By Yasmine EDDAM
17 April 2025
At first glance, the purchase or sale of an inland waterway vessel, whether a houseboat, a converted old motorboat or a goods transport unit, may seem to fall under the classic rules for the sale of movable property. However, the legal reality is more nuanced. Although the Civil Code classifies boats as movable property, those that are registered because of their size benefit from a specific regime, which borrows certain characteristics from that of immovable property. This has important consequences for the way in which ownership is established and passed on. Forget the adage "in the case of movable property, possession is equivalent to title". In the case of a registered river boat, mere physical possession is not enough to prove that you are the rightful owner. It is the entry in the official registers that takes precedence. Similarly, the transfer of ownership, whether by sale, gift or transfer, is not sufficient to prove...
EN 
FR