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Lawyer or someone to write a will
My husband and I wish to have wills drawn up incorporating the option to enact our national (uk/English) law giving us the right to opt out of the normal allocation under Napoleonic law. We are actually Scots.
We have resided here for45 years. Do the wills have to be in French(resident in Wallonia), or can they be in English?
Can one also do a Power of Attorney?
Does anyone know roughly what this would cost?
Does anyone know of a local lawyer in the Wavre area who would be competent enough in English to do this,?
You need to see a notaire, not a lawyer. I'd approach a local one in Wavre first, however you may eventually need to go to one of the larger notariat practices in Brussels to get someone who properly understands what you're trying to do, as they'll have more experience working with expats.
You could try Julie Crossland http://www.juliacrossland.com/
Any notaire should be competent to do this. After all, it is only the application of civil law and they should all have received training in respect of this change.
The wills do have to be in French, handwritten and witnessed, the notaire will arrange this.
Do make sure that the notaire explains the tax implications to you. This change in the law may (and does) enable you to avoid the Napoleonic succession arrangements, but it doesn't affect the application of Belgian tax law to any succession which remains as potentially onerous as ever. Avoiding the normal Belgian succession arrangements has the potential for considerably increasing the total amount of Belgian inheritance tax eventually payable.
I strongly advise that you read the book Rest in Peace by Marc Quaghebeur before doing anything.
Maybe check out this cabinet? www.scribea.eu, close to the Montgommery square. Reasonable tariffs for initial advice and guidance. Consists of a mix of people with notarial and lawyer background, to answer cross-border inheritance questions
Your will is not subject to any language requirements and can be in English. It can also be validly made in your handwriting and your language, without the need to go to a Belgian notary.
If you are a British national, you can apply your own national law and circumvent the Napoleonic laws that apply in Belgium.
Inheritance tax is indeed something else...
