A resident of the 3rd arrondissement of Marseille launches a solemn appeal to the President of the Republic : she wishes to be married, posthumously, to her spouse who died in a road accident on December 24, 2021. A very rare procedure but which is likely to succeed according to her lawyer, Me Henry Bouchara.
Ten years of common life brutally interrupted
Several months after the road accident that mowed down her spouse, Laëtitia remains marked by grief. This Marseillaise, suffering from an autoimmune disease, had begun to build a real life project with her companion through a common business project and ten years together. They had also prepared everything for their wedding : date set, costumes and rings purchased.
Everything stops on December 24, 2021, when a driver driving in the wrong direction, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, mows down Maxime in Marseille. The pain is still immense for Laëtitia, now determined to carry out this marriage project: “as we wanted to get married, especially him, I have to go all the way. The story continues.”
I am this man’s wife. And it’s an honor. Laetitia.
As the Civil Code specifies, a posthumous marriage does not entail the payment of inheritance tax but may give rise, for Laëtitia, to reparations within the framework of the consequences, criminal or civil, of the road accident. It would also be for her highly symbolic gesture : “He gave me so much. He helped me overcome my illness, and then you have to know that I am a child of the DASS, adopted, and to wear the name Max’ is to build an identity for myself, to put down roots. I’m that man’s wife, and it’s an honor.“
The procedure has a chance of succeeding according to the lawyer
To assist her in her approach, Laëtitia called on the advice of Me Henry Bouchara, lawyer at the bar of Marseille. A file like this, he has not encountered “only once in my career, during my law studieshe confides. I was very touched by this story. When she came to see me and showed me her documents, her determination, the more I listened to her, the more I believed her.“
According to Me Bouchara, the request has a good chance of being accepted, because she fills, in his eyes, all the necessary conditions : “first, the serious cause, namely the accident itself and its psychological consequences. Then you have to be able to prove the consent of the future spouses, which is beyond doubt: he had acquired his costume and reserved the room for the wedding, issued invitations. We have all the elements that prove that it was a joint project.”
Then, this request must be addressed to the President of the Republic, as Laëtitia has just done at the beginning of April, supported by the LREM deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône Alexandra Louis. Ironically, in the past, she had already written to the highest figure in the state asking him to help her integrate despite her disability. The request was successful. This time, Laëtitia knows how her wedding will go if it is allowed: “wearing the rings, with a ceremony of blessing in front of his grave. I’ll wear a pretty dress and go where we used to hug in the summer.“