It is one of the most consequential questions in a French purchase, and one of the least anticipated: can I buy this property — and borrow against it — in my name alone?

The answer has almost nothing to do with the lender’s appetite and almost everything to do with your matrimonial regime. In France, the framework governing property between spouses is no background technicality: it determines who signs the deed, whose name goes on the loan, whose income the bank can count, and what happens to the asset on divorce or death. For international couples this is unfamiliar ground, because most common-law jurisdictions have no direct equivalent.

Why the notaire asks about your marriage first

France applies a matrimonial regime to every married couple — a body of rules determining which assets are individually owned and which are jointly owned. If you signed a marriage contract before a notaire, that contract sets the regime. If you did not, the law supplies one by default.

For couples married in France without a contract, the default is the communauté réduite aux acquêts. Assets owned before the marriage remain personal. Assets acquired during the marriage are, in principle, community property regardless of whose income paid for them.

For couples married abroad, the applicable regime is determined by international private law rules turning on where you were habitually resident and when you married. Your notaire will establish this early — and international couples are sometimes surprised by the answer.

Séparation de biens: the most straightforward position

Under séparation de biens, each spouse owns their assets independently. There is no community estate.

This is the cleanest position for a solo purchase. One spouse can buy in their sole name, borrow in their sole name, and hold the property as their own. Lenders assess that spouse’s income and liabilities on a standalone basis, without requiring the other to join the loan.

It suits a purchase funded from one spouse’s pre-marital wealth or inheritance, an investment intended for one family branch, or a case where one spouse’s income and debt profile supports the application and the other’s does not. The trade-off is that the non-owning spouse acquires no interest in the property — a point for the couple to consider together rather than a problem for the lender to solve.

Communauté: both names, usually

Under a community regime, a property purchased during the marriage generally belongs to the community regardless of who signs. Lenders reflect this reality: both spouses will normally be required to appear on the purchase contract and on the loan as co-borrowers, and both incomes and both sets of liabilities enter the affordability calculation.

That can be an advantage. Two incomes support more borrowing than one within the debt-service limits French lenders apply.

There is one narrow route to buying alone under a community regime, and it depends entirely on the source of the funds. Where the purchase is financed from a spouse’s genuinely personal money — an inheritance, a gift, or assets held before the marriage — the property can be treated as that spouse’s own. This requires a déclaration de remploi in the notarial deed, explicitly recording the origin of the funds and the intention that the asset remain personal. It must be done at the time of purchase. It cannot be retrofitted afterwards, and without it the presumption of community applies.

Under a communauté universelle, where essentially everything is pooled, a solo purchase is not realistically available without amending the regime itself.

The consent rules that catch people out

Two provisions of the Civil Code apply regardless of who is named on the deed, and both matter to a mortgage application.

Article 1415 governs borrowing under a community regime. A spouse who borrows alone commits only their own income and personal assets — not the community estate — unless the other spouse expressly consents. Lenders know this. It is why, under a community regime, a bank lending a substantial sum will normally want the other spouse either as co-borrower or as a consenting party, even where only one name appears on the title.

Article 215 protects the family home. Neither spouse can dispose of the property serving as the family residence, or the rights over it, without the other’s agreement — whatever the matrimonial regime says and whoever owns it. In practice this means that a French main residence cannot be sold or mortgaged unilaterally.

The result is worth stating plainly: under a community regime, buying alone is possible in the right circumstances, but borrowing alone in any meaningful amount usually is not.

Participation aux acquêts and PACS

Participation aux acquêts operates as separation of property during the marriage — each spouse buys and borrows independently — with a balancing settlement on dissolution. For purchasing purposes it behaves much like séparation de biens. Couples in a PACS are, under the default regime, treated as separate owners, with jointly purchased property held in indivision in the proportions stated in the deed. Set those proportions deliberately.

Regimes can be changed by notarial act, with judicial approval where minor children are involved and with costs and possible tax consequences. It is a legitimate planning step, but not one to attempt mid-transaction: if your regime is likely to obstruct the purchase, raise it with your notaire before you sign a preliminary contract, not after.

The practical sequence

Establish your regime with the notaire at the outset and share it with your broker before the mortgage application is prepared: it determines whose financial profile will be assessed. If a solo purchase under a community regime is the plan, make sure the déclaration de remploi is drafted into the deed. And be candid about the source of funds — the notaire must verify it in any case.

Get this right at the beginning and it is a formality. Get it wrong and it can unwind a transaction weeks before completion.

Talk to BlueSky

BlueSky Finance arranges mortgages for international couples across France, and we structure applications around your matrimonial position from the outset — whose income the lender can count, who needs to sign, and which banks are comfortable with your circumstances. Contact our team early in your search and we will make sure the financing and the ownership structure fit together.