Preparing for difficult times

[hughnique]

We did, I think, English wills, albeit in French by a French notaire local to us, not very complicated, two sons and two granddaughters. The granddaughters got a sum from the proceeds of the estate, and the two sons would split the remainder between them. But nothing ever pans out for our family, no matter what, it always seems to go tits up. Two years after the will our eldest son was found deceased in his garage in Alabama where he lived with his wife of 2 months, then we are left with a predicament, we have never met this woman, don't know anything about her except she is about a third timer, has at least three kids from previous relationships, so where does that son's share of our estate end up. Investigations at the state court revealed that the marriage carried out in the back garden on his 50th birthday had not been registered at the county court, and was therefore, null and void, she had already applied for and got probate, and coerced, his daughter in to relinquishing her claim on his house, we all were under the impression that they were legally married, so she would have been his legal heir. We now have to go back to the notaire and rewrite certain aspects of the will with regards to his daughters inheritance, and to make sure his "wife" doesn't benefit in any way, absolute nightmare and money pit.

[MAD87]

@hughnique Can you not simply make English wills? All you need to do is download the forms, fill in the blanks, sign them in the presence of 2 independent witnesses, and you should be clear (unless I'm missing something in international law)?

[Sparkle]

We have English wills and are not going down the route of French ones instead of or as well as. My english neighbour and her partner witnessed our wills - all done via the post and on-line. An english neighbour whose wife died 3/4 years ago had both English & French wills. It has been so complicated for him and he's still waiting for it to be finalised so that he can sell up and move on.

[niemeyjt]

Even in a French will you can say you want it interpreted under English law (though still sadly French taxes) - i.e disproportionate inheritances.

Also, when you register a death at Marie ask for the translation (cannot remember its proper name) that you can use to send to all and sundry in the UK should you need to.

[exile]

I essentially do all of the admin and like some others have the stronger command of French, which would leave the wife at a strong disadvantage should I shuffle off the coil first. There is an added complication that having spent quite some time in Germany a number of the notifications of death would have to be done in German.

I have consequently prepared a "Death File", which contains all of the organisations that need to be contacted, whether a copy of a death certificate is likely to be required, a letter in the appropriate language informing the organisation of the death (only the dates - death and signing - need filling in by hand) and an addressed envelope. This does need regular review to ensure account details and addresses are up to date - note to self: job for this weekend. Morbid though it might sound this does take a lot of stress out of what might happen if....

[Chappers51]

I wrote my will in French and English and then went through a notaire who corrected my errors. He told me I didn’t need to explain that I wanted it interpreted under English law as I don’t have an OH nor children.

I chose to allocate in parts of 1/100 (percentages). He didn’t even blink when I allocated a portion to go with my dog, if he outlives me.


At the same time my French friend (neighbour) is the equivalent of my power of attorney as it’s pointless nominating a nephew in the UK. I’ve known her since I bought the house and trust her. Everything has to be dealt with officially and yes it might cost, but as certain people will receive something they’re not expecting I prefer that it’s handled in that way. I guess it will only be said nephews who would be expecting more.

[niemeyjt]

Found it - "Multilingual Standard Forms"

As I say, for Dad the English bit was what mattered - for Andy I guess the German part will suffice.

[Antonia]

All I can say is that,at the time of my O/H's death, I hardly spoke a word of French. He was half french and it was soooo easy just to tell him what I wanted and let him get on with it. In fifteen years I never even answered the phone. I did all the admin side ( I read french fairly well ) but never had to deal with anyone face to face. I have to say that all the French authorities to a man/woman were simply wonderful. As suggested, my first port of call was the mairie followed by a funeral parlour recommended by a neighbour who accompanied me and volunteered to be the first port of call for any queries. There were hiccips certainly but, on the french side at least, there was a lot of goodwill. That was in 2019 and since then I believe there is now a system in place ( on france connect I think ) whereby you can inform all the authorities at the same time. The UK side on the other hand was a nightmare with nobody willing to handle probate for me and my healthcare, which depended on his S1, terminating immediately. Fortunately, again, the French authorities came to the rescue.

[hughnique]

@hughnique Can you not simply make English wills? All you need to do is download the forms, fill in the blanks, sign them in the presence of 2 independent witnesses, and you should be clear (unless I'm missing something in international law)?

Possibly sailed down shit creek again, was it really necessary to make a will with a notaire, when we arrived here in 2006, I was advised to change our marriage regime, not a clue as to what we signed up for, I think we need to find an English speaking French notaire that can sort it all before it is too late.

[Blaze]

I think we need to find an English speaking French notaire that can sort it all before it is too late.

There used to be a nice English-speaking notaire in Saumur called Sladek - you could try him.