This is why you need an avocat when selling your French property

Selling your house in France? Keep an eye on your liabilities or you could end up in a difficult situation

Unsure of what the Brexit negotiations between the UK and France are going to entail, some British people have decided to sell their property in France.

Firstly, you do not need to move back to the UK, we at BRIGHT AVOCATS can help you navigate Brexit and what it means for you. But if you’ve decided to sell up then that’s your choice, but be aware of what selling your property entails.

In a previous article we discussed the importance of asking a French lawyer to assist you with your property purchase, we will now see the reasons why the assistance of a lawyer is also important when you sell your property.

In France, the law is more rigid for sellers than for buyers, with their liability extending for a long time after the sale.

Indeed, when you sell your house, you must make a certain number of declarations that bind you, for example regarding easements (access rights given to a third party on your property), construction work done on the house…

The notaire in charge of the sale will ask you if you have created a right of way on the property but we at BRIGHT AVOCATS will spend time with you to explain practical situations that can create a right of way, so that you know exactly whether you have created such a right.

For example, most people do not realise that if you let a neighbouring farmer use a portion of your property, you have created a right for him on your property and it has consequences for the sale.

In the same way, you will be asked if you have done any work on the house which could make you liable for the ten-year guarantee, this not only means major construction work but can also mean such things as modifying the heating system.

At BRIGHT AVOCATS we have successfully helped many clients escape future liability by spending time with them explaining in detail every clause in the compromis de vente so that they can be modified before signing.

Not only is it important to seek legal advice as you sell the property, but it is also advisable before you even put your property on the market.

BRIGHT AVOCATS have encountered a number of cases where British clients thought they could apply the British way of selling a house to their French property. This resulted in them being legally committed to two different buyers, and once they had realised it, they tried to rectify things themselves, only to find themselves in an even stickier situation.

This is one of the many reasons why it is important that once you have decided to sell your house in France, that you seek sound advice from a French lawyer. Leave France if you really must, but do not leave yourself with liabilities.

Bright Avocats are French-trained bilingual avocats that practise throughout the Southwest of France. They advise on Real Estate transactions, but also practise Construction law, Inheritance, Tax Planning, Family law, Corporate and Commercial law, Labour law and Criminal law.

16 place Saint-Georges 31000 Toulouse – 05 61 57 90 86

www.brightavocats.com – [email protected]