bequeathed in a Will, which has to be paid within 6 months after the death and may lead to a financial disaster for the survivor. Taxe de Succession must be paid on French property by the heir(s) even if a UK Will is made.
As said, the Notaire handling the sale will advise as to the best way of protecting both your interests.

EuroTrash

Under French law, anything you leave to an unrelated beneficiary is taxed at 60%, with a very small allowance before the tax kicks in. If you're not married or PACS'd, then French law considers you unrelated, no matter how long you've been "together". So the answer is that you can leave property to an unmarried partner, but you probably wouldn't want to and your partner wouldn't want you to either (the partner has to pay the tax in full within a fairly short timescale of the succession)..
No succession tax is payable between spouses, and children have a relatively low rate of succession tax and a high allowance before it kicks in.
Makes sense to get spliced if at all possible...

EDIT Sorry DMU, posts crossed.

ALLYCATH1

Hi Cyrian,
PAC's doesn't one of the people in the relationship have to been a French citizen? also if we were to go with your suggestion of a Clause Tontine and then were to get married would inheritance tax need to be paid by the remaining person?

EuroTrash

I'm not Cyrian, but pending Cyrian calling by:
1 - No. You both have to live in France (ie be residents), you don't have to be citizens.
2 - There is no inheritance tax between spouses / PACS'd partners (as said in previous post).

Hope this helps.

ALLYCATH1

Many thanks for the reply yes this makes perfect sense.

cyrian

Hi
Clause Tontine is now considered to be a bit old-fashioned and is becoming less used.
However, it confers joint ownership of the property and therefore inheritance tax does not apply.
You really need to discuss the options that suit your circumstances with a notaire.
French law is VERY different from UK law.
Please note that what you may want is very different from what the notaire normally encounters.
We asked our notaire for his advice before purchasing our property. He discussed our situation with colleagues to find the best solution.
You need to discuss "what if" scenarios with him/her as well as discussing the validity of your UK Wills.
HTH

ALLYCATH1

Many thanks we will go and see the notaire when we are out in france.