French Civil Code

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…

If the order prohibits disposal of property whose alienation is subject to publicity, it must be published at the request of the requesting spouse. This publication ceases to have effect on expiry of the period determined by the order, unless the interested party obtains an amending order in the meantime, which will be published in the same way. If the order prohibits the disposal of tangible movables, or their removal,…

Are voidable, at the request of the requesting spouse, all acts performed in violation of the ordinance, if they were performed with a third party in bad faith, or even in the case of property the alienation of which is subject to publicity, if they are merely subsequent to the publication provided for in the preceding article. The action for nullity is open to the requesting spouse for two years…

Each of the spouses may, without the consent of the other, have any deposit account and any securities account opened in his or her personal name. With regard to the depositary, the depositor is always deemed, even after the dissolution of the marriage, to have free disposal of the funds and securities on deposit.

If one of the spouses appears alone to perform an act of administration, enjoyment or disposal of movable property which he or she holds individually, he or she is deemed, with respect to third parties acting in good faith, to have the power to perform that act alone. This provision does not apply to movable property referred to in article 215, paragraph 3, nor to tangible movables whose nature gives…

Each spouse may freely exercise a profession, receive his or her earnings and wages and dispose of them after paying the marriage expenses.

Each spouse administers, obliges and disposes of his or her personal property alone.

Each of the spouses may bear, as a matter of usage, the name of the other spouse, by substitution or addition to his or her own name in the order he or she chooses, within the limit of one surname for each of them.

The provisions of this chapter, in all respects in which they do not reserve the application of matrimonial agreements, are applicable, by the sole effect of marriage, whatever the matrimonial regime of the spouses.