Automatic delivery of the family record book at the wedding

Verified 15 September 2022 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Are you going to get married and want to know the rules for issuing the family record book? They differ according to whether the marriage takes place in France or abroad. We'll give you the information you need to remember.

A family record book shall be issued automatically if the marriage takes place in France, irrespective of the nationality of the spouses.

The family record book is then given to the spouses, at the end of the ceremony, by the registrar of the marriage municipality.

FYI  

if the spouses have children in common at the time of marriage, the family record given to the birth of the first child shall be supplemented by their marriage certificate.

However, if the wedding is celebrated abroad and one of the spouses is of French nationality, he or she may apply for free transcription of the foreigners marriage certificate to obtain a family record. This is not automatically delivered.

The transcript is made by the Central Civil Registry Service of Nantes.

Who shall I contact

  • Central Civil Registry Service (Scec)

    Civil status (birth, marriage or death) of a Frenchman abroad

     Only by mail to:

    Central Civil Registry Service

    11 White House Street

    44941 Nantes Cedex 09

    The service is not open to the public.

    You can apply for a civil status certificate through a online service.

    For more information, you can:

    • Go to diplomatie.gouv.fr
    • Call the+33 1 41 86 42 47 Monday to Friday from 9 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 4 pm
      Free access to video interpretation or instant speech transcription for the deaf or hard of hearing
    • Email courrier.scec@diplomatie.gouv.fr

The family record book, given at the wedding, contains the following elements:

  • Extract from the marriage certificate of the spouses
  • Information on family law (marriage, parentage, adoption, parental authority,...)

Yes, the first family record book is free.

Any modification related to the civil status of the persons registered in the booklet (separation, birth, adoption, divorce, death, change of sex,...) must be subject to a updating.

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