French lawyer change of matrimonial regime Biarritz in the Basque Country

Since 17 August 2015, a major European Regulation dated 4 July 2012 has come into effect. The provisions of this Regulation apply where the deceased died on or after 17 August 2015. The Regulation aims at unifying the laws on inheritance so that the assets left by the deceased, whether movable or immovable, will no longer be divided and subject to different laws. They will be subject to a single law, the law of the State in which the deceased had his habitual residence at time of death. But this law also allows for the planning of his estate. Thus, this Regulation allows people to choose their inheritance law and to designate their national law to govern the whole of their estate. This choice of law is called "professio juris".  For greater legal certainty it is strongly recommended that you make this choice of law in writing in the form of a will. Nevertheless, the designated law will apply only on condition that it is not contrary to international public order.  The International Department of ETASSE et Associés will assist you in drafting your wills in an international context and in this choice of inheritance law. Our team will give you advice for considering the possibilities offered by this Succession Regulation but also its limitations. Indeed, although the Succession Regulation is "universal" in character (applicable regardless of the nationality of the persons concerned, even if they are not nationals of a connected State), its opposability in regard to third countries may raise some difficulties. Moreover, the determination of "habitual residence at time of death" can sometimes be tricky. Warning: this Succession Regulation contains no provisions on taxation. It will therefore always be necessary to refer to the provisions of the Code Générale des Impôts (the French General Tax Code), to the tax treaties signed between France and many States, and possibly the national tax systems of each State. Here again, seeking advice from the International Department of ETASSE et Associés will prove to be extremely usefu

The Civil code foresees that "two people of the same sex may contract a marriage when for at least one of them, either their personal law, or the law of the state in the territory where they have domicile or their residence, so permits it" (art. 202-1 al. 1 and 2 of the Civil code). Also, under reservation to respect these conditions a foreigner where in their personal law homosexual marriage is forbidden, may however get married in France. However, it is likely that this marriage will not be fully recognized abroad and not in the country of origin of the foreign spouse

To watch the video of the interview with Ms. Alexandra ETASSE on the role of the notary, notary's fees and buying property, follow this link 

Although the total amount of fees and taxes is often refererred to as «  notaire’s fees » (frais de notaire) ; the notaire’s fee is actually only about1%. Usually on a given purchase, costs are approximately 7 % of the purchase price, which include transfer duty, , Land Registry charges, the notaire’s fees and related VAT. All these amounts are stipulated by law , and are based on the value of the property. In general these amounts are the same all over France

This situation is very frequent. However, it can present a number of risks: the risk of being in the obligation to buy whereas the sale of the flat has not yet taken place and the price of sale has not yet been paid; the risk of having sold whereas acquisition has been made impossible due to external factors (important legal problem in the file); the risk of being unable to coordinate sale and purchase at the same time. Once you have taken the decision to carry through on this project, you must get in touch with  the international department of  Etude ETASSE et Associes in order to be counselled well upstream. In effect, a number of clauses must be inserted at the time of signature of the sales agreement or of the undertaking to sell in order to protect yourself with regard to the conditions precedent. Moreover, it is important for you to fully understand the stakes of this purchase/resale. Lastly, the international department of ETASSE et Associes law firm, with your assistance, must study your sale file in order to have the time to bring up and iron out any possible difficulties so as not to be subject to delays that might be prejudicial to you.

The lender's preferential right is a security interest on the property. This security is unknown in most States. In an international context the PPD cannot always be used. The validity of the PPD assumes that it is recognised under the law of the country where the property is located (French law) and under the law applicable to the loan agreement. Conversely the lender's preferential right will not be recognised if it unknown in either of these two law systems. If the property is located in France and if French law is applicable to the loan agreement, a PPD may be taken