The residents of a small town in Normandy received a large surprise inheritance as a Christmas present from a man whom no one there knew. The name just sounded familiar.
Little is known of Roger Thiberville.
He was a meteorologist who lived in a small apartment in Paris. Thiberville lived a modest life until he died on August 23 at the age of 91.
Thiberville came from a family of wine growers. He had inherited his parents and his previously deceased sister. Thiberville had no family and descendants of his own.
After the death, however, it was revealed in the will that Thiberville, who had lived in poverty, had accumulated quite a fortune. Among other things, he had four apartments in Paris in his name.
The will also revealed an heir.
His namesake would inherit. Not a person but the municipality of Thiberville in Normandy.
Five times larger than the city’s budget
Mayor of Thiberville Guy Paris received information about the inheritance already in autumn and summer. Only now, around Christmas, was its size revealed – 11 million euros.
The entire amount remains available to the municipality, as inheritance tax does not need to be paid on it. Although single legacies to communes are not uncommon in France, an inheritance of this size is rare.
The amount is staggering for a small municipality, as it is five times larger than its annual budget. The municipality can now pay itself debt-free.
– Residents do not have to fear municipal tax increases in the near future, which means a better quality of life, the mayor said For the French broadcaster FT.
According to the mayor, the inheritance will be used, among other things, for energy renovations of schools, building a service center for the elderly, a park and a children’s playground.
Roger Thiberville gets a memorial pyre in the cemetery of his namesake village, where he has wished his ashes to be scattered.
The flagstone will depict the sun and clouds, as befits a memorial stone for the late meteorologist.