The administration of a deceased person's estate in France is executed via a notaire.
They establish the lawful inheritors, evaluate the net worth of the estate, distribute the proceeds to the inheritors and ensure the payment of any inheritance tax that may be due.
In a case recently heard in the criminal court in Haute Vienne, a notaire based in the Corrèze department was judged to have violated the trust of 7 families who had entrusted him with their inheritance formalities.
The court found that between 2013 and 2017 he had stolen around €1 million from them.
The evidence presented in court showed that the notaire worked in tandem with a local taxi-ambulance driver to falsify wills. The duo targeted people with no direct heirs.
To reduce the inheritance tax payable the notaire minimised property values, increased inheritance liabilities and misappropriated life insurance policies. Real estate and other goods were then sold at an inflated price.
The notaire and his accomplice are said to have led visibly lavish lifestyles.
The police were alerted to the by a local couple who learned that a house they thought had been left to the commune had been misappropriated.
In addition to the prison sentence, the notaire was also suspended from the profession for 10 years.
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