ABSTRACT
The attitude of the Civil Code towards cohabitation is followed in fiscal law. Cohabitants are not considered as a couple for the purposes of the annual income tax; only married couples can declare their income jointly, which is in most cases advantageous for them (this difference between the married and non-married was accentuated in 1995 when cohabiting parents lost the fiscal advantage they had previously enjoyed, as lone parents, regarding children). As far as succession rights are concerned, the free voluntary legacy which might be made to the cohabiting partner is severely limited by the 'reservi for children and ascendants. The taxation applicable to these so called 'strangers' is 60 per cent for amounts above 10,000 francs. On the other hand, social law is based on concrete situations, and tends to recognize 'concubinage', but mostly in a negative way. Holding 'defacto solidarity' between the partners to be an advantage compared to living alone, social law increasingly refuses to treat all 'non married' persons equally. So, entering cohabitation will lead to the loss of some allowances which are targeted at lone persons, especially lone parents: the allowance for lone
the courts is changing; growing numbers of divorced fathers see their children weekly (20 per cent in 1994), and for a longer period (often from Friday evening to Monday morning). Nevertheless, changes in parents' attitudes must not be overestimated: in 1994, 25 per cent of divorced fathers had lost contact with their children (Villeneuve-Gokalp, 1999). Fathers' involvement in the children's lives is significantly lower among the less educated part of the population (Martin, 1997; Villeneuve-Gokalp, 1999).
