Section 4: Precipitation.

It may be agreed in the marriage contract that the survivor of the spouses, or one of them if he or she survives, shall be entitled to take from the community, before any partition, either a certain sum, certain property in kind, or a certain quantity of a specified species of property.

The preciput is not regarded as a gift, either in substance or in form, but as a marriage agreement and between partners.

When the community is dissolved during the lifetime of the spouses, there is no need to issue the precipitate; but the spouse in whose favour it has been stipulated retains his rights for the event of survival, subject to Article 265. He may require a surety from his spouse as security for his rights.

Community creditors always have the right to have the effects included in the preciput sold, except for the spouse’s recourse to the remainder of the community.