French Civil Code

The spouses may, by marriage contract, make to each other, or one of them to the other, such gifts as they see fit, subject to the modifications hereinafter expressed.

Any gift inter vivos of present property, made between spouses by marriage contract, shall not be deemed to have been made subject to the condition of survival of the donee, unless this condition is formally expressed; and it shall be subject to all the rules and forms above prescribed for these kinds of gifts.

A gift of property to come, or of present and future property, made between spouses by marriage contract, whether simple or reciprocal, shall be subject to the rules established by the preceding chapter, in respect of similar gifts made to them by a third party, except that it shall not be transmissible to the children of the marriage, in the event of the death of the donee spouse before the…

The spouse, either by marriage contract or during the marriage, may, in the event that he leaves no children or descendants, dispose in favour of the other spouse in property, of all that he could dispose of in favour of a foreigner.

In the event that the spouse leaves children or descendants, whether or not of the marriage, he or she may dispose in favour of the other spouse either of the ownership of what he or she could dispose of in favour of a stranger, or of one quarter of his or her property in ownership and the other three quarters in usufruct, or of all of his or her property…

The children or descendants may, notwithstanding any stipulation to the contrary by the disposing party, require, as regards the property subject to the usufruct, that an inventory of the movable property and a statement of the immovable property be drawn up, that the sums be applied and that the bearer securities be, at the option of the usufructuary, converted into registered securities or deposited with an approved custodian.