About 400,000 British nationals own a property in
France. What started to be an ideal holiday home can become
burdensome for partners/spouses who are now separating or
divorcing. A transfer or a resell would be inevitable.
Any English court transferring the property to
one of the partners/spouses will not be sufficient to be
enforceable in France and the appointment of a notaire is
compulsory. Both parties will have to co-operate to sign the deed
transferring the ownership of the French property.
Even after the decree absolute is obtained, a
notaire will need to execute the transfer of the property.
During the divorce process and before the
decree absolute is granted, we will explain the cost involved with
the transfer (including the notaire's fees and stamp duty),
the best time to transfer it to fall within the scope of
French capital gains tax (CGT) exemption and liaise with your
UK solicitor to ensure that the Court Order and Convention of
Divorce include the correct clauses regarding the French
property.
We work in collaboration with our colleagues
from our Family team, which specialises in
cross-border divorces. If you live in France or have just
returned from France, they can help you assist whether you can
divorce in England.
searching for assets in France
All land in France is registered through the Land Registry.
France counts several Land Registries per county (Departements) and
anybody can have access to them. Whether you wish to know who owns
a piece of land, or about any restrictions, easements, constraints
on that land, our French team will be able to request a copy of the
land form (Etat Hypothécaire Hors Formalités) that will
reveal the history of transactions and owners for the past 30
years. The form can also be requested to assess
someone's French estate.
relocating to France with young children
If you are relocating to France, or elsewhere
abroad, with minor children, our Family team can also be of help
with:
- dealing with applications for residence and permission to leave
the jurisdiction temporarily and permanently
- advising on contact arrangements between the child and absent
parent such as the amount of contact and timing, travel
arrangements, payment of cost of travel arrangements and indirect
contact arrangements
- assisting with child maintenance orders where one parent lives
abroad.
Find out more about the
issues associated with relocating
abroad.
