Separation and marital accommodation
Separation and marital accommodation
There are various legal procedures for dealing with couples in crisis, including the famous "measures to protect the marital union", which can be requested either while the couple are still living together or if their relationship is suspended. In the latter case, the measures are aimed at organising the separation of the spouses. The measures to protect the marital union are intended to regulate the allocation of custody of the children, rights of access to them, maintenance payments, the potential separation of property between the spouses and, more specifically, the allocation of the marital home. Under article 162 of the Civil Code, the joint residence - the family home - is normally chosen by the spouses by mutual agreement. This means the house or flat that serves as the home of the married couple and, where applicable, their children. It does not matter how the spouses acquired the use of this dwelling, what matters in this case is that it has become the family's living quarters, the home where the spouses have decided to establish their so-called conjugal community on a lasting basis.When a separation occurs, the judge takes into account a set of circumstances to determine which of the two spouses should be awarded exclusive use of the family home. In particular, the judge takes into account the well-being of the children, but also the profession of the spouses, their respective ages, their state of health, their financial resources and the possibility of each of them setting up a new home. In other words, the judge will consider which of the two spouses would have the least difficulty in leaving the family home. Only if the separation is definitive and the spouses initiate divorce proceedings will the home in question lose its marital or family character. The court will then be able to transfer the lease or even ownership of the property definitively to one of the spouses, as part of the property settlement inherent in any divorce proceedings or the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime. Depending on the turn of events, this is when your friend will have to claim the property that he believes belongs to him preferentially if it has previously been provisionally allocated to his partner.
