Club Clé France: Legal Services

We have been working with Loic Raboteau for many years helping clients with the buying process in France and many other French Law Questions, Loic is a French national and legal consultant specialised in advising private clients on cross-border legal issues between UK, France and North Africa.

Loic Raboteau

A real estate specialist with experience advising on international estate planning and tax issues, Loic provides legal assistance to British clients requiring legal advice in French-speaking jurisdictions and a corresponding service to French clients living in the UK who require a French-speaking legal consultant.

Prior to joining B&M Law LLP, Loic acted as head of the French and North Africa departments in UK-based law firms where he represented both domestic and international clients with property interests in France, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, and Mauritius. He is fully bilingual and his strong network within the legal, financial and real estate markets allows Loic to meet the needs of his clients and deliver a wide range of tailored legal solutions and advice in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Loic moved to the UK in 2002 but has maintained a foot in France by remaining engaged with the French community in London. He is a French law postgraduate and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (ACILEx).

Enquiry Form - Legal Advice

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About B&M Law LLP

B&M Law LLP is a law firm advising both individuals and businesses with interests and assets in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Latin America, France, and North Africa.

Their core legal practices include commercial, dispute resolution, company, employment, real estate, and inheritance, in fact most Domestic And Cross-Border Legal Advice under one roof with their team of multilingual solicitors.

B&M Law LLP are located at the heart of London's legal hub, a stone's throw from the High Courts of Justice, and together with our worldwide network of professional resources, we offer cost-effective, cross-border legal services to individuals looking to buy and / or live in another country to their birth place.

Guiding You Safely Through Your Challenges

Our commitment to our clients is deeply rooted in the high-quality legal services our partner provides. We build teams tailored to the specific needs of each of our clients, and our hands-on approach means we work closely with our clients to guide them through cultural and linguistic challenges. The breadth of our technical expertise enables us to safeguard our clients' interests and deliver practical, commercially sustainable legal solutions.

Our aim is to carefully blend high-quality legal advice with a deep-rooted commitment to our clients.

What Specialist Advice Do You Need

- We have specialist legal skills, industry experience and cultural know-how.

- We offer our services in English, Italian, Spanish and French.

- We guarantee high service levels and absolute transparency in relation to our fees.

- We make staying within your budget a priority.

- We don't just give one-off advice because we understand circumstances change.

- We periodically review strategies, tactics and tools to ensure objectives are being achieved and, where possible, to reduce costs.

- Our offices are equipped with the latest legal software and technology, enabling us to deliver a service that is efficient and carefully managed at every stage.

- Our strong network of professional resources located around the world enables us to provide a seamless service.

- We are a modern and progressive firm with the capacity to meet the rapidly changing, international legal needs of both businesses and individuals.

B&M Law LLP specialise in advising private clients on cross-border legal issues between the UK and France. The core areas of expertise are French Property Law and French Estate Planning. Our experience in these areas spans more than 10 years.

Our French Legal services will help you to overcome the difficulties of purchasing a French property and related estate planning issues as well as language barriers.

Unlike the English legal system, which is based on Common law, French Law is based upon a civil codified law system (the “Code civil”), although case law (“jurisprudence”) also plays an important part.

For a more personal advice contact Loic today using the form above. You may also be interested in some of our 'Buying Guides' on the Free Guides Tab Here.

The information that you give and that we obtain through you using this website may be used by this Company and by our partner companies only for purposes in connection with your use of this website and for marketing activities of this Company and partner companies. By using this site you confirm your consent to this. If you do not want to receive any marketing information from this Company and/or our partner companies then please notify us.

For everything you need to know about French property for sale visit www.clefrance.co.uk

Club Clé France: Legal services with Ashton KCJ

We are proud to work in partnership with Ashton KCJ - Legal services. If we think our clients need further legal advice or have a specific legal question that needs solicitor involvement when buying or selling a property in France we can recommend...

Matthew Cameron and his team for expert advice.

Ashtons Legal is an award-winning law firm with a strong focus on customer service. The legal teams provide a wide range of advice to businesses and private individuals regionally, nationally and internationally from offices across East Anglia.

If you are thinking of buying or selling a property in France, this should be an exciting time for you. But dealing with French Property Law can be extremely complex, adding unnecessary stress to your situation.

At Ashtons Legal our dedicated team of French property solicitors will help you work through the legal issues and contracts. We will not only hold your hand through the whole legal process, but will also liaise with Notaires, estate agents and other relevant contacts on your behalf. We are also able to recommend and refer you to estate agents based throughout France who we have been working with over the years to establish trusted and reliable working relationships.

