Legal requirements

In order to assist our clients with the legal requirements involved in purchasing a property in France, we have put in place several options:

• English speaking notaires
  To purchase a property and sign the deed in your name(s), you will have to use the services of a notaire. A notaire essentially does what your solicitor would do at home, and will purchase the property on your behalf and register the deed of the property in your name.
  When a property is sold it is the vendor who appoints the notaire. The buyer can go directly to the notaire to proceed with the purchase without the need to appoint their own notaire.
  
  However, the law also states than in the event that the buyer wishes to use his/her own notaire, they can simply request it on the contract and appoint a notaire of their choice. The fees payable for the legal costs of purchasing a property are known as “frais de notaire” and they will be shared between the two notaires. Therefore, using your own notaire will NOT cost you any thing extra.
  
  Obviously, we strongly recommend appointing your own notaire and we have a list of English speaking notaires to choose from. It is your notaire’s duty to explain the contract and lease (in the case of a leaseback) to you. Appointing an English speaking notaire will not cost you any extra.
  
  The “frais de notaires”, which are payable to the vendor’s notaire (even if you use your own notaire), are fixed in advance and include various fees and levies which will then be repaid to the government along with the actual notaire(s)’ fees.
  The “frais de notaires” for a new property are between 3% and 3.5% of the property price including VAT. They are higher for second-hand properties.
  Depending on the property being purchased, an English translation of the contract may also be provided, but it is the French version which you will be signing.
  
  
• Dublin based solicitors with knowledge of French property laws
  If you think using an English speaking notaire in France is not sufficient, we can refer you to a firm of solicitors in Dublin which has knowledge of French property laws and bilingual staff at hand.
  
  You will be asked to provide them with the contract which will then be explained to you during a meeting at their office. There is a cost for this service and The French Property Experts Ltd can cover part of this cost. Please contact us for more information.
  
  Note: this solicitor will not actually purchase the property on your behalf; this can only be done by a French notaire.
  
  
• Certified translations
  If you wish to retain a certified translation of the contract and/or lease we can recommend a Dublin firm which will be able to translate any document from French to English and have this translation certified. There is a cost for this service and The French Property Experts Ltd can cover part of this cost. Please contact us for more information.

Note: Having bilingual personnel ourselves, we will be more than happy to assist you with verbal translations of any non-technical/non-legal documents, such as letters from the builders keeping you up-to-date with progress on the development etc., throughout the purchasing process.

For further information on legal requirements please contact us