Foreign couples and French marriage regimes: key points to know

Many married people who live in France do not realise that their marriage is governed by a particular matrimonial regime – and that it is possible to change it if it is useful to you.

This applies even if you were not married in France or if you were but did not sign a marriage contract before a notaire.

It affects how property (homes, bank accounts, furniture and collectibles, businesses…) is owned between the couple and what happens if one member dies, or if they get divorced.

For marriages occurring in France, the default regime states that everything acquired after the marriage (with the exception of inheritances) is owned jointly, but each spouse retains individual ownership of property they owned before.

Read more: What documents are needed by non-residents to marry in France?

French basic regime

For marriages outside France, the default regime is that of the country where the couple lived after it. In the case of the UK, for example, couples are usually considered to be under séparation de biens, in which each partner owns property they paid for or were given, unless a pre-nup was signed stating otherwise. Many US states’ laws are similar, though California is the same as France.

Some marriages also switched to the French basic regime after the couple moved to France. This applies to marriages between September 1, 1992 and January 29, 2019 and happens after 10 years with regard to assets acquired from that point (it is triggered immediately if both partners are French or become French).

It is, therefore, a good idea to speak to a notaire to clarify which rules apply to you. He or she can prepare a document to avoid such an ‘automatic’ change occurring or you can consider if a change of regime would be useful.

Read more: Married couples: Are you familiar with your French marriage regime?

The main variables in different regimes are how separate, or rather communal, the ownership of property is. The latter may simplify inheritance matters, so everything becomes the property of the survivor even in the presence of children from the marriage (this can be more complicated if there are children from other relationships). Other couples may wish to keep things more separate so the survivor is not liable to pay the deceased’s business debts.

Protecting your children

However, a change that may affect the rights of children and/or business creditors does respectively have to be notified to the children or published in a legal announcements journal, and three months are allowed for an opposition to be expressed, in which case a judge will decide.

In some cases, specific clauses can be introduced in a contract to make helpful modifications to how property will be passed on, without a complete change of regime.

It is best to tell your notaire your exact family situation and main concerns and wishes surrounding your property. English-speaking notaires can be found at notaires.fr/en/directory (click on ‘spoken languages’).