Free legal advice on French issues

A FREE telephone advice line is running this week to help anyone with questions about family life, buying a property or inheritance in France.

The service is part of the annual Semaine d'Information sur les Droits des Familles - a week-long information campaign organised by the Employment Ministry, which has family affairs in its brief.

Lawyers will be on hand to answer questions about the legal and tax implications of marriage and the pacs, buying property together, life insurance and preparing a will.

You can call the helpline (in French) on 3620 and say "Notaires et Familles" after the beep. It is open every day from 14.00 to 18.00 until Friday evening (February 19).

A series of free conferences are also being held in Paris this week - see the programme here for full details.