Guides
Lost your French property deed? Find the source
Selling a Burgundy home from the UK with a missing deed? Identify the notaire or land publication service that can provide the right copy.
Contents
You still have photographs from the purchase, but the thick file received after completion has disappeared during a move. If you are preparing to sell a Burgundy home from the UK, make the search specific. Rather than assembling a substitute from incomplete photographs, start by finding the custodian of the document you actually need.
Your missing copy is not necessarily a missing original
Service Public identifies two routes to a copy of the title: the notaire or the relevant land publication service. The notaire retains the original deed, known as the minute. Losing your own copy therefore does not mean that this original has disappeared. Obtaining another copy can involve a charge.
First try to identify the office that received the deed and the approximate acquisition date. An old appointment email or file reference may help you locate the right contact, although it is not the missing title itself. Explain that you need a copy to prepare a sale and ask what information the office requires to find it.
If you no longer know the office, or acquired the property through something other than a purchase, say so. An inheritance, gift and purchase do not necessarily produce the document you have in mind when you say “deeds”. The notaire dealing with the proposed sale can help identify the relevant item rather than send you searching for the wrong document.
Give the search a usable starting point
Gather the property address, names used when the deed was signed, approximate period and any references already held. Check each attachment before sending it. A tax notice or plan may help identify the property, but should not be described as the missing deed.
If your name or correspondence address has changed, distinguish the earlier details from the current ones. Ask how any requested supporting documents should be supplied instead of sending a complete identity file to several possible recipients. A focused enquiry is easier to resolve and avoids circulating unrelated personal material.
Do not silently correct an old reference to make it resemble a current address. Explain the apparent difference. A changed street name, a different name on the file or several properties described in the same bundle is something to clarify, not an invitation to select the most plausible-looking document yourself.
The land publication service is another official route
DGFiP explains how to request a copy of a published deed from the service that published it. The applicable form differs according to whether the documentation dates from before or after 1 January 1956. A charge applies according to the request. Use the current official instructions and forms.
Do not choose an office because it is near a former French address or because it is the first result in a search. Start with the property and the information needed. Where publication references are missing, tell the service or notaire exactly what you have rather than inventing a reference to complete a form.
Check the returned copy before closing the search
Confirm that the copy concerns the expected deed and property. Look for the pages and annexes referred to in it; do not decide that an absent annex must be irrelevant. If several plots or lots appear, ask the notaire how the document relates to the current sale perimeter.
Keep the received file in its original format, together with the message establishing its source. A readable copy can support the sale file, but its personal information does not belong in a public listing. Our guide to inherited French property covers that particular route to ownership. Recovering the title establishes a useful starting point; evidence of later building work and the remaining sale documents are separate enquiries.