The fate of the Property during marriage and in the case of divorce

If you acquire a Property and the deed of sale designates you as the sole owner, so that only any potential personal creditors may be entitled to initiate an action to seize the Property; therefore, excluding your creditors, the only possible way your ownership could be jeopardized is in the case of divorce.

Under French Law, in the case of a divorce, the applicable law to a Property is the law governing the marriage and its dissolution.

The law governing your marriage is, unless otherwise stipulated in a contract, the law of the state where the couple elected to live as newly weds during the first six months following the marriage.

To avoid any risk of confusions, you may want to sign a deed before a French notary to place your French property under the French rules of “separation des biens” (separation as to property) or to the contrary you may ant to sign a deed stating that your French property belongs to the couple.

In any case, we suggest that you should get a French legal opinion to understand what will be the consequences of your marriage on your French property.