Obtaining a marriage license in France?

Question

I want a reputed site where there is detailed description of how to obtain a marriage license in France. What are the specific procedures and what documentation is required for a canadian citizen in order for them to get married in France

Answer 1

Here is the site you asked for: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canada-europa/france/consulaire/marifrance-en.asp
But read on. This is one of the areas of law on which I have some knowledge. There are several traps for the unwary, some of which might not arise until (God forbid) divorce, or death. They could invalidate a will or estate plans made abroad. The Odell v. Caron (the Caron was Leslie's father) litigation went on for ten years and reminded me of nothing so much as Jarndyce v. Jarndyce (Dickens, Bleak House). http://www.uniset.ca/other/css/caron-odell.html

If you are Canadian planning to marry in France, can I assume that you read French? I'm not going to translate all this stuff. But if, contrary to my assumption you don't read it, you can translate the sites by going to http://www.google.co.uk/language_tools?hl=en and using the Web site translation tool, specifying "French to English"

This is the general procedure for civil marriages at the Mairie:
http://www.alianwebserver.com/societe/mariage/mariage1.htm

Here are the legal provisions (on "capacity" to marry, etc.):
http://www.leparticulier.fr/vdq/famille/lire_fiche.asp?id_fiche=106

Here is a page from the US Embassy site. It's in English and probably tells you all you need to know:
http://www.amb-usa.fr/CONSUL/acs/guide/Marriage.pdf (PDF)

I do not know the Canadian practice but it's possibly the same as US practice. Many or most civil-law countries require clearance from the diplomatic post of a foreigner specifying that their citizen is "free to marry". That is possible in a civil-law country because the person's civil status will be on file somewhere, perhaps in a family register or "livre de famille". In Switzerland, for example, the town hall of a citizen's "lieu d'origine" (akin to "domicile" in Anglo-American law or "vecidad civil" in Spanish law) will have such a record.

In England no such record exists; as in Canada and the US one doesn't have to register anywhere and the countries do not really know who their citizens are unless they apply for a passport. If you wish to marry in a Continental European country and you are a British citizen, the workaround is to go to the town or borough or county hall in your place of residence and give notice to marry (the banns, etc.). This results in your getting a marriage license (in England, each party to a marriage gets a separate license from his or her own place of residence, where s/he must have resided for 8 days).

The US Embassy (and much less US town halls) can't help with such a document. So the US consular office will issue a letter that says in effect that "This person has told us s/he is free to marry and we have no reason to believe the contrary." So far as I know, every country accepts such a letter since it's the best they're going to get.

Here's the pertinent part of the American Embassy's leaflet:

"Civil Ceremony: To be legal, all marriages in France must be performed by a French civil authority, i.e., an officier de l'état civil, before any religious ceremony takes place. In practice, this means the mayor (maire) or his legally authorized representative, such as a deputy mayor (adjoint) or a town councilor (conseiller municipal) of the town must perform the marriage. It is mandatory that at least one of the parties to be married has resided in France for at least forty (40) days immediately preceding the marriage. All Americans marrying in France must comply with this requirement."

Documentary requirements for marriage in France:

Most mairies in France require some or all of the following documents:

1. A valid U.S. passport, or a French residence permit (carte de sejour)
2. A birth certificate (extrait d’acte de naissance) less than 3-months-old
3. An affidavit of marital status (certificat de célibat ou de non-remariage) less than 3-months-old;
French city halls also usually require a certificate of celibacy.
4. An affidavit of law (certificat de coutume)
5. A medical certificate (certificat d’examen médical prénuptial) less than 2 months-old
6. proof of domicile (justificatifs de domicile)
7. certificat du notaire (this is, in effect, a pre-nuptial contract and is VERY important. In the USA, and I am sure in Canada as well, there is a system called "partial mutability". If you live in Québec (or in a community property state in the USA like California, Texas, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, etc.) your earnings during marriage are community property. Your inheritance and gifts from your family are not. Earnings (accretions) on community property are also CP. If you move to a separate-property jurisdiction, your previously-owned property keeps its former status unless commingled or unless you change it (usually in writing).

In France and other civil-law countries your marital régime remains constant throughout marriage. It is specified (usually) in your marriage documents; or else you take the default régime of communauté des biens.

(If you move to the USA under local law your future earned property could become SP or CP depending on state; but under French law would probably remain subject to that pre-nup or default.)

This is all rather complex and I'm not going to belabor it here. Suffice to say that English law has never come to terms with the whole idea, and despite two famous old law cases nobody really can say for sure what they suspect: that the English system is also "immutability".

I suspect that your French notaire, knowledgeable as s/he will be about French law (and i have the same treatises on the subject here) will not know much about what I have written. The expert on Canadian private international law is Prof. Cassell and you can find his treatise in any Canadian law library.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

The best resource will be the Canadian Embassy in Paris. They will know what uniquely applies to you as a Canadian citizen. You can call them at 01 44 43 29 00 any working day.

Answer 4

try government of france website

Answer 5

Why?

Answer 6

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