French Civil Code

Wills made in a place with which all communication is impossible because of a contagious disease may be made by any person suffering from that disease or situated in places infected with it, before the judge of the judicial court or before one of the municipal officers of the commune, in the presence of two witnesses.

Wills made in an island of the French territory, where there is no notary’s office, may, where all communication with the territory to which that island is attached is impossible, be received in the forms provided for in Article 985. The impossibility of communications is certified in the deed by the judge of the judicial court or the municipal officer who receives the will.

The wills mentioned in the two preceding articles shall become null and void six months after communications have been re-established in the place where the testator is, or six months after he has passed to a place where they are not interrupted.

During a sea voyage, either en route or during a stopover in a port, when it is impossible to communicate with land or when there is no French diplomatic or consular agent in the port, if abroad, invested with the functions of a notary, the wills of persons present on board shall be received, in the presence of two witnesses: on State vessels, by the administration officer or, in his…

On government vessels, the will of the administrative officer shall, in the circumstances provided for in the preceding article, be received by the commanding officer or by the person who performs the duties of such officer, and, if there is no administrative officer, the will of the commanding officer shall be received by the person who comes after him in the order of service. On other vessels, the will of…

In all cases, a duplicate original of the wills mentioned in the two preceding articles shall be made. If this formality could not be fulfilled due to the testator’s state of health, an expedition of the will shall be drawn up to take the place of the second original; this expedition shall be signed by the witnesses and by the instrumental officers. Mention shall be made of the reasons which…

At the first stop in a foreign port where a French diplomatic or consular agent is present, one of the originals or the copy of the will is given, in a closed and sealed envelope, to that agent. This agent sends this envelope to the Minister responsible for the sea, so that the deposit provided for in article 983 is made.

On arrival of the vessel in a port on national territory, the two originals of the will, or the original and its dispatch, or the original which remains, in the event of transmission or delivery made during the course of the voyage, shall be deposited, in a closed and sealed envelope, for State vessels with the Minister responsible for national defence and, for other vessels, with the Minister responsible for…

The vessel’s logbook shall mention, opposite the testator’s name, the handing over of the originals or the copy of the will made, as the case may be, to the consulate, to the minister responsible for national defence or to the minister responsible for the sea.

A will made during a sea voyage, in the form prescribed by articles 988 et seq. shall be valid only so long as the testator dies on board or within six months after he has disembarked in a place where he has been able to make it again in the ordinary forms. However, if the testator undertakes a new sea voyage before the expiry of this period, the will will…