Cohabitation Declaration 2026: Template, Wording and Tax Effects

Updated 12 May 2026. Couples searching for a "cohabitation declaration to print for free" usually expect a single, unified CERFA form that every French institution will accept. That form does not exist. What does exist is an affidavit (attestation sur l'honneur) drafted freely by both partners, framed by Article 515-8 of the French Civil Code for cohabitants and Articles 515-1 and following for civil-union partners (pacsés), combined with consistent supporting documents. This affidavit is required by the family allowance fund (CAF), France Travail (the unemployment agency), the social security administration, the supplementary health insurer, the prefecture for a "private and family life" residence permit, the notary for inheritance matters, and the tax authority. Each of these bodies accepts a free-form text, sometimes alongside its own internal template. At Cabinet Hayot Expertise in Paris, we treat this topic at the crossroads of law and tax: formalising a shared life carries consequences for income tax, real estate wealth tax (IFI), inheritance and business transfer that are best arbitrated before signing and sending a document to a third party.

Cohabitation, PACS, marriage — three statuses, three regimes#

Cohabitation is defined by Article 515-8 of the French Civil Code as "a de facto union, characterised by a shared life of stable and continuous nature, between two persons, of different or of the same sex, living as a couple". No formality is required to enter into cohabitation: the situation is purely factual and may be proven by any means.

The PACS (civil solidarity pact), codified in Articles 515-1 to 515-7-1 of the Civil Code, is a civil contract. It is concluded either before the registrar at the town hall or before a notary. Since 1 January 2007 the default property regime is separation of assets; partners may expressly opt for the indivision regime in the PACS agreement.

Marriage is governed by Articles 143 and following of the Civil Code. In the absence of a marriage contract, the default matrimonial regime is the legal community reduced to acquests (communauté légale réduite aux acquêts), in force since the reform of 13 July 1965 entered into application on 1 February 1966. That regime governs the majority of French couples married without a prenuptial agreement.

Why no national CERFA form exists#

No ministerial order has homologated a single national CERFA form for the cohabitation declaration. The reason is legal: shared life is not a civil-status act for cohabitants — it is a factual situation — and is a contract for civil-union partners. The legislator therefore left each requesting body free to define an accepted format: an internal template for the CAF or France Travail, a free-form affidavit for the prefecture, an integrated entry on the income-tax return for the tax authority.

Legal weight of an affidavit#

The affidavit signed by both partners is governed by Article 441-7 of the French Criminal Code: any false declaration is punishable by one year of imprisonment and a €15,000 fine. This penalty gives the affidavit genuine evidential value, equivalent to that of a declaration on an administrative form. It remains a simple proof: the administration may rebut it with other material elements (CAF investigation report, domicile check by the prefecture).

CAF, France Travail, social security#

The CAF requires a shared-life declaration as soon as the partners share the same dwelling on a lasting basis, whether married, in a PACS or cohabitants. The declaration recalculates the family quotient, the resources taken into account for the Revenu de solidarité active (RSA), the activity bonus and housing allowances. Omission qualifies as fraud and triggers a repayable overpayment, sometimes with penalties.

France Travail (formerly Pôle Emploi) integrates shared life into the calculation of the basic return-to-work allowance (ARE) only marginally — ARE is an individual replacement income — but marital status is requested for the Allocation de solidarité spécifique (ASS), whose income ceilings apply at couple level.

The social security administration accepts the registration of a notorious cohabitant as a dependent under Article L161-14 of the Social Security Code, provided that the shared life is attested and stable and that the partner has no health coverage of their own. For partners in a PACS or marriage, dependent status opens automatically on presentation of the PACS certificate or family record book.

Prefecture, "private and family life" residence permits#

Article L423-23 of the CESEDA allows the issuance of a "private and family life" residence permit to the spouse, civil-union partner or cohabitant of a French national, subject to a minimum duration of shared life. For a PACS, the required seniority is 18 months; for a marriage, it is immediate. For cohabitation, administrative case law generally requires stable cohabitation of at least 12 to 18 months depending on the prefecture, evidenced by a body of converging indicators: joint lease, utility bills, joint tax return, witness statements.

Tax authority, notary, health insurer, bank#

The tax authority handles the situation at the time of the income-tax return, without a separate form. Cohabitants file two distinct returns; civil-union partners and married couples file one joint return. The notary requests an affidavit when settling an inheritance or organising a donation between partners. The supplementary health insurer requires an affidavit to open a family contract, and the bank to open a joint account or take out a loan in two names. For company directors, this overlaps with our legal advisory services in Paris and our Paris 8 accounting practice.

Identities, shared address, start date of shared life#

A valid affidavit includes the surname, first name, date and place of birth, nationality, and exact shared address of both signatories (number, street, postcode, city), plus the — even approximate — start date of shared life. Identity must match the identity documents presented strictly: even a minor discrepancy justifies a rejection by the prefecture or the CAF.

Honour-statement wording and signatures#

The wording "We, the undersigned [identities], certify on our honour that we have been living together at the above address since [date], in a stable and continuous manner" mirrors the qualification of the Civil Code and the value of an affidavit. It is closed by the phrase "Done to serve and uphold as required by law" (Fait pour servir et valoir ce que de droit), the place, the date and both handwritten signatures. Electronic signatures are not systematically accepted by French administrations outside dedicated platforms.

Supporting documents to attach#

A solid file includes three recent shared-address proofs, dated within three months: electricity, water, internet or mobile phone invoices, ideally in both names or in each name at the same address. Add the joint lease or accommodation certificate, the tax notice mentioning the shared address, and the family record book if shared children exist. For a residence permit, add bank statements, statements from relatives and even dated photographs.

