Practical

Sponsored feature: Experts on hand at special seminars taking place in November

My partner and I plan to buy a ski chalet in 2019. We have the funds ready now but are not going to be able to make the purchase until spring. Is the exchange rate likely to weaken?

RE. the reader query about the cost of living in France – a key point is income source. Anyone whose income is sterling-based should be aware of instability due to currency fluctuations. 

Some time before a UK resident sells a holiday home in France they may have made a donation-partage to their children (a legal procedure, sharing property among one’s children in one’s lifetime; for example giving them a legal right to a house, while retaining lifetime use). In some scenarios this might later have been revoked. How does this affect French capital gains tax and social taxes when it is sold?  W.O.

Is there an ombudsman for health mutuelles? Mine is refusing to pay for a second stay in hospital. GT

The inside story of readers who have had operations in France – and how they found the health service, by Gillian Harvey

We must change attitudes, says Dr Catherine Bernard, who is responsible for health at Mildeca, the government agency which draws up strategies to combat addictive behaviour. It must not be accepted as normal behaviour for young people to be smoking in front of schools, drinking regularly and smoking cannabis.

She spoke to Connexion ahead of November, designated as a Mois sans Tabac (tobacco-free month), one of the government’s campaigns.

Seen as amusing and mystifyingly foreign by many Brits, the bidet also went out of fashion in France but is making a comeback

My partner and I plan to buy a ski chalet in 2019. We have the funds ready now but are not going to be able to make the purchase until spring. Is the exchange rate likely to weaken?

I am 35 and disabled. I live with my parents and my mum is also disabled. Our incomes are intertwined, the three of us supporting the three of us.

But I am one of four children and my parents used the EU Regulation, allowing UK law, to make their will. I inherit everything and, depending on circumstance, will pay virtually zero inheritance tax.

My will, however, is harder as I have neither husband or children. There is no cash involved, just a property. I will leave it (my parents fully support this) to my niece and nephew. However, inheritance tax is around 55%.

Are there ways to cut the bill as they would have to sell a place they love to pay the tax?  H.G.

My partner and I are in a Pacs relationship and want to buy a property together. Can you tell us what the different régimes mean for ownership in our situation? A.L.

Most bullying - whether verbal, physical or psychological - takes place in collège

Montessori teaching methods - said to nurture a child’s individuality and creativity - are increasingly being used in state schools.

When 13-year-old Anne Amor moved with her parents to what is now Nouvelle-Aquitaine, she felt lost.

CONNECtivity is a big buzzword in business - and now it is bees that are benefiting.