Good morning - I am thinking about returning to the UK. I am a widow without direct family, but have a partner here in France. For different reasons we cannot stay together.
I am in the process of preparing my French house for sale. An alternative would be for me to “gift” my house to my partner, but not being married, I don’t know if this is possible in France. Or if it is, what the tax implications are." Inheriting" a house in France without being married/being direct family, would lump my partner with a 60% Inheritance Tax charge. Any advice would be much appreciated. Best wishes - Hilary
It is the same, 60% tax. And the notaire will need proof that this doesn’t deny others who might be down to inherit from you (parents, siblings), as well as the agreement of the person you wish to gift to because of tax implications.
If you are under 70 then Assurance Vie with person as beneficiary might be preferable.
Could she not sell it to him for a quid? Just thinking. 
Most tax offices have rules about doing that or selling anything under the market value.
Thought there might be. 
Back to @JaneJones then. 
Thanks Jane
Just my thoughts similar - though notaire will say value has to be reasonable unless good reason can be shown - how about selling it to partner en viager.
If you’re selling it, not married, not PACsed, probably also not declaring tax as part of the same household… then it’s the same as an arm’s length sale to anyone else. As a sale, no inheritance issues apply. We did something similar and notaire was fine and advised us how to achieve what we needed.
Thinking a low capital value price might be settable as a viager, balanced with no more income than would be convenient under whichever tax regime you expect to be.
Thanks so much. I’ve got a Notaire in place and have a meeting next week. Have a better idea how to approach the subject with her. Hilary