French Inheritance Law
Use of a notary is essential for most inheritance matters - which can be extremely complex. An inheritance tax (droits de succession) explanatory leaflet, free of charge, should be available from a notary's étude or failing that in a major public library. Editions du Cherche Midi (tel: 01 42 22 71 20) have recently published an inheritance law guide, if your French is up to it, which costs 23€. Independent bilingual consultants, who are usually British, advertise in English language French property magazines. They can be helpful, perhaps after you've first studied or got someone to translate an explanatory leaflet. The notaries' website www.notaires.fr has comprehensive information, but in French only, and very few notaries, who must be French, will be truly bilingual. Free advice from an unqualified person is to be avoided. ' Les conseilleurs ne sont pas les payeurs ' (people ready with advice don't pay the consequences) is the French saying.
French law now allows a surviving spouse to live alone in the marital home they jointly own, or may not own at all, for the rest of their life. A surviving spouse can also now inherit 25 per cent of the deceased spouse's estate or enjoy 100 per cent of its utilisation and/or derived income, under usufruit conditions if there are surviving children born from their marriage. The usufruit possibility no longer applies if there are also children surviving from a previous relationship. If there are no surviving children at all the surviving spouse receives 50 per cent of the estate with the other 50 per cent divided equally between the deceased's surviving parents. The surviving spouse receives the entire estate if there are no surviving children or deceased's surviving parents.
Limited donations, when alive, can be made to spouses or children to relieve inheritance tax. Wills can be drawn up by a notary using a forme internationale which may correspond best to your particular situation.
