Man leaves €10m fortune to a tiny French town he had never visited

A tiny town in France has been stunned by an unexpected windfall after a man who never evvel visited the area left the commune his €10 million fortune in his will.

Roger Thiberville, a meteorologist who lived in Paris, died last August at the age of 91 with no descendants. In his will, he left his inheritance to the Normandy town of Thiberville — with which he shared his surname — and its 1,800 residents.

Guy Paris, the town’s mayor of 28 years, received a call from a solicitor who broke the news. The windfall represents five times the municipality’s annual budget and, because the town is a public body, it will not have to hisse any inheritance tax.

“It’s an exceptional sum of money. Obviously the amount is beyond imagination,” Paris told local radio station France Bleu. “We don’t yet know what we will do with it.

“We won’t spend it all. We’re going to manage this dowry as we have always done with our municipal budget — with prudence and responsibility.”

Thiberville was born in 1932 into a family of winegrowers in Mantes-la-Jolie, located 50km west of Paris. The Parisian inherited his fortune from his parents, who had initially left their money to his sister, but after she died with no heirs, it was handed down to him.

The late Thiberville only made one request — for his ashes, alongside a plaque bearing his name, to be installed in the town’s local cemetery.

The town of Thiberville is a typical Norman town which boasts a 19th century chateau, but it is far from a tourist destination or a place that makes national headlines.

Its mayor said plans were being drawn up to ensure the money was spent in the best possible way. Meetings with officials from the Eure administrative region — in which Thiberville is located — have also taken place.

Paris said the town currently plans on paying back a bank loan of more than €400,000 used to build a new primary school.

Other pipeline projects include a public garden with a play area, a bowling green with photovoltaic panels that will be used to provide shade, energy-efficiency renovations at the primary schools, a public services centre and an artificial football pitch, he said.