The pandemic revives interest in a morbid French financial scheme

WHO HAS not dreamed of owning a in Paris, or perhaps overlooking the Mediterranean? How about betting on the timing of a perfect stranger’s death? In France you can combine the two. In sales of property a buyer pays upfront for a residence while getting the keys only when the current owner dies. Covid-19 has revived interest in the morbid scheme.The concept of is nearly as old as property; rules laying out its modalities go back over a thousand years. Typically the seller gets cash for around a third of the value of the home at the time of the sale. Monthly payments from the buyer should add up to something nearer the full value of the property—assuming the seller dies at the time suggested by actuarial tables.