French law firm with an international focus.

We help clients from the USA and Canada with French real-estate property transactions and cross-border estate and probate matters throughout France.

Fabien Cordiez is senior dual-qualified attorney in both England & Wales and France. He is duly registered as an Avocat (French lawyer) with the Aix-en-Provence Bar Council, as well as the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales.

Buying / selling real-estate in France

We specialize in representing and advising English-speaking clients in relation to the legal process of buying or selling French property, including:

- Pre-purchase advice and legal documents review: Let us talk you through the French legal paperwork, suggest amendments and flag-up any issues;
- Review of French Realtors' marketing contracts;
- Legal representation and assistance through property transactions in France;
- French Title Deed Transfer e.g. following a divorce;
- Advice and help with off-plan property purchases;
- Dealing with latent defects ('vices cachés') issues;
- Can you cancel French property transactions before completion and, if so, how?
- Co-ownership issues;
- Common pitfalls oveseas-based buyers or sellers should avoid.

French leaseback issues

Commercial Leases termination rules and timing.

Compensation due tenant i.e. the leaseback company - how is it assessed, can it be avoided and/or negotiated?

Indexation of rents. What can you claim and how? Which time-limits apply?

Service of statutory payment demand or 'Commandement de Payer' (CDP) on French leaseback companies.

How to cancel a leaseback agreement for unpaid rents?

French leaseback re-sales.

Mortgage foreclosure and repossession of French leaseback properties - why can't can one just hand-over the keys to the bank?

Sale of French leaseback properties in negative equity, on a no-recourse basis, with lender's approval.

Cross-border successions, French Wills and Inheritance

Expert legal advice on French inheritance and succession laws.

Probate in France: What steps must be taken following death?

Legal assistance over French succession procedures.

French Wills drafting. Should you make a French Will, or one in your home Country covering your French property?

Making French law compliant foreign Wills.

French inheritance tax, gift tax and civil partnerships (PACS).

Joint ownership, 'tontine' clauses, ownership in common and French Matrimonial Agreements.

French Will searches - let us find out whether a deceased person e.g. a relative made and recorded a Will in France.

French mortgage matters

Buying French property subject to mortgage? The do's and don't of the mortgage application process in France.

Looking for an English-speaking French Attorney to try and negotiate a repayment holiday with French lenders?

How to avoid mortgage foreclosure?

Privately selling French property whilst repossession proceedings are pending.

Can French banks chase you in the USA or Canada after your French property has been repossessed and sold by the Court?

French Land Registry Searches

We help provide answers to questions such as:
- Who owns this specific building or land?
- Assets-tracing: Does this given individual or company own real-estate in France?

Order an official copy of the register to prove property ownership, for a court case for example.

We can help you retrieve a copy of your French property's title deeds.

Being dual-qualified Franco-British lawyers, we issue reports in English which include ownership history, property transaction values, records of any encumbrances, whether title been transferred and - if so - to whom and when.

Process service in France

We are one of the few firms of French attorneys that handle international service of process in France.

Our job is to cut through the bureaucracy and red tape to get service of legal documents in France completed with as little delay as possible.

Rather than using the Central Authority system, we arrange formal service via carefully selected judicial officers (bailiffs).

We ensure that judicial documents originating from overseas get served in France through licensed bailiffs, in compliance with the French CPR and - as applicable - the Hague Convention.

Dual-qualified Franco-British Attorney

I am Fabien Cordiez, a qualified French attorney in legal practice since 1994.

Having gained valuable experience practising in major law firms and banks in the UK, I re-qualified as Solicitor of England and Wales in 2000 and set up my own practice in Southern France in 2002.

Cordiez Avocats & Solicitors is a niche, client-focused law firm which specializes in French real-estate law and cross-border succession matters. We make French property law and inheritance matters understandable to English-speaking clients, including people and businesses in the United States and Canada.

Fabien Cordiez, French Lawyer and Solicitor

solicitor.fr is a domain name and trade mark registered to, and the property of,
Fabien Cordiez Avocat & Solicitor, a qualified French lawyer in legal practice, member of the Aix-en-Provence Law Bar Council. Mr Cordiez also is a qualified, admitted, Solicitor of England and Wales, registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (solely practising as French lawyer).

Fabien Cordiez