We have in-depth knowledge of French inheritance law and tax, as well as the subsequent implications on your UK estate. We also understand and acknowledge family issues and the English implications of French property ownership.

Our clients benefit from reliable, efficient, expert advice and we provide a service aimed at taking the stress out of your situation.
Ashtons Legal’s French Legal Services Department is headed by Matthew Cameron who is a qualified solicitor with over 10 years’ experience in dealing with French legal issues. Matthew is supported by a strong French-speaking team including solicitor Sophie Hearle.

Barbara Heslop is a Partner at Ashtons Legal and leads the French Law team in Leeds. She is a well-known expert in the field of French property law.

They have in-depth knowledge of French inheritance law and tax, as well as the subsequent implications on your UK estate. Ashton KCJ also understand and acknowledge family issues and the English implications of French property ownership.

Cle France clients can benefit from the reliable, efficient, expert advice that Ashton KCJ provide which is a service aimed at taking the stress out of your situation.

Ashton KCJ's French Legal Services Department is headed by Matthew Cameron who is a qualified solicitor with over 10 years’ experience in dealing with French legal issues. Matthew is supported by Jean-Paul Vovor, a Diplôme Supérieur du Notariat, and Sarah Walker on Wills, succession and inheritance tax issues. He is also assisted by Pauline Sakhrani.

To contact Ashton KCJ or if you have a specific question then simply complete the Enquiry form below:

We at Cle France specialise in Property for sale in France through our network of Agents and French Registered High Street Estate Agents. We have sold thousands of houses for sale in France over the years and have helped many find and buy their dream home in France.

We can also help you with everything to do with buying a house in France including getting a mortgage, organising currency exchange, renovation advice, property surveys, planning permission, French translation, opening a bank account and everything to do with French property sales.

For everything you need to know about French property for sale visit www.clefrance.co.uk

Join Us on our Social Media Platforms

We would very much like you to join us and share with us everything we all love about the French way of life.

We share more about France and French lifestyle here, rather than just property listings and how to buy and sell property, we also try to make it fun and entertaining, so come and join us where ever you prefer.

Hope to see you soon!

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For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

Property for sale in Limousin - click here

Limousin

Lying between an altitude of 200 and 1000 metres, the Limousin is mostly a region, as you may imagine of hills, valleys and mountains. The highest point in Limousin is the Mont Bessou, 977 metres, near Ussel, in the Corrèze department, the highest point of the Plateau de Millevaches, which borders the neighbouring Auvergne region.

Forming the north western edge of the Massif Central, Limousin is a region that is relatively well watered, with lots of rivers and lakes. The south western part of the region, including the area round Brive, can be very hot in summer.

Rural Limousin is an land of deciduous woodland, of sheep grazing land in the north, and an upland area of spruce forests and grazing land on the Plateau de Millevaches (this is the plateau of the thousand springs, not a thousand cows, there are many more than that).

The Limousin region consists of 3 departments:

Creuse (23), Corrèze (19) and Haute-Vienne (87).

Weather

Transport

By rail from Paris Gare d'Austerlitz - regular trains from Paris to Limoges and Brive-la-Gaillarde, with connecting services to other towns and cities. There are also a few services from Clermont-Ferrand via Ussel as well as Brive to Bordeaux.

By road: the region is crossed north-south by the A20 motorway (Paris, Orleans, Vierzon and Toulouse), and northeast-southwest by the A89 motorway (Clermont-Ferrand, Brive, Lyon and Bordeaux).

Airport: Limoges airport has several low-cost airlines from the UK and other countries. There are also some good services to the new airport at Brive-la-Gaillarde.

Food

The region is most famous for its meat and in particular its beef. Other outstanding specialities are the AOC apples and Limousin's famous chestnuts. There is an unusual violet mustard and who can forget the Clafouti cake with cherries and lots of calories.

Sometimes the region is described as having poor, simple and dull food, but after several visits we can only say it is pretty good and currently thriving, even a short trip to the region will be enough to get you addicted to what some wrongly say is 'dull and austere', but they are wrong.

Leisure

The Limousin has a few claims to fame and most noteworthy is the worlds biggest maze at Gueret covering around two hectares and borders a 3000 hectare forest. There are several questions in the maze which, if answered correctly, help you to find your way out. Train rides in old steam trains is a popular pursuit as is Hot Air ballooning. Plus there are some very nice walks and treks though some of the most spectacular scenery in this region of very few inhabitants.

