A few Q's; hoping for some A's!
Discussion
Excuse the myriad of questions. I'm meeting with a professional in a few weeks back in France. But for now; I'd like to be put in the picture as best I can.
My questions are related to property purchases; future sales / related implications, inheritance laws and the like.
I was never bothered about France in the slightest; disinterested was an understatement; but my girlfriend snowboards and had been all around the world; each winter, to different resorts. With a dog; our travel was limited, as the dog now comes everywhere with us; and so the decision was made to purchase a holiday home in the Alps; close to the Swiss / Italy / etc borders. Allowing us a base and a springboard to explore further afield, all by car. And so a purchase was made.
Fast forward two years; I'm so in love with the place that I find it hard to leave. We've just come back to the UK now and I'm counting the days to get back over there. My girlfriend loves it there also but is happy splitting our time; I just want to be based over there; luckily, I can run my businesses from a laptop; but my partner does need to return to the UK for stints, every few months.
And so, with all this in mind; I'm looking at options for setting up shop, a little more over in France. I don't want to get into official French businesses or tax systems if I can help it. But rather spend a majority of time there whilst remaining a UK citizen with everything nice and simple; remaining registered in the UK.
I'd like to purchase another one or two properties in our area; and simply do AirBNB / Owners Direct. As well; we'd perhaps like to purchase a commercial unit for my girlfriend to do her work from, over there. I know this will be murky waters and will most likely blur the lines; in our efforts to be still seen as UK based; and so we may not do that.
Anyway; my questions are as follows - and please excuse my apparent naivety:
1: We are not yet married (engaged for 5 years!) - we bought our current French home there, whilst not being married. What are the implications of this (I hear 'not good') - and if we marry now (post purchase, of course) - can we fix this issue? It's to do with inheritance I believe?
2: If we purchase more properties over in the Alps; is there any implication with them being 'second / additional homes' or 'investments' as is now the case in the UK. Or is each additional purchase treated no differently to a first purchase? (hope so)
3: Oher than CGT; what are the hits that we must expect, should we sell these properties further down the line?
4: We do not have children; we may still have them one day - but for now; we have none. What is the default inheritance situ' in this case?
5: French laws regarding tenants seem even worse than in the UK (in terms of favouring them) - but short lets of a week or two each time; do not incur any of these issues; is that right?
6: Setting up inheritance for these properties; must be done in France; is that right? In other words; I can't have a UK solicitor draw up what we'd like to happen to our French property?
My questions are related to property purchases; future sales / related implications, inheritance laws and the like.
I was never bothered about France in the slightest; disinterested was an understatement; but my girlfriend snowboards and had been all around the world; each winter, to different resorts. With a dog; our travel was limited, as the dog now comes everywhere with us; and so the decision was made to purchase a holiday home in the Alps; close to the Swiss / Italy / etc borders. Allowing us a base and a springboard to explore further afield, all by car. And so a purchase was made.
Fast forward two years; I'm so in love with the place that I find it hard to leave. We've just come back to the UK now and I'm counting the days to get back over there. My girlfriend loves it there also but is happy splitting our time; I just want to be based over there; luckily, I can run my businesses from a laptop; but my partner does need to return to the UK for stints, every few months.
And so, with all this in mind; I'm looking at options for setting up shop, a little more over in France. I don't want to get into official French businesses or tax systems if I can help it. But rather spend a majority of time there whilst remaining a UK citizen with everything nice and simple; remaining registered in the UK.
I'd like to purchase another one or two properties in our area; and simply do AirBNB / Owners Direct. As well; we'd perhaps like to purchase a commercial unit for my girlfriend to do her work from, over there. I know this will be murky waters and will most likely blur the lines; in our efforts to be still seen as UK based; and so we may not do that.
Anyway; my questions are as follows - and please excuse my apparent naivety:
1: We are not yet married (engaged for 5 years!) - we bought our current French home there, whilst not being married. What are the implications of this (I hear 'not good') - and if we marry now (post purchase, of course) - can we fix this issue? It's to do with inheritance I believe?
2: If we purchase more properties over in the Alps; is there any implication with them being 'second / additional homes' or 'investments' as is now the case in the UK. Or is each additional purchase treated no differently to a first purchase? (hope so)
3: Oher than CGT; what are the hits that we must expect, should we sell these properties further down the line?
4: We do not have children; we may still have them one day - but for now; we have none. What is the default inheritance situ' in this case?
5: French laws regarding tenants seem even worse than in the UK (in terms of favouring them) - but short lets of a week or two each time; do not incur any of these issues; is that right?
6: Setting up inheritance for these properties; must be done in France; is that right? In other words; I can't have a UK solicitor draw up what we'd like to happen to our French property?
I think you should go and ask these questions to a notair. We have a really good English speaking one in our village but we're the other side of the country.
The other really difficult thing you will have to do is find a good accountant. As a rule French accountants are here to relieve you of as much of your money for "La Republique" as possible. We went through a couple until we found one who knew the relevent laws to reduce our taxes to levels where we could afford to live.
I would PM you one very useful piece of info but can't see a PM button anywhere.
The other really difficult thing you will have to do is find a good accountant. As a rule French accountants are here to relieve you of as much of your money for "La Republique" as possible. We went through a couple until we found one who knew the relevent laws to reduce our taxes to levels where we could afford to live.
I would PM you one very useful piece of info but can't see a PM button anywhere.
Maitre Louton in Eymet,Dordogne is the man to speak too.He has hundreds of English clients and because of that is also used by other Notaires for advice.
TBH I think if you live in France but don't want to contribute you are asking for alot of potential headaches.Fonctionnaires only have one job and usually do it very efficiently.
TBH I think if you live in France but don't want to contribute you are asking for alot of potential headaches.Fonctionnaires only have one job and usually do it very efficiently.
All well and good opting for English law but the French systems allows for redistribution of wealth before death alot more tax efficiently.Also how will cgt affect the recipient of your estate,the French will want their cut,even if you opt for an English will.
I would seek multiple opinions as nobody has the definative answer.
I would seek multiple opinions as nobody has the definative answer.
Zulu 10 said:
I’ve sailed quite close to the wind this year with the 163 day limit, but I’m still wondering how it’s monitored, because once inside the Schengen area there don’t seem to be any checks, so I could claim that I’d driven over to Spain for example.
There is more to residency than the number of days you spend in the country and in fact French rules make no mention of it, under certain circumstances it's actually possible to be deemed French resident without having ever set foot here !In any case if queried the onus always falls on you to prove what you claim not the authorities to disprove it and if you really want to lie and say you were elsewhere be prepared to back it up with evidence such as receipts or records of credit card transactions for the likes of fuel/transport/hotels/food etc. etc. etc.
Don't take them for fools !
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