A comparative inquiry on the matrimonial donations in the french and romanian law

AuthorCodrin Codrea
PositionFaculty of Law, Comparative Private Law Department 'Alexandru Ioan Cuza' University of Iasi, România
Pages19-24
AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, www.juridicaljournal.univagora.ro
ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677
No. 1 (2015), pp.. 19-24
19
A COMPARATIVE INQUIRY ON THE MATRIMONIAL DONATIONS IN THE
FRENCH AND ROMANIAN LAW
C. Codrea
Codrin Codrea
Faculty of Law, Comparative Private Law Department
“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, România
*Correspondence: Codrin Codrea, Faculty of Law, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași,
11 Carol I St., Iași, România
E-mail: codrin_codrea@yahoo.com
Abstract
This article analyses in a comparative manner the legal regime of the donations
related to the marriage in the French and in the Romanian legal systems. In the French Civil
Code there are detailed provisions of the donations made in relation to the marriage, which
cover a broader area of donations than the provisions in the Romanian Civil Code which
refer only to the donations between spouses.
Keywords: donation between spouses, donations matrimoniales, irrevocability of
donations
Introduction
In the French law, the donations between spouses are only one type of donations
which are subjected to the legal regime of “donations matrimoniales”, which include the
donation between spouses also recognized by the Romanian law. Regarding the derogatory
regime reserved for matrimonial donations in the French law and for the donations between
spouses in the Romanian law, certain differences occurred in the particular legal evolution of
each system – one of the differences is that, although the donation between spouses was
considered revocable in both legal systems, the French Civil Code does not exclude it
anymore from the application of the principle of irrevocability of the donations. This option of
the French law can be contrasted to the one in the Romanian law which states, just as the
Napoleonic Code did, that the donations between spouses are revocable.
1. The regime of the donations matrimoniales
In the French law, the donations between spouses which is explicitly reffered to in the
Romanian law, is generally approached in the light of the special nature of the rules which
apply to the matrimonial liberalities (liberalités à caractére matrimoniales)1. The donations
included in this category, distinctly regulated in the French Civil Code (Chapitre VIII: Des
donations faites par contrat de mariage aux époux, et aux enfants à naître du mariage și
Chapitre IX : Des dispositions entre époux, soit par contrat de mariage, soit pendant le
marriage)) are subjected to a derogatory regime from the general rules which govern the field
of donations. 2
Therefore, in the category of the donations between spouses, in the French law there
are included two types of donations – on the one hand the ones made in the contract of
marriage, and on the other, the ones made between spouses during the marriage. 3 Both types
1 Michel Grimaldi, Droit civil. Libéralités. Partages d’ascendants, Litec, Paris, 2000, p. 415, Étienne Riondet,
Hervé Sédillot, Transmission du patrimoine, Delmas, Paris, 2003, p. 159
2 Louis Josserand, Cours de droit civil positif franc̜ais, Vol. III, Recueil Sirey, Paris, 1930, p. 675
3 Michel Grimaldi, op. cit., p. 415

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