You won’t be surprised to discover that getting married in France involves compiling a raft of paperwork and of course, a trip to the doctor.
Legally, women have to be 15 (and have parental consent), and men have to be 18 to get married. The medical exam is primarily a blood test and an x-ray to detect genetic disease. The results are private and confidential, and cannot form an obstacle to the marriage. An AIDS test is not a legal requirement.
The first step is to collect the booklet Guide des Futurs Epoux from any mairie. This sets out all the paperwork required. The simplest list of documents required relates to French people who have never been married before, who don’t have any children, and who don’t wish to draw up a pre-nuptial contract. They merely have to prove their identities and addresses, and produce birth certificates and a doctor’s certificate.
You will then have to decide whether to opt for the régime de séparation de biens or régime de la communauté de biens – which roughly speaking means deciding whether a couple are going to pool their belongings or keep them separate. If either one is independently employed, or runs a business, or has a priceless collection of Ming vases, this can be an important decision, and legal advice should be taken before making a choice.
Things get more complicated for people with previous marriages and/or children, for people with large amounts of money and/or property to assign, and again more complicated if you are not French but are an EU citizen and finally extremely complicated if you are not even an EU citizen.
Church weddings
But don’t be put off. It is doable if you give yourselves time, and once you’ve collected the booklet from the mairie you’re ready to plan the date and the venue.
The service has to be conducted by the maire, and you have to get married in the mairie where one or other of the époux is domicilié: either one of you lives there, or you have close family living there. Church weddings are not legally binding in France, although naturally couples can opt for a church service with a blessing and many people do this as well as the ceremony in the mairie.
Having chosen the location, the next job is to arrange the date at the mairie, and possibly even book the village hall if you’ll planning a big bash to celebrate.
You’ll then need to start putting your dossier together, and the mairie should be able to help if you have any questions. Apart from proving your identity and your address, you’ll have to swear on your honour that you are not already married and you’ll have to show that any previous marriages and or civil partnerships are not only legally dissolved but that all disputes over property and children have been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties. It has to be shown that ample provision has been made for children and that access arrangements have been agreed and are working.
If you decide to draw up a pre-nuptial contract, you’ll also need to get this sorted out. This is generally done when there are children from multiple previous relationships, or complicated ownership of assets. At this point it is worth checking wills, life insurance documents and the details of who owns what part of the house and what would happen to any property in the event of a death. (The laws on inheritance and inheritance tax are currently being changed to the benefit of bereaved spouses.)
Check the small print
French inheritance law is changing as Sarkozy persues his ambition of encouraging people to work by lessening the taxes on inheritance but it is still worth checking your personal situation so as to be prepared, should the worst happen.
A minimum of a month before the wedding, you should hand your completed dossier in at the mairie where you’re going to be married. (But it is a good idea to submit the paperwork earlier so you can sort out any glitches or omissions.) Once the dossier is complete you can confirm the date at the mairie, and they will post the bans.
A useful French wedding institution is the vin d’honneur which is basically a large drinks party at which you serve finger food and apéros to more or less everyone you know. It lasts a couple of hours, after which the newly weds and close friends and family leave, either for a slap up meal in a restaurant, or for a more intimate party with dancing and music.
Weddings however are becoming increasingly original with brides choosing to wear salmon, turquoise, or fuchsia, and couples opting for informal parties or barbecues rather than formal sit-down meals, so you are free to design your own celebration in your own style.
TIP
Don’t think you can escape the paperwork by marrying a French person in some other country: when you return to France you’ll have to have your marriage officially recognised – which will involve jumping through all the same hoops!
FACT FILE
For more information about getting married in France, see www.mariage.gouv.fr (in French)
For more information on PACS (civil partnerships) see www.vosdroits.service-public.fr (in French).
For more information on concubinage, see www.dossierfamilial.com (in French).
For information and forms to download, see www.britishembassy.gov.uk
ON THE OTHER HAND
Needless to say, there is nothing to stop two people living together in France. To formalise the relationship (opposite or same sex) very slightly, you can go to the mairie and sign a simple declaration of concubinage which is free and requires only ID and proof of a communal address. If you like, you can even do this by writing a declaration yourself in the form of a letter sur honneur signed by two witnesses. This allows people to share health and social security insurance, and to take advantage of family tickets on trains, whilst retaining the legal status of a single person.
If you want to go a step further, and want to form a civil partnership between two people (either opposite or same sex), you can apply to the Tribunal d’Instance to sign a PACS (a Pacte Civil de Solidarité), many elements of which you can write yourself, as it is a legally binding partnership contract. This contract gives couples most of the same rights and duties as married couples and can only be dissolved by death or a second legal process.
Disclaimer
This dossier article is intended as a general guide only. For specific information relative to your own situation, please use the contact details in the factfile. The information given here was correct at the time of publication. However, if you notice a gremlin causing typos or any other inaccuracies, do please let us know.
Updates
This article was last updated 15 September 2007