In French law, there are 3 different types of conjugality: you can be simple cohabitants, enter into a civil partnership or even choose to marry. While cohabitation only obeys very minimalist legal rules, civil partnerships and marriage are legally governed by the civil code. What is the right type of conjugality? There is no good or bad choice, but a choice that suits you according to your philosophy of life as a couple, your financial, family or professional situation. Overview of the different types of conjugality with Maître Ludovic Froment. #Cohabitation #PACS #Marriage Do not hesitate to share your opinion in the comments! To support us and help us create more and more content, subscribe to our channel: / @ledroitpourmoi LE DROIT POUR MOI deciphers legal news and the various legislative reforms for you in video. Our team of lawyers, media experts, offer you impactful content concerning business law, labor law, compliance, digital law, real estate law and public law. Find all our content on http://bit.ly/2sh3tSR -------------------------------------------------------------- 1- Cohabitation This type of conjugality gives great freedom to cohabitants because there are few legal rules. Cohabitants can nevertheless organize their life together and provide protection in the event of the death of one of the partners. A joint ownership agreement thus makes it possible to organize the management of assets acquired during cohabitation. The will makes it possible to provide for a transfer of assets to the surviving cohabitant in the event of death. The major disadvantage of cohabitation is of a tax nature. For the tax authorities, cohabitants are separate households. As such, each cohabitant must file an income tax return. Cohabitants are therefore taxed separately. This means that neither partner can declare their partner as a dependent, even if the latter has no income. In addition, partners do not benefit from the tax advantage of civil partnerships or married partners in the event of a transfer. The tax on the inheritance of partners is 60%. Conversely, the tax is zero in the event of a transfer between civil partnerships or married couples. 2- The PACS The PACS provides a stable and protective framework for civil partnerships but differs from marriage, particularly in social or inheritance matters. The PACS agreement makes it possible to organize the terms of living together and the management of the assets of the civil partnership partners. Two regimes are possible: the separation of assets regime and the joint ownership regime. With the separation of assets regime, each civil partnership partner owns the assets that they acquire after signing the PACS. In the joint ownership regime, all property acquired during the PACS, jointly or separately, is deemed to belong to each partner for half. However, the law does not recognize the right of PACS partners to inherit from each other. In order to protect yourself in the event of death, it is important to accompany your PACS agreement with a will. 3- Marriage In the absence of a choice by the spouses, the legal regime of community reduced to acquisitions applies. This regime distinguishes between the property specific to each spouse acquired before the marriage and the property acquired during the marriage which is common property. However, you can adjust this regime or choose another regime by means of a marriage contract. There are two main categories of matrimonial regimes: community regimes on the one hand and separatist regimes on the other. Let's first look at community regimes. With the universal community regime, all property and debts belonging to the spouses are common. This regime can however be arranged by different clauses, in particular the full attribution clause, which allows the surviving spouse to remain the owner of all the assets after the death of his or her partner. As for the separatist regimes, this is the regime of pure and simple separation of assets: each spouse owns the assets that he or she acquires during the marriage and bears his or her own debts. This regime is particularly recommended for spouses who are considering exercising a commercial or liberal activity. Finally, there is a hybrid regime: the regime of participation in acquisitions. During the marriage, each spouse manages his or her assets as he or she sees fit and is responsible for his or her personal debts. At the time of the dissolution, the assets of each spouse are compared on the day of the marriage and on the day of its dissolution. If one of the spouses has enriched his or her assets, he or she will have to pay the other half of his or her increase in assets.