bazzer70

Well I’ve paid deposit and signed preliminary contract - the people I am buying from insist I am allowed to come to France to complete as this is considered a motif imperieux. The Notaire has my power of attorney and the estate agent assures me that completion will be smooth enough if I am not there but obviously I’d rather be there.
I wonder if I am missing something or if anyone has any suggestions - gratefully received as always!

EuroTrash

Weill it is for the French government and not your sellers to decide what is and isn't a motif impérieux. The form you complete is here, you need to tick one of the boxes and unless it's changed since last time I looked at it, there is no box to tick for completing on a property purchase. For which as your notaire has pointed out, your presence in France is not essential.

But in any case, if you've only just signed the compromis, it will likely be two or three months at the very least before you get to the acte de vente, and the situation will almost certainly have changed.

bazzer70

Thanks Eurotrash
it was the Notaire who told the sellers that I could come and sign in person and that they would furnish me with a letter - the date they’ve prelimineried (?) decided on - 28th Feb.
as you say there’s ample time for things to change before then - just keep positive but not the end of the world if I can’t go

EuroTrash

Apparently the UK has just decided that with the virus at its current levels there's no point in any more restrictions on travellers.
But I can't see that infection levels can stay as they are for two more months, there has to come a point where there's enough immunity to bring cases down.

cyrian

It is part of the notaries' role to ensure that you understand every detail of the Acte de Vente.
It is a lengthy document where each page needs to be initialled and the final page endorsed by hand and signed with the French equivalent of "accepted as holograph".
Your marriage regime is also stated in the final document.
Has the notaire advised you regarding marriage regime?
This could be important depending on your circumstances.
Personally, I would want to be there.

Helen1964

I second that.
After we bought our flat we discovered that, because we had been married outside France, we were deemed to be married under the régime de la séparation des biens. Which - since we had no children - effectively meant that if one of us died, the other would inherit only half of the flat, with the other half being divided among the deceased’s closest blood relatives.
We were able to change our marriage regime but it was a fairly lengthy procedure. Not cheap either.

If you’re planning to move to France full time, do give a thought to inheritance in general. I have unwittingly created a holy mess for my niece and nephew. Which - if we decide to stay on in France - I will have to try to unravel, the best solution probably being to change our wills and leave everything to a French charity so they can deal with all the paperwork and huge inheritance tax bill.

EuroTrash

I absolutely agree you need to understand what you're signing and the associated implications and consequences but won't that have been gone through and resolved at the compromis stage? By the time you get to the point of signing the Acte it's a bit late to start considering changing your marriage regime, or deciding you're not happy with the right of way or whatever.

I've only done one purchase in France but certainly the signing of the compromis was a steep learning curve for me, the notaire explained lots of things that I wasn't aware of and needed to be and various amendments were made to the document in the light of that. Then for the Acte, it was basically just a case of checking that everything was the exactly same as the Compromis and I was still happy with it.

bazzer70

At the compromis stage there was an issue with the correct cadastral identification on the right of way- I was doing everything over the phone and was panicking rather and anxious not to keep changing and rescheduling etc and I’d already signed and sent certified documents…. Notaire assured me that all was fine - they were aware of the error and it would be fixed before final signing - I do hope my trust is not foolish because I said I was happy and the compromis signing could go ahead - with incorrect info - and a verbal assurance it wasn’t a problem and would be corrected.
I am aware of all other aspects of inheritance etc but thanks for input.
incidentally the telephone call where we went over the compromis took an hour and a half! Very thorough - except for missing the incorrect cafastral number!

EuroTrash

If in the end you don't attend, definitely arrange for a copy of the Acte to be emailed to you by the notaire before the signing, so that you know exactly what is being signed on your behalf.
In fact, is electronic signature an option? Recently I've "e-signed" contracts with Crédit Ag, so in some contexts at least it is a thing.