Hi I’m really sorry to trouble you guys with another thread about inheritance/succession but I’m very confused and too poor to pay for legal advice!
I’m hoping somebody can clear this up for me because I feel the notaries are not being transparent.
My scenario is that I’m British and living in the UK.
My English father remarried and bought a property in France where he has lived with his wife for quite a few years.
He died recently, his wife has inherited the property as it was purchased en tontine and I am told there is a usufruit that signs everything to his wife.
There are no other children and I was estranged from my father and not mentioned in his will.
I was not on good terms with his wife so I can be sure there is no chance of future inheritance!
A notaire has been in contact with me requesting power of attorney so they can sign on my behalf to complete the legal process.
I don’t feel comfortable signing because I don’t know why I’m being involved.
I am not due any inheritance at all, everything is clearcut, I’m no threat yet it seems they need my permission for something to the point of hassling me.
I’ve been told it’s only procedure and formality but I’m not sure if signing will benefit me or leave me vulnerable to french law? I’m worried about being liable for debts/taxes?
What happens if I don’t sign, should I be concerned?
Any advice appreciated, thank you.
Ask the notaire directly - they should help.
Welcome to Survive France. Matt’s advice is excellent, and a Notaire will not charge for giving you that information.
Hello and Welcome to the forum.
I can understand your concerns.
However, French Inheritance Law means children cannot be ignored/cut-out, so this might well be why the Notaire is in touch with you.
This contact you’ve received from the Notaire… is it in French or English. I’m just wondering if you are having difficulties with translation.
If language is no difficulty, I agree with the others. Contact the Notaire and ask questions.
If language is a challenge… keep your sentences short.
and you can also check the Notaire is for real, on the internet
for example…
I would be inclined to decline to agree to power of attorney and say you prefer to sign documents yourself.
Signing a document costs nothing in itself and that way you will at least know what you have signed.
I do not like the sound of this.
If you are a blood related child directly descended from the deceased then you cannot be left out of inheritance issues. Do you have a secondary school nearby with a french teacher who might be able to help you write a letter which you could offer to pay for but they probably wouldn’t charge? Be careful though as being a blood heir you would be liable for all debts incurred by the deceased especially taxes so you have the change to refuse the succession if that is the case but you cannot force the spouse to leave the property. Personally I would write a letter refusing all inheritance completely, get it witnessed to your signature and send it registered or electronically if this matter does not interest you in any way.
I believe tontine means that when the father died, the property passed to the spouse and it is as if she had been sole owner from the time of purchase. So unless tontine is disputed the deceased’s children have no inheritance to refuse.
The notaire may simply require confirmation that she does not wish to dispute but if that is the case why not simply send her the document to sign.
This seems the most likely scenario given the information provided, i.e. the notaire will require a declaration from the OP, that they are not contesting the succession or the tontine clause. It is their right to do so, even if they are not interested, and given that they have quite a long time within which they can contest those rights, the notary dealing with the estranged father’s succession would, I imagine, and certainly from the step-mother’s point of view, want to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible. Nonetheless, I would recommend getting the document they sent translated by somebody who is both conversant with French and French law, before even considering signing it, as it may be more than just a power of attorney.
We have very little information.
The property might not be the sole Estate of the deceased… we don’t know what is really involved for now and/or for the future…
Likewise, we don’t know what debts (as Shiba has mentioned) might well be nothing, might be something… questions need to be asked.
delete - I said much the same thing at the same time…
Hopefully, your French (or Google translate) is good enough to be able to understand this.
If you accept to be a successor, then you are at least partly liable for any debts. If you refuse, then you are not. You can also accept in part with a caveat called “à concurrence de l’actif net”.
How has the notaire been in contact? If by letter or email then write back (use deepl.com to translate) and ask all the questions you have asked here.
Thanks all for your answers, my situation should be uncomplicated yet feels messy.
Yes the notaire has been in touch several emails with clear instructions, pushing me to sign a french document they emailed to me. They want me to print the large document, sign each page, email it back and also send the hard copy in the post! I will add with no offer to cover expenses.
I was able to translate with online tool, lots of legal jargon that read a little ambiguous but ultimately it’s to give them power of attorney to sign on my behalf.
I haven’t signed anything as don’t feel comfortable with that at all, having no control over what they are signing. I have expressed this to them also.
When I asked, the notaires summarised in English that I don’t inherit anything due to the tontine and usufruit.
There is no indication that I will inherit in the future which I accept and understand so I don’t get why it’s so important for me to be involved in the process, bearing in mind I am not set to ever receive anything at all.
I had several reminders to sign in short space of time
Then when I emailed them what happens if I do not sign, they’ve gone cold on me as if they are avoiding the answer.
I am not so bothered about inheritance but in the circumstances I don’t want to end up being held liable and out of pocket! I don’t want any bills when the wife croaks!
I think as suggested I’ll have to persevere with the notaires to get further clarity. Thanks again
You could attach the document here? (with identifying bits blocked out before you photo it on your phone).
As 2 others have said it sounds like they want you to sign away your right to inherit… possibly anything, possibly just the property. But as you yourself have said you don’t want to give them a power of attorney that they could use to sign anything without your knowledge.
As @shiba has said you do have up to 10 years to make a decision, even I think Shiba has said if you initially refused the inheritance, within those 10 years I think Shiba has said you could change your mind.
Stella has also said you never know what the estate could turn out to comprise.
FWIW I think your gut feelings are correct as just " out of general caution" I would not give a power of attorney in this (and I’d state this reason to them) situation.
But I would make sure the notaire knows where to contact me ongoing and offer to consider signing documents after your own review and request firmly that they send you all such documents with explanations if needed and you will decide if you wish to sign.
Signing a procuration for your own notaire in your own matter for your own purposes is completely different and may well be ok. Signing a procuration for someone else’s notaire for their matter is completely different and IMV not something you should be asked to do.
There will of course be an attractiveness to the notaire and any staff of theirs, in making their own life easier now and potentially during the next 10? years. Particularly if they perceive there is a language barrier or cultural barrier and as you are not in France. But you seem to be doing pretty well to me in grasping the issues.
You can be as charming and ‘caring’ as you like to notaire, and the widow, if you have contact and I would be. But I’d not give them the procuration as it’s clearly not for your own good that they want it.
All.sorts of things can change over time including your own circumstances. In general I’d not sign anything and particularly not a procuration. Let the 10 years go, see what happens, keep your options open.
It will be more work for you but this is the safest way… for you.
Just to be clear, I refuse inheritance, waited ten years and re-accepted a few weeks before the ten year deadline. I presume things have not changed since 2012 when we did this but there was no one else involved apart from me and my children. I cannot go into details why we did this as it is a confidential act thing that we had to sign.
Thank you, appreciate all your answers 
finding it very useful.
Hi @Lutonlass . When you get this sorted, do please come back and tell us how you got on. Your experiences may be useful to others. Best of luck 
Not sure about tontine, but usufruit means that, even if you are entitled to inherit and accept that fact, all property and money belongs to the surviving spouse for his or her lifetime with the exception that if the house is sold, half the proceeds must be passed to the inheritors.
If I was you, not wishing to inherit in any way, I would tell the notaire that and refuse to sign anything else.
The ever helpful Service Public has a standard document to renounce a succession. If the notaire does get back in touch you could perhaps suggest you would be prepared to complete and sign this?
Yes our Notaire got the forms for us to sign and then submitted them himself to the Greffier at the main TGI which is where we had to go to re-accept later on.