Spending spouse: who can represent the couple?
Spending spouse: who can represent the couple?
"My husband is a big spender and that worries me. Can he represent me in all his dealings with our family or does he also need my permission?"
Hélène, Geneva
Under art. 166 of the Civil Code (CC), each spouse represents the marital union for the day-to-day needs of the family during their life together. However, beyond the day-to-day needs of the family, a spouse may only represent the marital union when authorised to do so by his or her spouse or a judge, or when the matter is not subject to any delay and the spouse is unable to give his or her consent.
It is important to distinguish between these situations, as each spouse is personally obliged by his or her actions and jointly and severally obliges his or her spouse as long as he or she does not exceed his or her powers. The family's day-to-day needs include food, clothing, personal care, insurance, children's education and holidays. It is also important to check that these items are not prohibitively expensive in relation to the household budget. It should be noted that if one of the spouses wishes to make a commitment on his or her own and not represent the marital union, he or she must inform the other spouse.
That said, the good faith of third parties is presumed. Therefore, if a third party cannot see that a married person is exceeding his or her rights of representation, his or her spouse will also be obliged. The consequence of this joint and several liability to third parties is that each spouse may be claimed in full for the debt incurred. This does not mean, however, that within a couple, the debt in question should not be borne solely by the person who incurred it, but this depends on the financial organisation and distribution of maintenance costs specific to each family.
Finally, you should be aware that if your spouse exercises this power of representation abusively, Article 174 CC allows you to ask the judge to withdraw all or part of it for the future.
