Today is:
Service France
Q. I own a French property with my spouse and we are getting divorced in England. The arrangements we have made involve the property being transferred into my sole name. How can this be carried out?
A. It can be dealt with by a French notaire after the English divorce order has been made. This has been the normal practice with the spouses signing a document of transfer (acte de partage) often months or even years after the English divorce order has been made. This has the disadvantage of delaying the conclusion of the matter and normally involves the notaire used when the property was purchased getting involved. The notaire’s fees are fixed by French law at about 1% of the value of the property, plus the French equivalent of Land Registry fees and Stamp duty which is about 1.1%.
Q. Can the matter be dealt with by an English solicitor direct?
A. Yes, an English solicitor can deal with the conveyancing direct without the need for a French notaire to lodge the transfer document at the French Land Registry.
Q. I thought only French notaires can deal with registration of French property because they have a monopoly.
A. Their monopoly does not extend to court orders and, provided the French conveyance is annexed to the divorce order made by an English judge, the conveyance can be registered at the French Land Registry by the solicitor direct.
Q. Will the English solicitor have to charge the French notaire’s fixed fee of 1%?
A. No, any fixed fees are illegal in England and the fees must be freely negotiated. Sykes Anderson, English solicitors, charges 0.5% with a minimum of £2,000, plus disbursements. This is likely to make using an English solicitor cost effective for properties valued from €500,000. Clearly, the more valuable the property is, the more important the 0.5% saving on fees becomes.
Q. Do I still have to pay the same French Land Registry fees and Stamp duty?
A. Yes.
Q. Does this mean that I will not need to get my ex-spouse to sign any documentation in front of the notaire after we are divorced?
A. Yes.
Q. If an English solicitor deals with the conveyancing will my ex-spouse need to sign anything after we are divorced?
A. No, the court order made by the judge is all that is needed.
Q. We have a mortgage on the property; can you still deal with it?
A. Yes, but the bank’s consent will be needed to release your spouse from the mortgage and there will be additional fees (which would be payable in any event).
Q. Can my divorce lawyer deal with this?
A. Theoretically, yes. However, the annexure to the court order needs to be in the form of a French transfer (in French) and it is best this is dealt with by a solicitor competent in French conveyancing.
Q. Can my divorce lawyer use a firm such as Sykes Anderson to deal with the French conveyancing aspects?
A. Yes, whilst Sykes Anderson does not deal with any divorce cases it can work alongside your divorce lawyer to ensure the transfer of the French property is seamless with the divorce.
April 2008