24th June 2022
A surviving spouse must clearly express her wish to remain in the marital home, a French court has ruled.
Under French law, a surviving married spouse has the right to remain in the marital home until their death, but in the presence of children has a period of 1 year from the death of their spouse to express their wish to do so. The right is called the droit de viager au logement familial.
However, the law does not specify how that wish may be expressed and although in earlier legal rulings the exercise of this right can, in certain circumstances, be tacit, bizarrely it does not automatically arise from remaining in the property.