Prenuptial agreements and matrimonial property regimes in France, 1855–2010

Using both administrative and survey data, we construct new series on prenuptial agreements and matrimonial property regimes in France from 1855 to 2010. Their evolution is far from linear: approximately 40% of newlywed couples signed a prenuptial agreement in 1855, but this share dropped to less than 10% after the reform of marital property regimes in 1965. It experienced an upturn after the introduction of no-fault divorce in 1975, and roughly 18% of newlywed couples signed a prenuptial agreement in 2010. We show how these changes are related to the gradual disappearance of traditional matrimonial property regimes in the late nineteenth century and to the rise in the prevalence of separate assets property regime in the late twentieth century. We conclude that before the recent decrease in marriage rates, the financial characteristics of marriage changed significantly over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.