Documents checklist
What to prepare for your appointment, including documents issued abroad.
To prepare your appointment and save time, here are the main documents to gather for your project. The person handling your file will send you the complete list for your situation. You can upload your documents to your secure client space.
Documents issued abroad
- Civil status documents (birth, marriage, death certificates) must usually be recent, bear an apostille from the issuing country and be accompanied by a sworn translation into French.
- The United Kingdom and the United States are parties to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961: the apostille is issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in the UK and by the competent State authority in the US.
- Ask us before ordering documents: requirements vary with the document and the country.
You are buying a property
- Passport (valid) for each buyer
- Birth certificate and, if married, marriage certificate and any prenuptial agreement; for a civil partnership, the partnership certificate
- Proof of address
- Financing plan and, if you borrow, the loan offer
- Proof of the origin of the funds (bank statements, sale deed, loan documents): required by anti-money-laundering rules
- Buying through a company: articles of association and an extract from the trade and companies register (Kbis)
You are selling a property
- Passport and, if applicable, marriage certificate, prenuptial agreement or partnership certificate
- Title deed
- Latest property tax notice (taxe foncière)
- Technical surveys file (diagnostics)
- For a flat in a co-ownership: managing agent’s details, co-ownership regulations and minutes of the latest general meetings
- Works carried out in the last ten years: planning permissions, invoices and insurance certificates
- Outstanding loan secured on the property: lender’s details
- Non-resident seller: details of your tax representative where one is required (see our guide on selling as a non-resident)
An estate (succession)
- Death certificate (with apostille and sworn translation if issued abroad)
- Birth and marriage certificates of the deceased; prenuptial agreement if any
- Any will, French or foreign, and, where already issued, the foreign grant of probate or letters of administration
- Passport and civil status documents of each heir
- Title deeds and latest property tax notices for the French property
- French bank and life insurance details, and statements of foreign assets where relevant
- Evidence of debts: loans, invoices, funeral costs
- Latest income tax notice of the deceased (French and, where relevant, foreign)
A gift
- Passport of the donor and of each recipient
- Marriage certificate and prenuptial agreement, or partnership certificate, of the donor
- Deeds of earlier gifts
- Assets given: title deed and valuation; for a sum of money, bank details
Marriage contract, PACS or change of matrimonial regime
- Passport of each person
- Recent birth certificate of each person (apostille and sworn translation if issued abroad)
- Marriage certificate and any existing marriage contract
- Proof of address
- List of each person’s main assets and debts, in France and abroad
Indicative list. The person handling your file sends you the full list adapted to your situation. Version française
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