COMPASS IMMOBILIER: Purchasing French Property - Persons Involved - The Notaire

The notaire

The notaire is the lawyer responsible for handling the conveyancing process. Notaires can trace their routes back to the Egyptian scribes and it is their responsibility to draw up the deed signed upon completion (acte authentique). The registration of this deed is the formality required for legal recognition of the transfer of ownership and only a notaire based in France has the requisite power to do this. They will commission the various checks and searches relating to the property and will often draw up the first contract (usually a 'compromis' or 'sous-seing privé'). Their other principal responsibility is the collection of the taxes payable upon the sale of real estate which mainly consist of registration taxes (droits de mutation), capital gains tax (impôt sur la plus-value) and sometimes of VAT (TVA or 'taxe sur la valeur ajoutée') on behalf of the State’s tax authorities. Some notaires also sell houses so their office may be involved as an agent.

Those from countries based on Anglo-Saxon law will be used to each party having their own lawyer or advisor to represent them. In the French system, the notaire often represents both parties as he is seen as a neutral third party assisting the parties to conclude the purchase rather than defending the interests of either purchaser or vendor. This can seem very alien to those from more adversarial legal systems. It is possible for vendor and purchaser to have their own separate notaires and this may be advisable in certain cases. It will not cause an increase in costs as they will share the fee. The sharing of the fee can cause problems in its own right as one notaire often ends up doing more work for less money!

Copyright All Rights Reserved Victoria Headdon, Compass Immobilier