The donation in question

The donation in question

"In the case of a gift from a parent to a child (of legal age) and if the latter is married, does his or her spouse have a right to this estate in the event of divorce?"

If the spouses do not choose a particular matrimonial property regime, they are automatically subject to the regime of participation aux acquêts. This regime gives the spouses full possession of their own property and authorises them to administer it alone. Only the acquests are shared in the event of divorce. The question is therefore whether the gift is an acquest or an own asset.

Article 197 of the Civil Code (CC) defines acquests as including the proceeds of work (salary), damages due as a result of incapacity for work, sums paid by a pension fund, income from one's own property and property acquired as a replacement for acquests. Own property is defined in art. 198 of the Civil Code: it consists of a spouse's belongings used exclusively for his or her own personal use, claims for compensation for non-material wrongs, property acquired in replacement of own property and property belonging to the spouse at the start of the matrimonial property regime or which subsequently falls to him or her by inheritance or on some other gratuitous basis.

The gift to your child is part of the property that falls to him or her free of charge. It is therefore his or her own property. Your child will not have to share the gift with his or her spouse in the event of a divorce.

However, it is important to point out that, although this gift will have no impact on the division of your child's estate in the event of divorce, it could pose problems for your other heirs (of whom your child's hypothetical future spouse is not legally a member, unless you specify this in a will). In order to reconstitute the estate, this sum may be subject to deduction or even reduction.