Wills

[BishyB]

Now that the French have ruled that English law wills will be exempt from France's forced heirship rules we are looking for recommendations for a Notaire to draw up our French wills - english speaking would be helpful.  Also as we have assets in UK do we also need english wills or can they be included in a French will? We are in Morbihan, Brittany, nr Pontivy. Thank you

[ajm]

It might help if you said whereabouts you are.

[L Austin France]

Now that the French have ruled that English law wills will be exempt from France's forced heirship rules we are looking for recommendations for a Notaire to draw up our French wills - english speaking would be helpful. Also as we have assets in UK do we also need english wills or can they be included in a French will? Thank you

I pretty sure we made a French will with an English translation which suits both countries.
The wills are registered with the FCDDV .
Just looked it up;
Le FCDDV, aussi appelé fichier des testaments, centralise pour toute la France des informations sur les testaments reçus par les notaires.

[MAD87]

I pretty sure we made a French will with an English translation which suits both countries.

If you make another FR will, it will have to be translated into English by a traducteur assermenté. Think €€€€€€€€€. (I'm doing my ex-colleagues out of work)

We have English wills - downloaded from tinternet although I could have done it myself - as we hold our property here 'en universel'. So long as you follow the rules to the letter concerning signing and witnessing, there should be no problem.

[MAD87]

@BishyB Word of mouth is best for recommendations.

[BishyB]

Thank you MAD87 and L Austin France. MAD87 - I have edited my original post to give whereabouts. I know word of mouth is best for recommendations it's what I am looking for .

[L Austin France]

I pretty sure we made a French will with an English translation which suits both countries.

If you make another FR will, it will have to be translated into English by a traducteur assermenté. Think €€€€€€€€€. (I'm doing my ex-colleagues out of work)

We have English wills - downloaded from tinternet although I could have done it myself - as we hold our property here 'en universel'. So long as you follow the rules to the letter concerning signing and witnessing, there should be no problem.

I'm confused!
Why the need for traducteur assermenté?
I can understand this if it's a will written in English being used in France but surely the English version is for English use when English property & other assets are concerned.

[MAD87]

Why the need for traducteur assermenté?

Because non-bilingual folk sitting in their offices twiddling their thumbs insist, despite the fact that the translator doesn't understrand what he/she is translating. I know this from all the training courses we were obliged to take whilst being assementé, when the lecturer ended up speaking to me alone. I still get an ex-colleague ringing me for help when she has to translate an English will, and wills are really not my thing!

[L Austin France]

Why the need for traducteur assermenté?

Because non-bilingual folk sitting in their offices twiddling their thumbs insist, despite the fact that the translator doesn't understrand what he/she is translating. I know this from all the training courses we were obliged to take whilst being assementé, when the lecturer ended up speaking to me alone. I still get an ex-colleague ringing me for help when she has to translate an English will, and wills are really not my thing!

I don't think I explained myself very well.
My point was;
Why do 'the French' need a pro. translation of a perfectly formed French will written in French?
Maybe I'm still confused as our wills were drawn up a while ago & Mme is in the UK so I can't ask her.
I thought our wills were written in French & explained we required things to be administered under English law as the EU succession regulation with the English translation done to be used by the nominated English executer/s.

Both our French wills along with the English translations were signed, witnessed & registered.

[elsie]

With the appropriate text, wills can be exempt from the French forced inheritance. However, there are circumstances where children can object
I believe this explanation is still valid https://www.frenchentree.com/french-pro ... in-france/

Although you can, potentially, leave your estate to anyone, the French tax thresholds still apply https://www.french-property.com/guides/ ... liability/

There was a long discussion on wills, etc here in 2024 which is still worth reading viewtopic.php?t=2565&start=20