Getting Married in France
In ‘the Ballad of John and Yoko’, John Lennon immortalized the difficulty of getting married in France. He told the world of how the French authorities refused to allow him to marry Yoko on their one day trip to France. They ended up getting married in Gibraltar, a British Protectorate and spending their honeymoon in Amsterdam, that was far easier.
But don’t let that discourage you. French officials love a good romance, as long as you are willing to abide by the formalities which a marriage in France requires. Be prepared, there are very few exceptions to the law. Always check with your ‘mairie’ or ‘Hotel de Ville’ as requirements may differ slightly and ask for their leaflet- most ‘mairies’ have the information you need in printed form.
Here is the short version: yes there is a residency requirement, no, you cannot get married at a British Consulate and… you need to plan at least 3 months ahead.
There is a briefcase of documents you will need to submit to get things started- these must be in French or translated into French by a certified translator and be originals or certified copies.
You need to submit proof that one of the two future spouses has been resident in the ‘commune’ in which the wedding is to take place for at least 2 months, although the residency period varies with some ‘mairies’ and can even be as much as 3 months. There is the usual requirement for passport or ‘cartes de séjour’, birth certificates and decree absolute for divorce cases or death certificate of former spouse. Unavoidable and fairly disagreeable is the prenuptial medical certificate. You may go to a doctor of your choice who will order blood tests to check for contagious diseases. Slightly more tricky are the two legal documents you need to submit: A certificate of marital status or ‘Déclaration en vue de marriage’ and a certificate of law which states how the marriage will be recognized in the home country. You can contact the Consular Section of the British Embassy and for a small fee they can help you with both documents.
There are planning considerations to watch out for: the civil ceremony always comes before the religious ceremony. There is also the small matter of the banns. This formality exists in most countries and is a standard announcement by the authorities of a coming marriage. Its purpose is to invite members of the public, if they have legal reasons, to lodge an objection to the coming ceremony. In the case of foreigners the banns are published not only in front of the ‘mairie’ but also at their Consular office. Marriage bans must be posted not less than 10 working days preceding the date of the ceremony. The thing to watch out for is that the marriage bans cannot be published until the medical certificate is submitted.
Just to lighten things up, I found an interesting legal requirement which only applies to women: a marriage ceremony may only be performed after a ‘periode de viduité’, or 300 days since the woman was last married, for the determination of paternity probably.
As to marriage between the same sexes, this absolutely banned in France although there is the compromise alternative of the PACS (’Pacte Civil de Solidarité’).
Once the civil ceremony is over you can move on to the religious ceremony.
Not feeling too discouraged? Don’t overlook the legal implications: Under normal circumstances and under what is known as the ‘régime de la communauté réduite aux acquets’, marriage in France means that the assets acquired after marriage belong to both spouses equally. Assets acquired before marriage belong individually to each party as well as donations or assets inherited even if after the marriage.
In the UK there is no such thing as a marriage ‘régime’ but the French see the UK system as being closer to the régime of ‘la séparation des biens’, where each spouse normally retains ownership of assets acquired during marriage as well as assets owned before marriage. So beware, you might need to consider a pre marriage contract if you wish to benefit from the régime de la ’separation des biens’, this is especially so where you are resident in France and one of you has a profession which carries financial risk. On the other hand there are tax advantages to the surviving spouse under the ‘régime de la communauté universelle’.
You can even have a marriage contract to state which governing law you wish to have applied to the marriage, as long as one of the spouses is a citizen of that country or is a resident of that country. There are endless possibilities to consider so take your time to think it all through.
Finally, you may wish to register your marriage at the nearest British Consulate.
With a bit of luck, you won’t need to get married in Gibraltar after all.