In 2002, Anna and Phil Brown decided to swap their house in the South West of England for the South West of France. After selling their house and business in the UK, they bought a farm in Gasques, which had plenty of run down buildings and land. They arrived in France with their two young children and several horses, knowing that they had their work cut out for them!

Whilst running their farm (growing mostly arable crops) they have always tried to find new ways of generating income from their property. Based on their own experience when they arrived in France, they understood the difficulties that people often face when moving to a new country with their own horses. Now in their mid-40s and having an abundance of land, it seemed an obvious choice to start a horse livery business.

Their business, “Brunel Horses”, has been a great success, as they themselves have helped people moving to France by looking after their horses while they get settled into their new homes. In addition, if the owners have to go away for any time, they are able to provide a temporary “home” for their horses. As their reputation spreads, so does their clientele, which now includes many French people who enjoy riding in their arena.

As time went by, Anna and Phil became more concerned about inheritance planning and so turned to Daphne Foulkes, the Siddalls Regional Manager of the Midi Pyrénées and Languedoc Roussillon, to help them. Daphne was able to advise them on how to protect each other against forced French inheritance rules, whilst mitigating the eventual inheritance tax bill for their children. An added bonus was that by arranging investments for inheritance planning, Daphne was also able to reduce their annual tax bills on their savings.

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