Separate taxation for cohabitants, joint taxation for PACS/married couples#

Cohabitants each file their own income-tax return. The tax household is strictly individual, except for dependent children who can be attached to either parent. This duality sometimes opens an optimisation: each cohabitant uses their own tax brackets and their own half-share, which can be more favourable than joint taxation for two comparable high incomes.

Civil-union partners and married couples must, on the contrary, file jointly from the year of conclusion of the PACS or marriage. For that year only, Article 6 of the General Tax Code offers an option: joint return or two separate returns limited to the year of union. From the following year, joint filing becomes automatic. The tax household then combines both incomes and benefits from two family-quotient shares, increased by children.

IFI: 2026 rules for couples#

The real estate wealth tax (IFI) applies to the tax household within the meaning of Article 964 of the General Tax Code. Notorious cohabitants are, for IFI purposes only, considered a single household: the €1.3 million threshold applies to their combined net real estate wealth, even though their income tax remains separate. This asymmetry often surprises couples who thought their wealth was fully split. For civil-union partners and married couples, IFI is naturally joint, aligned with the income-tax household.

Withholding tax and personalised rate#

The withholding tax applies a single rate to the tax household for civil-union partners and married couples, unless they opt for the individualised rate, which splits the burden between the two partners in proportion to their respective incomes. Cohabitants each have their own rate, individualised by nature. The household-rate / individualised-rate trade-off for married or PACS couples must be reviewed every year and is a regular point of vigilance in our missions.

Inheritance rights: the great difference between cohabitant, PACS partner and spouse#

The surviving cohabitant has no legal inheritance right. In the absence of a will or a life-insurance policy designating the cohabitant, the survivor inherits nothing and may even be compelled to leave the shared home. The surviving PACS partner has no legal inheritance right either — a will is required — but enjoys specific rights: free occupancy of the shared home for one year (Article 763 of the Civil Code) and, if the will provides for it, the lifetime right of occupancy.

The surviving married spouse, by contrast, inherits by operation of law. Under Article 757 of the Civil Code, in the presence of shared children, the spouse chooses between one quarter of the estate in full ownership or the whole estate in usufruct. In the absence of children, or in the presence of non-shared children, different rules apply (Articles 757-1 to 757-3).

Donation between cohabitants: 60% in transfer tax#

A donation between cohabitants is taxed as a donation between third parties, at a rate of 60% above an allowance of only €1,594 (Article 788 IV of the General Tax Code). A donation between spouses or PACS partners benefits from an allowance of €80,724 renewable every 15 years, and progressive rates between 5% and 45%. The differential quickly reaches several tens of thousands of euros on the same transfer scheme.

Protecting a cohabiting partner: will, life insurance, real estate company#

Three tools combine to protect a cohabiting partner. The authentic or holographic will allows attribution of the quotité disponible — the portion of the estate that may be freely allocated — which equals half of the estate with one child, one third with two children, one quarter with three or more children. A life-insurance policy designating the partner as beneficiary transmits up to €152,500 per beneficiary outside the estate, for premiums paid before age 70 (Article 990 I of the General Tax Code). A family real estate company (SCI) can hold the shared real estate, with crossed dismemberment or an approval clause, subject to a coherent legal structure — a topic we develop in our real estate taxation analysis and our outsourced CFO missions in Paris.

Business transfer and the Dutreil pact#

The Dutreil-transmission pact allows a 75% exemption on the value of transferred shares, subject to collective and individual retention undertakings. It is available for any transfer, including to a cohabiting partner, but the residual tax rate remains that of donations or inheritances between third parties (60%), applied to the reduced base after the Dutreil allowance. A director wishing to transfer a business to a cohabiting partner will therefore still bear significant transfer tax, unless a PACS or marriage is concluded beforehand.

Director protection insurance and beneficiary clause#

Director protection contracts — Madelin contracts for self-employed managers, or mandatory group contracts — include a beneficiary clause that must be kept up to date. By default, many contracts designate "the spouse" or "the heirs": a cohabitant is neither. A clear named clause is required, updated at every change of personal situation. The same care must be taken with the patrimonial life-insurance policy, the beneficiary clause of the key-man insurance and the death capital of the occupational protection contracts. To extend the scope of our tax advice for individuals, we offer an annual review of beneficiary clauses.

Patrimonial real estate company in indivision: risks and trade-offs#

When two cohabitants jointly own the patrimonial holding company or the family SCI in pure indivision, the death of one triggers the unfavourable inheritance rules for the survivor and third-party transfer tax on the deceased's share. Trade-offs to study include moving to an SCI with equal shares and an approval clause, crossed dismemberment of the shares, or converting the cohabitation into a PACS to benefit from partner-grade taxation. This overlaps with our work on dividend taxation when the holding company distributes.

The trade-off to arbitrate — cohabitation, PACS or marriage in your situation#

In the files we handle in Paris, the choice between cohabitation, PACS and marriage is built in three steps. First, current-year taxation: for two cohabitants with comparable incomes, separate filing is often neutral or even favourable; for two partners with unequal incomes, joint taxation via a PACS or marriage substantially smooths the couple's tax. Second, protection in case of death: without a PACS or marriage, and without a will, the cohabitant inherits nothing. Third, business assets: a director preparing to transfer the company to their partner must factor in the Dutreil pact and third-party transfer tax; a PACS or marriage divides the final tax bill by ten.

The underestimated risk — long-term shared life without patrimonial structuring#