Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

Savvy_Sue

I suspect you need both French wills disposing of your assets in France, and UK wills for your UK assets. You may be writing wills at regular intervals until things settle down ... I have no idea if you'd need both a Scottish and an English will if you had a house in Scotland but were living in England, for example!

However, your first step might be to find out what would happen if either of you died without a will while living in France, ie how much does it matter, especially if you don't own a property? There's bound to be a forum for expats in France, and I'll see if one of our expats from the Living Abroad thread will answer the question.

Also I note that you talk about 'a will' - you might want mirror wills (ie whichever of you goes first, the result is the same), but you need one each. You also need to consider who to appoint as guardians should you go together, or in very quick succession, AND where you want everything to go should the whole family die in a horrible tragedy. Those scenarios may be unlikely, but are worth considering.

droopsnout

Sandie5 wrote: »

Where do I start? Do we need to organise a Will in France because we are currently living here or in the UK because we have property there? Or am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?

Hi, Sandie5.

I'm not an expert in this, so if I give you my two-pennorth here, please don't take it as gospel.

As I understand it, essentially any will you make in the UK covers your assets there; and any will you make in France covers your French assets.

Although inheritance laws in France are set to change, any will you make cannot currently deprive the right of your offspring to inherit their parents' estate. So if one of you dies, your baby will inherit a part of that parent's estate. (The other part goes to the surviving spouse).

For a full explanation of inheritance law in France, you might like to have a look here, where there is a much more complete explanation than I could give here.

Given your circumstances, I would tentatively suggest that you are in little danger of a disaster if you don't make a French will before moving back to the UK. This is because in the event of one or both parents' decease, the child has an automatic right to inherit the French property.

However, you may need to consider any tax implications for your successor. And, of course, if you don't wish your child to inherit, then consultation with a notaire would definitely be necessary to see if s/he has advice on whether your wishes can be accommodated.

You don't say whether you actually own property in France. If you don't, you have little to worry about - probably personal effects and whatever is in the French bank account. If you make a will in France, you may be able to arrange specific bequests to friends and family from your possessions.

Hope this helps a little, but the link above should help more; and there are various specialist forums for British expats in France, notably the one at French-Entree.

I'm not quite sure what problem you envisage with your life insurance. If you die, whether in the UK or in France, the policies will pay out.

Good luck!

dr1.rita.v

Hi all
Long ago, I used to work in England and bought a flat for retirement in 1998. Due to change of plans, I had to go abroad. I am no longer a UK resident or a UK Citizen. My brother, also retired, has been living in the flat. He is a UK Citizen. I would to make will for him to inherit this flat. But not any of my assets abroad.
If this possible how do I go about doing it?

Savvy_Sue

Can you find a solicitor where you are living who specialises in UK law, and take their advice on drawing up a will? If you ever visit the UK, you could make such a will on your next visit here. All you need to deal with in it are your assets here.

However you do need to give some thought to where that will is kept (the executors will need the original after you die), and how to get a death certificate to them, so you may need some instructions or (the equivalent of) a letter of wishes with your 'foreign' will.

Sandie5

Think I said thank you via the button but not sure if it worked so, thank you for the reply and the advice

Sandie5

droopsnout wrote: »

Hi, Sandie5.

I'm not an expert in this, so if I give you my two-pennorth here, please don't take it as gospel.

As I understand it, essentially any will you make in the UK covers your assets there; and any will you make in France covers your French assets.

Although inheritance laws in France are set to change, any will you make cannot currently deprive the right of your offspring to inherit their parents' estate. So if one of you dies, your baby will inherit a part of that parent's estate. (The other part goes to the surviving spouse).

For a full explanation of inheritance law in France, you might like to have a look, where there is a much more complete explanation than I could give here.

Given your circumstances, I would tentatively suggest that you are in little danger of a disaster if you don't make a French will before moving back to the UK. This is because in the event of one or both parents' decease, the child has an automatic right to inherit the French property.

However, you may need to consider any tax implications for your successor. And, of course, if you don't wish your child to inherit, then consultation with a notaire would definitely be necessary to see if s/he has advice on whether your wishes can be accommodated.

You don't say whether you actually own property in France. If you don't, you have little to worry about - probably personal effects and whatever is in the French bank account. If you make a will in France, you may be able to arrange specific bequests to friends and family from your possessions.

Hope this helps a little, but the link above should help more; and there are various specialist forums for British expats in France, notably the one at .

I'm not quite sure what problem you envisage with your life insurance. If you die, whether in the UK or in France, the policies will pay out.

Good luck!

Think I said thank you via the button but not sure if it worked so, thank you for the reply and the advice

JayJan

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and have not read all 12 pages of posts so apologies if someone else has already raised this issue but, reading the first four pages, so many people seem determined to try to get a will as cheaply as possible (well it is a forum for saving money ) but may I add to the words of warning? There has been a rise in litigation by disappointed relatives perhaps due to some firms of solicitors inviting people to consult them and contest wills on a no-win, no-fee basis. Such solicitors can demand sight of all paperwork relating to the drafting and execution of a will and they are looking for a will being invalid through improper execution, shoddy drafting or lack of capacity or undue influence. If you try to write a will yourself you are unlikely to be aware of the steps required to defend against lack of capacity/undue influence and I've seen a number of wills, drawn up by firms which have been sent to testators which are not properly executed. It is worth the cost to make sure that you have the will drafted by a reputable company which offers face to face contact to take instruction and to execute the will.

I should declare that I work as an estate planning consultant, taking instruction for simple and complex wills (ie wills with trusts written into them), Lasting Powers of Attorney and lifetime trusts.

John_Pierpoint

An then you went a spoilt it by putting in that last paragraph.
At least earn your right to secretly advertise on the forum by helping a couple of hundred people first.

JayJan

Hi John -It wasn't my intention to advertise at all, secretly or otherwise: hardly secret when I've declared that my work involves wills and I have not, nor will I, promote the company that I'm with. My reason for the last paragraph was simpy to establish my credentials for daring to offer advice.

jem99

I have had my will written by a Solicitor on 3 previous occaisions (when I have needed to change the names of beneficieries or share of inheritance etc). I now need to do something similar again and feel I can do this myself by using the old wills as a template and then combining aspects of each into the new Will. Is there any major reason why I should not do this? The document will be 3 pages long. Can I simply staple the pages together (I have previously read staples should not be used on Wills)? Are there any rules about the font which must be used?