Chapter VI: Respective rights and duties of spouses

The spouses owe each other mutual respect, fidelity, help, assistance.

The spouses together ensure the moral and material direction of the family. They provide for the education of the children and prepare for their future.

If the matrimonial agreements do not regulate the contribution of the spouses to the expenses of the marriage, they contribute in proportion to their respective faculties. If one of the spouses does not fulfil his or her obligations, he or she may be forced to do so by the other in the forms provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure.

The spouses mutually bind themselves to a community of life. The family’s residence is at the place they choose by mutual agreement. The spouses may not, one without the other, dispose of the rights by which the family’s dwelling is secured, nor of the furnishings with which it is furnished. Either spouse who has not consented to the deed may seek its annulment: the action for nullity is open to…

Each spouse has full legal capacity; but his or her rights and powers may be limited by the effect of the matrimonial property regime and the provisions of this Chapter.

A spouse may be authorised by a court to perform alone an act for which the assistance or consent of his or her spouse would be necessary, if the latter is unable to express his or her will or if his or her refusal is not justified by the interests of the family. An act performed under the conditions set by the court authorisation may be set up against the…

One spouse may give a mandate to the other to represent him or her in the exercise of the powers conferred on him or her by the matrimonial property regime. In all cases, they may freely revoke this mandate.

If one of the spouses is unable to express his or her will, the other may be empowered by the court to represent him or her, generally or for certain specific acts, in the exercise of the powers resulting from the matrimonial property regime, the conditions and extent of such representation being determined by the judge. In the absence of legal authority, mandate or empowerment by the court, acts performed…

Each of the spouses has the power to enter alone into contracts which have as their object the maintenance of the household or the education of the children: any debt thus contracted by one obliges the other jointly and severally. Solidarity does not apply, however, to expenditure which is manifestly excessive, having regard to the lifestyle of the household, the usefulness or uselessness of the transaction, or the good or…

If one of the spouses seriously fails in his or her duties and thereby jeopardises the interests of the family, the family affairs judge may prescribe any urgent measures required by those interests. In particular, he may prohibit that spouse from disposing of his or her own property or that of the community, whether movable or immovable, without the consent of the other spouse. He may also prohibit the movement…