French Property News – August 2019

82 French Property News August 2019 http://www.completefrance.com

I

am a UK tax resident, have three children and own a property in

France. My three children are all UK-resident. At the time of

purchase I informed the notaire that upon my demise the property

should pass to two of my three children under my English will.

My English will divides my estate equally between my three

children but specifically leaves the French property to just two of

them, with the third child receiving other assets instead of a share

in the property.

In this situation what are the rules to determine the

liability to French inheritance tax? Would there be

any change if the French property were left equally

to the three children?

J Bee

French property law specialist Sean O’Connor

(seanoconnor.co.uk) replies:Under Article 913 of

the French Civil Code, each of your three children

must receive a minimum of one quarter of your

French property.

Your will purports to kick out the compulsory reserve

concerning one of your children. It is a vexed question whether

you can do this under European Union Regulation No. 650 /2012 of

the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012,

commonly called Brussels IV.

Not everyone agrees with me, but in my opinion the answer to the

question is ‘no’ for two main reasons. Firstly, you are not habitually

resident in France, and secondly the UK never signed up to Brussels

IV so is not a member state concerning it. The detail of this scene is

complicated so I deliberately omit it here. In practice if you rewrite

ill so as expressly to exercise a choice of English law

overn the devolution of your French real estate,

doing so under Article 22(1) of Brussels IV, the French

notary will probably give effect to your will, under a

slack interpretation of Brussels IV, but your

excluded child could bring an action in the local

French court claiming the compulsory reserve.

Regarding French inheritance tax, there is none

on the first €100,000 per child. Above that,

simplifying here a bit, it is charged at 20% up to

552,324 per child.

learly, if the three children inherit, the property must

be worth more than €300,000 before any French

inheritance tax is charged. If only two children inherit, then the

threshold is a value of €200,000.

Dividing an estate and inheritance tax

Need advice? Put your problems to our panel

Q

&

A

I

n the summer of 2016 we bought an old
French farmhouse and were delighted to be
told that the fosse (septic tank) conformed to
the latest standards and was only half full.
I’m told it’s a fosse toutes-eaux rather than a
fosse septique as it handles all our waste water,
not just toilet waste. (I don’t know if all tanks
are like that these days or not). What puzzles
me is, how do we know when it needs
emptying? The house is a holid y
and we just let a few friends an
family use it, so I would say it h
been occupied no more than 40
weeks since we bought it.
I’m not that squeamish but,
as I’m not sure which
inspection cover to lift or what
I’m looking for, it’s easy to put
things off! My neighbour says
you don’t need to get the fosse
emptied until your house starts
smell, but that doesn’t sound v y
pleasant. Also, does SPANC need a lot of
advance warning or do they turn up very
quickly if you need them? Would they charge
more to turn up in an emergency?
Keith Holmes

When do septic tanks need maintenance?

David Nunn, of South West France Fosse

(southwestfrancefosse.com) responds: Yo u

were indeed fortunate to find that your

treatment system conforms, as it is normally

the case that at least one part of it fails the

current regulations.

The regulations state that all systems should

be regularly maintained and part of this is to

have the fosse tank emptied at the correct

i We regularly come across

cl s who quite proudly state that

th y have never had their tank

emptied while saying “but it

works fine”. The truth is that

the regulations require that

the tank should be emptied

when it has become 50% full.

This is normally around every

two to three years and costs

a ound around €250.

T ere is a simple way to check

t , by using a piece of wood with

a flat surface at the bottom. Push the wood

down in to the tank until resistance is felt, (this

will be the solids in the bottom of the tank) and

then measure the depth. If it is more than 50%,

the tank should be emptied.

ASK THE EXPERTS

©

Aleutie Getty Images/ iStockphoto

From what you say, the tank was already half

full when you bought the house so it would

definitely require emptying now.

Finally, SPANC do not empty fosses but they

can give you a list of contractors who will.

SPANC’S role is to check that systems conform.