A tragic french comedy

[Olf]

My father in law is somewhat, hmmmm, accident prone. After having a heart attack and coming very close to bankruptcy he decided he had no alternative but to sell the house he lives in in France. We'll cut a long story short but after a year of stress he finally recently sold it.

In france after you make a firm offer there are 7 days in which to fix the deal and pay a deposit, this essentially counts as exchange of contracts and then a good 3 months or so while the deal goes through.

Anyhow, after about a month following the 7 day period, the farmers union turn up on the doorstep. Apparently because it's got a large chunk of land (40 acres) and an old barn, they have a legal right to intervene in the sale if someone who fancies using the land as a farm decides they want it.... So now, regardless of the contract things are on hold and this is where it gets good...

The guy that wants to buy it doesn't actually want to farm it, he wants to set up a restaurant in the gorgeous barn, the french farmers union man is happy to delay the sale because he wants my FiL to rent his family the gites that are attached to the house so he can get his kids into the local school and then to cap it all the french farmers union has the right to re-value the property - potentially for less than FiL has sold it for!

They really know how to make life complicated out there.

Edited by Olf on Friday 23 July 20:40

[JohnnyJones]

Not to sound harsh, but it's a foreign country with different rules to our own.

And not necessarily bad ones either.

[Matt Harper]

JohnnyJones said:

And not necessarily bad ones either.

Hmmm, not so sure about that. French inheritance taxes that are applied to property owned by non-French residents are pretty punitive.
My parents own and live in a very pleasant property in Maine et Loire. When they die, unless the beneficiaries of their will (myself and my siblings) occupy the property, a 70% tax (based on their valuation of the property) is levied.
If they value the property at E300,000 we are going to have to pay E210,000 in tax, unless we move there.
If we sell the property rather than live in it and get E400,000, they want 70% of that.
If we sell it for E200,000, they still want 70% of their valuation, rather than the actual sale price.

[Chill Winston]

He has 40 acres. It's hard to find a body under 40 acres. Especially if it's in little tiny bits.

[sevros1981]

Chill Winston said:

He has 40 acres. It's hard to find a body under 40 acres. Especially if it's in little tiny bits.

What he said.

[TimJMS]

Matt Harper said:

...
If we sell it for E200,000, they still want 70% of their valuation, rather than the actual sale price.

I'm happy to stand corrected here, but the same ruling applies in the UK. Death Tax is levied on the valuation assigned by the Government appointed regional valuer. That can often include "hope value".

[Uncle Fester]

How long do the heirs have to occupy the inherited property before the tax is charged at a lower rate?

Surely you will be living there and the other occupants aren't renting it from you, they're your lodgers.