On Sat, 31 Dec 2005, JC Helary wrote:
> No, they mean _outside_ of marriage and not specifically _inside_ any
> other framework. What we call "concubinage": people living together
> without being contractually engaged to each other. The PACS is marginal
> here and would mostly affect first people who _can't_ get married.
You're right, I'm over-extending the term PACS to cover concubinage (which it grew out of, and which is a centuries old legal relation in France). But my impression is that concubinage is full of legal regulations and protections -- less than marriage, but much closer to it than what we call cohabitation in the states. (And this isn't counting things like health benefits and moving allowances, which we don't get here through the state, and so which require marriage, but which people get there without it.)
Could you recommend a good URL for an analysis of the difference between concubinage and marriage? If it's in French, that's fine. This is actually been something I've been wondering about for awhile. Thanks!
Michael