Q& W
Need advice? Put your problems to our panel A
e are an English couple and have recently moved to Brittany
from Southampton. We were married in England fi ve years ago. We have been asked what type of ‘marital regime’ we have. I’m not sure what this means – can you explain what a marital regime is?
CHARLOTTE MACDONALD of Stone King LLP responds (
stoneking.co.uk): Under English law we do not have marital regimes (also known as matrimonial property regimes or MPR) as such. This means that when you marry, whatever assets are owned in your name continue to belong to you alone and whatever is owned by your spouse continues to belong to your spouse alone. Even once married, you can choose to
Charlotte Macdonald
buy properties and other assets in your sole name, you do not have to buy them jointly with your spouse. When you die, you can, broadly speaking, leave all the properties and assets owned in your sole name however you wish. It is only on divorce that a
court will look at all the assets owned by you and your spouse as being in one ‘pot’ and will then split them between you as
BUYING IN THE DORDOGNE
We have holidayed in the Dordogne for years and want to buy a holiday home there. We’re struggling to narrow down location though - we want somewhere with restaurants and shops but don’t really want to be in a town centre. Also, we’re both busy with work and aren’t able to visit for numerous viewing trips - how can we best use our time to fi nd a property?
EDWARD SLARK- HUGHES of The Dordogne Buying Agent explains (
dordognebuyingagent.com): Buying a holiday home in an area where you have holidayed for
criteria and location for your holiday home will be important to narrow down. Firstly, I would ask, where
Edward Slark-Hughes
several years is common for many of my clients; however, there are some very distinct diff erences between staying in a rented holiday home versus owning your own. With this in mind, the
90 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 2024
have you holidayed before and what did you like about the area. Then, I would advise thinking about what you want and need from your holiday home. Are you planning regular short breaks, spending the summer months or a mixture? Would you like land, a pool, a garden or something lower maintenance which you can lock up and leave? Do you want a project, minor cosmetic works or move-in condition? Once the above factors have been considered, the next stage
is to focus on your search area. The Dordogne is split into four subtly diff erent Périgord regions – Noir, Blanc, Vert and Pourpre – and knowing it fully from a permanent purchase perspective is very important. With my help we can go through the diff erences and what each area has to off er in terms of towns and villages and value. How you plan to get to your holiday home will also help defi ne your search area. If you'll drive, you may have more fl exibility but if you plan to fl y back and forth regularly, you’ll need to factor in airline routes and proximity to airports or even proximity to trains from Paris.
Ask the experts
WHAT IS A MATRIMONIAL REGIME?
the court sees fi t – regardless of in whose name the asset was held in. The position in France is
quite diff erent – when a couple marries, they must choose which MPR (in France known as regime matrimonial or contrat de mariage) to enter into. These regimes are not only important on divorce to determine what each spouse will walk away with, but also on death, as the terms of the MPR can overrule your will to a certain extent. There are, broadly speaking,
three types of matrimonial regime in France: Community of property acquired during the marriage (communauté réduite aux acquêtes). This is the default regime in France. All assets purchased after the marriage are deemed to belong to both spouses – regardless of whose names the assets are held in.
Community of property (communauté universelle). If you choose this regime, all your assets, including those owned by you before your marriage will be deemed to be held by you and your spouse jointly. In some circumstances you can include a clause d’attribution intégrale au survivant. This clause will allow all your assets to pass to the surviving spouse on the fi rst death (but it does not
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