Title V: Marriage contracts and matrimonial property regimes

When the spouses have declared that they are married under the regime of participation aux acquêts, each of them retains the administration, enjoyment and free disposal of his or her personal property, without distinguishing between that which belonged to him or her on the day of the marriage or has since come to him or her by succession or bequest and that which he or she acquired for valuable consideration…

The original patrimony includes the property that belonged to the spouse on the day of the marriage and that which he or she has acquired since by succession or gift, as well as all property which, under the regime of legal community, forms private property by nature without giving rise to a reward. No account is taken of the fruits of these assets, nor of those assets which would have…

The original property is valued according to its condition on the day of the marriage or acquisition, and according to its value on the day the matrimonial property regime is liquidated. If they have been alienated, their value on the day of alienation is taken. If new assets have been subrogated to the alienated assets, the value of these new assets is taken into consideration. From the original assets are…

The final patrimony includes all property belonging to the spouse on the day the matrimonial property regime is dissolved, including, where applicable, that which he or she would have disposed of mortis causa and without excluding any sums of which he or she may be a creditor to his or her spouse. If there is a divorce, separation from bed and board or early liquidation of acquests, the matrimonial property…

Existing property is fictitiously combined with property not included in the original patrimony and disposed of by the spouse by gift inter vivos without the spouse’s consent, as well as property fraudulently alienated by the spouse. Disposal by way of life annuity or outright gift is presumed to have been made in fraud of the spouse’s rights, if the spouse has not consented. .

Existing assets are valued according to their condition at the time of the dissolution of the matrimonial property regime and according to their value on the day of its liquidation. Assets that have been alienated by gifts inter vivos, or in fraud of the spouse’s rights, are estimated according to their condition on the day of alienation and the value they would have had, had they been retained, on the…

If a spouse’s final assets are less than his or her original assets, the shortfall is borne entirely by that spouse. If it is greater, the increase represents the net acquests and gives rise to participation. If there are net acquests on both sides, they must first be offset. Only the surplus is shared: the spouse whose gain was less is a creditor of his or her spouse for half…

The participation claim gives rise to a cash payment. If the debtor spouse encounters serious difficulties in paying it in full as soon as the liquidation is closed, the judges may grant him or her periods not exceeding five years, on condition that he or she provides security and pays interest. The participation claim may, however, give rise to settlement in kind, either with the consent of both spouses or…

The creditor spouse shall pursue recovery of his or her participation claim first against existing property and subsidiarily, starting with the most recent alienations, against the property referred to in Article 1573 which had been alienated by gift inter vivos or in fraud of the spouse’s rights.

At the dissolution of the matrimonial property regime, if the parties do not agree to proceed with the liquidation by agreement, one of them may apply to the court for it to be proceeded with judicially. The rules prescribed for arriving at the judicial partition of successions and communities are applicable to this request, as appropriate. The parties are required to communicate to each other, and to the experts appointed…