I live in the UK. My mother who was resident died 6 years ago in France. There is a bank account in Scotland and a couple plus a house in France. I have had the banks here freeze the account. It’s not illegal to delay probate which I’m currently doing.
My sister lived with her and has remained in the house since. She has failed to settle the succession. French tax authorities have levied huge fines on both of us. It looks as if the only option is to take legal action via a lawyer in France .
I know the succession is done via a notaire. Can she legally do nothing?
She had four months from death to start the process. If it continues, it will go to Vacant Succession most likely and they will take over and eventually take it for the government. I had dealings with them when we refused inheritance and then when accepted, they cancelled it on their side but that is usually what happens and because nothing has been done, the government will continue to want their share of taxes due etc. The Notaire will eventually contact the vacant succession dept if your sister continues to ignore the situation which is mandatory to get sorted out. You can refuse everything via the Notaire and have ten years in which to re-accept but that option may not be open now after all this time. If you refuse the inheritance, those fines will not apply or should not.
The answer is still the same. Unlees you clarify what the fines are for, it is impossible for anybody to advise. But for instance, as the legal heirs, since you have not renounced the succession then if any successon tax is due, there was a deadline by which it had to be paid. If it was not paid by that deadline, regular fines will continue to be imposed until it is paid. That is French law and the only way to stop those fines, if that is indeed what you are being fined for, is to pay the tax.
Thanks Stella. - i’ve had a lawyer in London for the last four years … However this is beyond his remit and he has contacted another lawyer in France who will fight her. A very long and expensive procedure with no idea how long it will take … She’s not disputing it. Just not signing off the settlement.
In our village we have a property sitting empty, falling more and more into ruin. This is because the family have happily accepted the inheritance but cannot agree what to do with it and none of them wishes to spend money taking care of it.
It is most likely been registered by the original notaire with the Vacant Succession office in the dept main prefecture which is what happens when nothing is settled or accepted/refused
Could you not buy it? The family house is not empty. My sister is living there … It’s just a question of her signing the settlement - but no - for whatever reason. Because of this I have incurred 60K euros tax interest alone charges. I suspect I will have to take her to court for recovery of this. Unbelievable.
This is worrying because if the debt is essentially the result of your own personal unpaid succession tax, I do not see how you can legally recover it from your sister. Each individual is responsible for paying their own tax.
But as said before, without clarification on exactly what these debts are and how they arose it is not possible to advise.
Its a shame the OP was not advised to refuse her inheritance at the time of the death by the notaire as she would not be liable for any of these debts at all and could save what is going to cost many thousands more to engage an advocat and possibly an appointed barrister too to fight the case. Having been through the whole court system on another matter, it cost us well over €40k and fourteen years of life as it takes a while.
I don’t want to divert from/to another thread involving my wife’s succession, but this talk of succession tax is worrying me. Nobody at the Notaire has made any mention of tax that I may have to pay and at the moment our case may drag on as 2 of the 3 successors appear to be ignoring the succession (rather than actively refusing it). When I ask what happens if this doesn’t change all I get is a shrug.
I don’t think you need worry David, you are the inheritor of the property for your lifetime and cannot be forced out by the child heirs, you will be paying all the taxes on the property etc. The OP has a totally different scenario in that they are not spouse of the deceased with a right to continue to live in the house but merely the children of the deceased with no automatic right of residence unless both agree officially and are therefore liable for all taxes and charges on the property which sounds like this is.
