La Paulette (after the financier Charles Paulet, who proposed it) was the name commonly given to the "annual right" (droit annuel), a special tax levied by the French Crown during the Ancien Régime. It was first instituted on December 12, 1604 by King Henry IV's minister Maximilien de Béthune. Under the terms of the Paulette, the holders of various government offices could secure the right to transfer their office at will by annually paying the Crown one sixtieth of the sum that they had paid when they acquired the office.

a beautiful six bedroom estate located in Fish Bay, St