French inheritance law

Are there any Solicitors in Ireland capable of dealing with the correct structuing of contracts re inheritance law when buying a French property. I have made some enquiries but have only been referred to the UK for suitably qualified Solicitors.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Any good English speaking Notaire could deal with it for you, and save you money.Bear in mind that on purchase it is your right to chose the Notaire, do not be pushed in to using the alotted one, who will not lie but will only ever answer a direct question and not offer assistance. Read Civil code on LEGIFRANCE on line French Gov site, many answers there.

See [broken link removed] I believe they deal in purchases abroad. I agree with previous poster though, if you have a notaire you can understand or who speaks english that should be sufficient. Although the French have a different attitude to inheritance than we do and may require some persuasion to adjust things to the way you want it.

Thanks for the replies.

I have contacted UK Solicitor/Notaire and they are prepared to advise and liaise with Notaire drawing up contracts to ensure they are structured correctly in our favour re French inheritance laws.

Would be interested in comments from anybody who has gone down this road before.

Rgds
LJ

I would just say that you should ensure that the legal advice is balanced with tax advice. So that for example if you are a married couple buying and what you would like is for your spouse to inherit in the event of the death of one of you, not your children, that you ensure that that will not create a large tax liability for your spouse. The French inheritance system to my mind seems to be entirely geared towards making sure children are not disinherited and can make what we would consider as normal here disadvantageous from a tax point of view- so much so that you might well have to abandon your preference.

UK based advisor has stated that the package they provide includes advice on how to structure the purchase with a view to minimising our tax liabilities. You are correct in what you say that the tax exposure for a surviving spouse can be large unless the contract is structured correctly to mirror the Irish system regarding inheritance.

Thanks for replies.

LJ