Pacs vs marriage in France: what is the same, what only marriage produces and how each union ends

04

What is the same in a Pacs and a marriage?

Both unions require the couple to support each other materially, in proportion to their means unless agreed otherwise, and make them jointly liable for everyday household debts, except manifestly excessive spending, instalment purchases and loans not agreed by both, save modest sums (articles 515-4, 214 and 220 of the Civil Code). Income is taxed jointly; in the year of the union, each may opt to be taxed separately on their own income for that year (article 6 of the CGI, the French tax code).

Gifts between you get an allowance of €80,724, and the survivor pays no inheritance tax (articles 790 E, 790 F and 796-0 bis of the CGI). A Pacs couple can adopt as a married couple can (article 343 of the Civil Code), and an employee gets at least 4 days of leave for a Pacs as for a marriage (article L3142-4 of the Labour Code).

Sources: Civil Code 515-4 · Civil Code 214 · Civil Code 220 · CGI 6 · CGI 790 E · CGI 790 F · CGI 796-0 bis · Civil Code 343 · Labour Code L3142-4

05

What does marriage change for property and the home?

Unless their agreement says otherwise, each Pacs partner remains sole owner of their property; the agreement can place later acquisitions in co-ownership (indivision) (articles 515-5 and 515-5-1). Spouses married without a contract share what they acquire during the marriage; what they owned before, and what they receive by gift or inheritance, remains their own (articles 1401 and 1405).

Neither spouse can, without the other, dispose of the rights that secure the family home, for example by selling it, even if it belongs to only one of them (article 215; fiche F14485). The lease belongs to both spouses by law, even if only one signed it before the marriage; to Pacs partners, only if they ask for it together (article 1751).

Sources: Civil Code 515-5 · Civil Code 515-5-1 · Civil Code 1401 · Civil Code 1405 · Civil Code 215 · Service-public F14485 · Civil Code 1751

06

What happens when a partner or a spouse dies?

A surviving spouse who is not divorced inherits without a will: with children all born of the couple, they choose the usufruct of the whole estate or a quarter in full ownership, and receive a quarter if a child is not the couple’s; with no child, they receive at least half the estate, and in principle all of it if the deceased has no father or mother left (articles 732, 757, 757-1 and 757-2). A gift between spouses can leave them more (article 1094-1).

A Pacs partner is not an heir: they receive only what a will leaves them, at most half, a third or a quarter of the estate as the deceased leaves 1, 2, 3 or more children (article 913; fiche F1621).

Both survivors may stay 1 year rent-free in the home; the partner who owns it can remove this right by will, never for a spouse, for whom it is a matter of public policy (articles 763 and 515-6; fiche F1621). The spouse then keeps a lifelong right to live there, unless an authentic will says otherwise (article 764), and only a spouse, even divorced, can claim a survivor’s pension (fiche F13104).

Sources: Civil Code 732 · Civil Code 757 · Civil Code 757-1 · Civil Code 757-2 · Civil Code 1094-1 · Civil Code 913 · Service-public F1621 · Civil Code 763 · Civil Code 515-6 · Civil Code 764 · Service-public F13104

07

What are the differences for children, surnames and nationality?

In a married opposite-sex couple, a child conceived or born during the marriage has the husband as father (article 312); outside marriage, Pacs included, the father establishes paternity by recognising the child, before or after birth (article 316). Each spouse may use the other’s surname as a usage name (article 225-1); a Pacs partner may not (fiche F14485).

A foreign national married to a French national receives, on conditions, a 1-year “vie privée et familiale” residence card (CESEDA, article L423-1) and can become French by declaration after 4 years of marriage, 5 in some cases (article 21-2 of the Civil Code). For a partner, the Pacs is only one element considered for that card, and a Pacs alone creates no acquisition or declaration route to nationality; naturalisation remains possible under its general conditions (fiche F1026).

Sources: Civil Code 312 · Civil Code 316 · Civil Code 225-1 · Service-public F14485 · CESEDA L423-1 · Civil Code 21-2 · Service-public F1026