<div>The last words my mother said to us were a prayer to die. 
</div>
<div>End of September 2025. After a brutal 3-month fight with aggressive cancer, the doctor pulled us aside: “There is nothing more we can do.” My mother, only 68, looked at him with fear and, in a moment of raw impulse, begged: “Please, let me go quickly.” 
</div>
<div>She refused our hands. Refused to let us stay. The shock was too much. The doctor sedated her to calm her, hoping the next day would bring peace. It didn’t. For four days, she never woke up. We sat by her bed day and night, helpless, watching her fade silently, no strength to open her eyes, no words left. On the fourth day, my sister and I fell asleep beside her, exhausted. When I woke up, her body was still warm… but her heart had stopped and a tear was slowly running down. She slipped away while we napped.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We thought the pain ended there. It didn’t. A few weeks after the funeral, we received the notaire’s appointment. The first estimation: 50,000€ in inheritance taxes... Usually has to be due in 6 months (by March 2026) or we will face monthly late penalties that grow fast.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>**Positive Update from the Notaire (November 2025):**</strong> 
</div>
<div><em>We've received a more accurate reestimation of the inheritance tax. The good news is that after reevaluating the properties involved—including our mom's house in Provence and the unresolved assets from our grandparents' and great-grandparents' estates (stuck in indivision for over 20 years due to family disputes)—the core tax has dropped from about €50,000 to around €30,000. This reduction comes from correcting overestimations in the old successions. However, this brings new fees: approximately €6,200 for notaire services, attestation immobilière, and déclaration de succession.</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>Additionally, recent French laws on vacant houses have added an unexpected about €1,100 tax for each property because they have been empty (we're unable to rent it out while the indivision blocks legal actions or we paid the inheritance tax for our mom house). </em>
</div>
<div><em>We also must maintain house insurance at about €700 annually to protect it. </em>
</div>
<div><em>On the brighter side, we've taken steps to cut costs: We've canceled most subscriptions like telecom, and reduced electricity and water bills to the bare minimum. Despite these savings, we still need to raise €35,000-€40,000 by March 2026 to cover everything and avoid penalties or a forced sale.</em>
</div>
<div><strong>******</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Why so much in the first place? Despite our mom living on loans and monthly debt in her small house in Provence, her legacy is tangled in three overlapping inheritances: 
</div>
<ul>
<li>Our great-grandparents (died ~2000), 
</li>
<li>Our grandparents (died 2018), 
</li>
<li>Our mother. 
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For 20 years, family disputes blocked the legal transfer and sale of the old farmland. The taxes stacked up. Now, with Mom gone, all start again and the French tax office demands everything at once, even though taxes on the great-grandparents' and grandparents' portions were paid multiple times before.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If we don’t pay by March 2026, we must sell the house to cover the tax. This is the only home we grew up in. The only legacy from our mom. Where she planted flowers and grew vegetables every spring. The lighthouse where we gathered for Christmas. My pied-à-terre when I flew back from Japan to visit my mom and relatives.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are two ordinary siblings, one in Japan, one in France, with no savings to cover this. 
</div>
<div>My Sister (44) – lives in Provence, works part-time, mom to two children.
</div>
<div>Me (38) – moved to Japan 10 years ago, teach French and English at a local language school, and do some programming. I have No family support here. 
</div>
<div>We each owe roughly half of the total burden. That’s still months if not years of salary each.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We refuse to sell the house. It’s not just bricks. 
</div>
<div>It’s: The kitchen table where Mom cooked her wonderful meals, The garden bench where she watched her flowers grow, silently, The scent of the burning fireplace in winter.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We have about 120 days left. Every day we delay, late fees grow. 
</div>
<div>We’ve already paid: 400€ – notaire advance, 
</div>
<div>1,500€ – 2025 resident tax (even though the house isn’t legally ours yet), 400€ – left unpaid following mom bank being frozen at her death for insurance to keep the house standing.
</div>
<div>other amount due to cancellation fees or unpaid services.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is where you come in. We need €40,000 total to:  
</div>
<div>- Inheritance tax: €30,000  
</div>
<div>- Notaire &amp; legal fees (including attestation and déclaration): €6,200  
</div>
<div>- Vacant house tax (due to French laws on empty properties): €1,100  
</div>
<div>- House insurance: €700  
</div>
<div>- Remaining bills (resident tax, income tax on last year mom's income, utilities for 2025–26): €2,000  
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>**TOTAL: ~€40,000.** We've set the goal at €40,000 to provide a buffer for any additional fees and keep the house safe.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>What your donation does:  
</div>
<div>- €10 = Covers a day's utilities or keeps the lights on.  
</div>
<div>- €50 = Pays toward the monthly insurance or reduced bills.  
</div>
<div>- €100 = Tackles part of the vacant house tax.  
</div>
<div>- €500 = Covers a significant chunk of notaire fees.  
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Our “Share Squad”: 
</div>
<div>My sister (in France), 
</div>
<div>Our dad (retired, heartbroken but helping), 
</div>
<div>Our aunt sharing in local French groups. 
</div>
<div>We don’t have influencers. We have you. There are 8 billion people on Earth. If just 800 give €50… If 4,000 share this on social media… We keep the house. We keep Mom’s memory alive.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Please. Don’t let cancer and French inheritance tax laws take our home too. 
</div>
<div>Merci du fond du cœur.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>**FAQ:**</strong>  
</div>
<div>- <strong>**Why can't you sell or rent the house the other houses?**</strong> 
</div>
<div>The indivision from old family disputes legally blocks any sale or rental until the successions are resolved—paying the tax is the first step.  
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>- <strong>**How will funds be used?**</strong> 
</div>
<div>100% goes to the listed taxes, fees, and bills; we'll post updates with receipts.  
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>- <strong>**What if we raise more?**</strong> 
</div>
<div>Any extra covers unexpected costs or home maintenance to honor Mom's legacy.  
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>- <strong>**Is this tax deductible?**</strong> 
</div>
<div>Donations via GoFundMe may qualify in some countries—check your local laws.
</div>

Anonymous

Support Us in Keeping Mom's House Amid €40,000 Tax

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