Notary in France to assist you with a Trust Annecy en Haute-Savoie 74

Marriage, a union and mutual commitment between two people, is considered as being international in the three following scenarios: the union of two French nationals living abroad, of two foreign nationals living in France, or two spouses of different nationalities. Though these situations are increasingly frequent, special attention however needs to be paid to the requirements for international marriages to be recognised in order to ensure the latter's full effectiveness and avoid any subsequent difficulties. Generally speaking, to be recognised, a marriage must comply with the local rules applicable in the location where the marriage was celebrated, as regards the formal requirements (ex: civil or religious marriage, etc.) and the personal rules applicable to the spouses (depending on their nationality), as regards substantive requirements (ex: age of majority). The situation of French nationals abroad and foreign nationals in France must thus be distinguished. * conditions for the recognition of marriages between French nationals abroad: Many formalities must imperatively be observed should French nationals marry abroad. Before marrying, the future spouses will need to request the French consulate of the country in which the marriage is to be celebrated to establish a "certificate of no impediment". Next, the spouses will need to "publish the banns". Finally, the marriage will imperatively need to be recorded in the French civil status registers. To do so, the spouses will need to contact the French Consulate or Embassy. *conditions for the recognition of marriages between foreign nationals in France: In this case, the local rules – i.e. the French rules – will apply. The marriage will thus be celebrated before a French Civil Registrar. If the two spouses share the same foreign nationality, their marriage may also sometimes be celebrated in front of their country's consular or diplomatic authorities. However, the substantive requirements under the law of each of the spouses' countries will need to be observed (ex: as regards the age of majority) and the spouses will need to make sure that their national laws do not impose a religious celebration as a condition for validity. If the foreign law imposes the latter requirement, it would then be in the spouses' best interest to carry out a religious marriage after the civil marriage in order to ensure the effectiveness of their union in their country of origin.

Even without a marriage contract, the spouses are necessarily subject to a matrimonial regime and their marriage entails financial consequences towards each other and third parties. In the absence of a marriage contract, the law implicitly chosen by the spouses in order to define their matrimonial regime must be determined. The rules in order to determine this "implicit choice" are different according to whether the spouses were married before or after 1 September 1992. *For spouses married after 1 September 1992 The provisions of the Hague Convention of 14 March 1978, which came into force on 1 September 1992 in France and several other countries, apply. The nature of this convention is "universal", i.e. it also applies to spouses who are nationals of third-party countries that did not sign the Convention, in order to determine their matrimonial regime in France. The principle is set out in article 4, paragraph 1, which provides that in the absence of a marriage contract prior to their union, the spouses are subject to the law of their first habitual country of residence once married. However several exceptions to this principle are provided so as to designate the spouses' common national law instead of the law of their first habitual country of residence. More specifically, these exceptions apply in the absence of a common habitual residence after marriage and with spouses of the same nationality. *For spouses married before 1 September 1992 For spouses married before 1 September 1992, the rules of French international law and case law apply; the latter adopt the principle of freedom of choice and consider that this choice translates by the selection of the spouses' first matrimonial place of residence. However, this matrimonial place of residence must have a certain stability. In general, a period of two years is needed in order to determine the matrimonial place of residence. However, case law specifies that the presumption in favour of the first matrimonial place of residence may be invalidated by other relevant evidence, depending in particular on the behaviour of the spouses once married. 

In an international context, the future spouses will need to anticipate the issue of determining their matrimonial regime. To this end, the international department of ETASSE et Associés advises its French clients living abroad or foreign clients living in France, in order to determine the most suitable matrimonial regime for their situation. Only a marriage contract may guarantee spouses the legal security and stability in an international context. For spouses already married, the international department assists them with any change in the applicable law or regime. 

A non-resident may sell real estate property situated in France. In principle these disposals are subject to tax in France. However, certain provisions can limit or eliminate this tax. The sale of a property in France by a non-resident individual comes under the regime of real estate capital gains. Since 1 January 2015, the real estate capital gains of individuals are taxed at a single rate of 19% to which social charges are usually added (subject to what we discuss below). The provisions for exemption from real estate capital gains existing for residents also apply to non-residents (e.g., disposal of property held for more than 30 years, or for more than 22 years in some cases, etc.). 

The gift between spouses, also called "gift to the last survivor" is very often used by couples wishing to increase their protection in the event of death. But this institution is little known abroad. It is unknown under some law systems, while others prohibit it. Moreover, in an international context, a gift between spouses can raise difficulties. To avoid such difficulties, it often appears wiser for a couple owning assets abroad or living abroad or when at least one of the partners is of foreign nationality, to make wills. Spouses may establish themselves by will reciprocally as sole legatees. Thus the objective sought by the gift between spouses, namely to increase the protection of the surviving spouse, will be achieved. 

The lender's preferential right is a security interest on the property. This security is unknown in most States. In an international context the PPD cannot always be used. The validity of the PPD assumes that it is recognised under the law of the country where the property is located (French law) and under the law applicable to the loan agreement. Conversely the lender's preferential right will not be recognised if it unknown in either of these two law systems. If the property is located in France and if French law is applicable to the loan agreement, a PPD may be taken