Find the right marriage contract for you

You are young and have little money

You're young and just starting out in life. You don't have any particular assets and drawing up a marriage contract is not your priority. What's more, you don't see the point, since you have little or nothing!

• The regime you need: community of acquests (also known as the legal regime)
• Characteristics: this is the regime that applies by default and by right to all couples who have not signed a specific marriage contract. Each spouse has his or her "own" assets, made up of those he or she owned before marriage and those received by gift or inheritance during the marriage. The spouse has no right to these assets. The joint estate is made up of assets purchased during the marriage. Each spouse has equal rights. He/she will receive half of the assets in the event of division(divorce, death).
• Our advice. This system may be perfectly suitable at the start of a marriage, but may subsequently prove inappropriate, particularly as each spouse's career develops. What's more, in the event of a problem, a creditor may very well obtain the sale of the family home without the spouse who is not involved in the debt being able to object.

Household debts

Household debts are all expenses incurred for the upkeep of the household and the education of children. They include rent payments, telephone bills, food, children's schooling and health expenses, for example. For this type of expense, the creditor can approach either spouse to claim payment of the entire debt, regardless of the couple's matrimonial property regime. Excluded from this category, however, and therefore from the principle of solidarity, are expenses that have no "family utility" (leisure expenses of just one spouse...) or are excessive.

You're a business owner and don't want to mix things up

You're running a successful business, but you don't want your wife and the assets you own to be affected if things go wrong.

• The system for you: separation as to property.
• Features: there are no joint assets. Each couple retains sole ownership of the assets they owned before marriage, and those they receive by gift or inheritance during the marriage. Assets acquired after the marriage also remain the property of the person who bought them. Property acquired by the couple during the marriage belongs to both spouses in proportion to the shares acquired (which correspond to the contributions of each). This is known as "undivided property". But the main advantage of this system lies in the way debts are managed. Each partner is responsible for his or her own debts. Each spouse's professional assets, income and, above all, debts are independent of the other spouse's assets. The spouse "responsible" for the expense commits only his or her assets, except in the case of a debt related to household maintenance or children's education, for which the spouses are jointly liable.
• Our opinion. Under this system, you should forget about joint accounts and keep accurate accounts. The major drawback arises when the first spouse dies. Here, the surviving spouse has no rights to the deceased's assets. The only solution is to include an inter-spousal gift or precipitate clause, which provides for the allocation of all or part of a joint asset to the surviving spouse.

You're no longer young and want to protect your spouse first and foremost

You're well into your fifties and have no children, or your children are grown and independent. Your priority is to protect your spouse from any money worries when you die.

• The right regime for you: universal community property with full attribution to the survivor.
• Its features: all assets owned by each spouse are pooled, regardless of when they were acquired (before or after marriage) or their origin, in particular assets received by gift or inheritance, unless otherwise stipulated. In return, and in all logic, the said community bears all the debts of the spouses, present and future.
• Our opinion. Perfectly suited to childless couples, this type of regime can, on the other hand, be detrimental to joint children in the event of a full attribution clause. On the death of the first spouse, no succession is opened. It is only on the death of the second spouse that the children inherit. What's more, while the death of the first spouse entails no inheritance rights for the surviving spouse, the death of the second spouse results in the inheritance of all community property to the heirs. In this case, the heirs have to pay much heavier inheritance tax, since the basis for calculating inheritance tax is the entire estate of both parents, and they only benefit once from the allowance provided for by law. Check with your notary that this choice is appropriate.

You are about to remarry

You're about to get married to a new partner who already has children of his own. To avoid any conflict with your stepchildren, it's best to draw up a marriage contract to set things straight. The regime you need: separation as to property. This way, everyone's assets are preserved, and children who are not joint will share only the property of their deceased parent.

You and your wife want to be independent, but still protect each other

You both work and your philosophy is financial independence. You both manage your own accounts and assets, but you want your other half to have rights to them in the event of your death.

• The right regime for you: participation aux acquêts.
• It's a totally hybrid system that works like the separation of property during marriage, meaning that all assets acquired before and during the marriage remain the property of the spouse who bought them. Each spouse remains liable for any debts incurred alone. When the spouses buy property together(housing, car, etc.), the property belongs to both spouses in proportion to their respective contributions. On dissolution of the marriage in the event of death or divorce, each spouse is entitled to half the value of the net assets acquired by the other.
• In our opinion. While the regime of participation in acquests may seem attractive at first glance, in practice it can be complex to implement. On the one hand, it is difficult to assess the assets of each spouse in the event of dissolution of the marriage by divorce or death. Each spouse has managed his or her assets as he or she saw fit. Calculations can then become complicated. The ideal solution is to draw up a precise list of each spouse's assets at the beginning and end of the marriage, to avoid disputes between the spouses over the amount of each spouse's own assets before the marriage.

The matrimonial property regime chosen at the time of marriage no longer suits us.

You can change it, and it's even easier than before. The procedure and conditions for changing matrimonial property regime have been simplified in 2019:

• it is now possible to modify the existing regime or change matrimonial property regime at any time after the marriage has been celebrated. Previously, it was necessary to wait 2 years;
• in the case of minor children, a judge is no longer systematically required to approve the notarial agreement establishing the new matrimonial property regime. However, the notary will still have to refer the matter to the judge if he feels that the children's interests are in danger of being violated by the new matrimonial property regime. As adult children are informed of the new choice, they can also oppose it within 3 months.

Marie-christine MENOIRE