Property

Styles of property in the Limousin remind me of Normandy and Pays de la Loire as the agriculture and farming activities are very similar, also similar to the Yorkshire dales in the UK, I know this sounds strange but it is true. Many houses have slate roofs and are built of granite or similar hard rock and being a largely farming region there is no shortage of Farmhouses and cottages.

Click here to see all of our properties in Limousin

CONTACT US to discuss your search for property in Aquitaine or any area of France, or indeed for any further information you may require on buying French property, moving to France, living in France etc. just give us a call or send us an email, we will be happy to help!

Property Finding Service: We will do a property search for you to match you criteria but also you can try our Advanced Search: including saving your favourites and getting updates of new properties for sale in France and price reductions direct into your inbox, and you can also add your comments to our blog pages - simply sign up for your own account here.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

Property for sale in Midi Pyrenees - click here

Midi Pyrenees

Unlike many regions of France Midi-Pyrénées is actually a 20th century invention, created as a result of the "regionalisation" process that took place in the 1970s, I bet you did not know that!

Like the Pays de la Loire region further north, where I lived for 12 years until 2013, Midi-Pyrénées was established in order to create a region around a main town, in this case the fantastic city of Toulouse.

The large former provinces of Guyenne, Gascony, Languedoc and smaller areas, within these larger areas, such as Quercy, Rouergue, Albigeois and Foix are all either part or fully in the Midi-Pyrenees.

It is not too hard to understand that Midi Pyrénées is essentially a rural area; in fact, apart fromToulouse, it is a very rural area (just 55 inhabitants per km2, this is approx. half the national average), it is the leading agricultural region of France.

The Midi-Pyrenees region consists of 8 departments:

Lot (46), Tarn (81), Haute-Garonne (31), Tarn-et-Garonne (82), Aveyron (12), Ariege (09), Haute-Pyrenees (65) and Gers (32).

Weather

Transport

By train (TGV) from Paris Gare-Montparnasse or Gare-de-Lyon as well as the express train from Paris Gare-d'Austerlitz.

By car from the UK via any of the Channel ports, right across from Roscoff in Brittany to Calais.

Airports: Toulouse-Blagnac is one of the best served regional airports. Airports also at Lourdes and Rodez with frequent flights from London and other major cities.

Food

Hearty casseroles from France meet with the spicy dishes from Spain, here in the Midi-Pyrénées we like our tasty gastronomy. A famous food loving region that boasts fresh products such as mountain cheese, truffles and walnut oil on tap. Being hot there are many red peppers, tomatoes as well as the famous Bayonne-ham.

The Pyrenean region is widely known for Aligot (Aveyron cheese and potato puree). We must always end with a exquisite sweet, the crunchy Croustade-aux-pommes is my recommendation.

Not forgetting some wine to go with your meal then visit Cahors which is a small town located 100 miles (160km) east of Bordeaux. In wine terms 'Cahors' is known for its deeply coloured reds made predominantly from Malbec (known locally as both Cot and Auxerrois), with small quantities of Merlot and Tannat. Cahors is the only red wine appellation in the south-west to use neither Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc grapes.

Leisure

The Midi Pyrenees is good cycling country and is ideal for mountain biking and walking, for the more energetic why not try white-water rafting or rock-climbing, or combine the two!

Flying, gliding and micro-lighting is available at some small airfields. Horse riding is popular as is trekking through the mountains, always accompanied by an experienced guide if your are going off-piste. Golf courses throughout the region can be inexpensive as well. My passion is rugby and it is also a passion in Toulouse where important international games are played regularly.

One of the main attractions in the region is the Canal-du-Midi built under the reign of Louis XIV between 1666 and 1681, the Canal du Midi is home to 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, tunnels, bridges) and is a fine example of hydraulic engineering of the modern age. It is of course a fantastic tourist attraction now and messing about on the water is a fine way to relax and see the sites of the region at the same time.

Downhill and cross-country skiing is available in many resorts during the winter months.

Property

There are many styles of property in the region but I have chosen my favourite three:

Bas-Quercy houses: the living areas are located upstairs, the entrance door often being flanked with two windows.

Rustic stone houses: these houses are full of charm, wooden beams and exposed stone walls, very cosy.

Terrefort houses: this name is given to the clay and chalky soils in Gascony which are heavy and yet fertile, houses are often built into the side of slopes, hills and mountains.

Click here to see all of our properties in Midi Pyrenees

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk