FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Elodie Mulon, Emmanuelle Bonboire-Barthélémy and Louise Astruc Baciotti, Chauveau Mulon & Associés
applies to their matrimonial regime or the mar - riage was celebrated in France (Article 7). If the spouses have not designated the com - petent court to decide on the settlement of the matrimonial property regime, distinctions are made. • If the settlement of the matrimonial prop - erty regime occurs simultaneously with the divorce (Article 5) – the French judge having jurisdiction to rule on the spouses’ divorce will also have jurisdiction over matters related to the dissolution, settlement and distribution of the spouses’ matrimonial property regime. However, this extension of jurisdiction will be subject to the spouses’ agreement when the French judge’s competence for divorce is based on the following criteria: (a) the petitioner’s residence is in France for at least one year, or for six months if they are French; or (b) rules of residual competence and the ap - plication of French domestic law (see 1. Divorce ). • If the settlement of the matrimonial property regime occurs after the divorce (Article 6) – the French judge will have jurisdiction over the settlement if: (a) the habitual residence of the spouses is in France; (b) the spouses’ last habitual residence was in France, and one of them still resides there; (c) the defendant’s habitual residence is in France; or (d) both spouses hold French nationality. These criteria are hierarchised. When no court of a member state has jurisdic - tion, French courts will have jurisdiction as long
as an immovable property of one or both spous - es is located in France (Article 10). The jurisdic - tion will be limited to this property. Contestation of Jurisdiction The jurisdiction of French courts can be con - tested by either party or by the judge. The lack of jurisdiction of the court must be raised, under penalty of inadmissibility, before any defence on the merits or an objection. Lis Pendens A party has the option to seek a suspension of proceedings in the French court while awaiting a decision from a foreign court regarding its juris - diction. However, the legal foundation for this varies depending on whether the states in ques - tion are two EU member states or involve an EU Under the Matrimonial Property Regimes and Maintenance Regulations, there exists lis pen - dens when two different courts of EU member states are seised with claims made by the same parties, with the same subject matter and cause (Regulation (EU) No 2016/1103, Article 17, Sec - tion 1, and Regulation (EC) No 4/2009, Article 12). In this scenario, both regulations dictate a similar approach: • initially, the court of the subsequently seised member state suspends proceedings until the jurisdiction of the first court seised is estab - lished; and • subsequently, once the jurisdiction of the first court is established, the subsequently seised court defers to the first court. member state and a third state. Lis pendens with a member state
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