Chapter II: Joint tenancy

The spouses may not, one without the other, dispose of community property inter vivos, gratuitously. Nor may they, one without the other, assign any of that property to guarantee the debt of a third party.

A legacy made by a spouse may not exceed his or her share in the community. If a spouse has bequeathed an item from the community, the legatee may claim it in kind only to the extent that the item, by the event of partition, falls within the lot of the testator’s heirs; if the item does not fall within the lot of those heirs, the legatee has the reward…

The spouses may not, one without the other, alienate or encumber with real rights immovables, businesses and holdings belonging to the community, nor non-negotiable corporate rights and tangible movable property the alienation of which is subject to publicity. They may not, without their spouse, receive the capital arising from such transactions. Similarly, they may not, one without the other, transfer community property into a trust estate.

The spouses may not, one without the other, lease a rural business or a building for commercial, industrial or craft use dependent on the community. Other leases on community property may be entered into by one spouse only and are subject to the rules laid down for leases entered into by the usufructuary.

If one of the spouses is permanently unable to express his or her will, or if his or her management of the community attests to incapacity or fraud, the other spouse may apply to the courts to be substituted for him or her in the exercise of his or her powers. The provisions of articles 1445 to 1447 are applicable to this application. The spouse, thus empowered by justice, has…

If one of the spouses has exceeded his or her powers over the community property, the other, unless he or she has ratified the act, may apply for its annulment. The action for annulment is open to the spouse for two years from the day on which he or she became aware of the act, but may never be brought more than two years after the dissolution of the community.

Each spouse has administration and enjoyment of his or her own property and may dispose of it freely.

If one of the spouses is permanently unable to express his or her will, or if he or she jeopardises the interests of the family, either by allowing his or her own property to wither, or by dissipating or misappropriating the income he or she derives from it, he or she may, at the request of his or her spouse, be divested of the rights of administration and enjoyment granted…

If, during the marriage, one spouse entrusts the other with the administration of his or her own property, the rules of the power of attorney apply. The mandating spouse is, however, exempt from rendering an account of the fruits, where the power of attorney does not expressly require him or her to do so.

When one of the spouses takes over the management of the other’s own property, with the other’s knowledge, and nevertheless without opposition on his part, he is deemed to have received a tacit mandate, covering acts of administration and enjoyment, but not acts of disposal. This spouse is answerable to the other for his management as a mandatary. He is, however, accountable only for existing fruits; for those he may…