cc in nyc May 4, 2012:

@ Eyma A suggestion for future posts: Limit the thread title to the term under discussion (e.g., "contrat de mariage") in order to focus discussion on the term in question and minimize side discussions (spouses vs. bride and groom, declare vs. acknowledge, etc.) ;-)

Ryan_Fr2Eng (X) May 1, 2012:

A marriage contract under the Napoleonic code is a bit different than what is used elsewhere. I am assuming that Quebec, like France, has a small booklet containing the wedding certificate and contrat de mariage (a short pre-nup) along with several other pages: advice, blank pages for births, etc..

Kirsten Bodart Apr 20, 2012:

In Belgium whose legal system is from the time Napoleon implemented it and so it is affiliated to the French one, marriage contracts (prenups) had to be signed before the civil wedding ceremony without which a church wedding could not take place. The law has changed in the mean time, but whether there is a prenup or not at the time of the civil ceremony is still specified, because without one the legal system applies (bride and groom each take their own goods and assets into the marriage, but they remain theirs where all goods and assets acquired after the marriage become the joint property of both [50/50], unless otherwise specified in a prenup). Maybe it is worth checking whether such a contract can be signed after the marriage as well, in which case 'prenup' would be a bit weird. And I personally would opt for 'have declared' rather than 'declared'. Spouses certainly or bride and groom, not husband and wife because they are not that yet.

writeaway Apr 20, 2012:

Don't read into it it is just as simple/basic as you first thought imo. But I'd use spouses rather than husband and wife. That's what the Fr uses too, after all.