of
property, to be binding, must be executed before marriage
and in solemn form, that is, before a notary and two male
witnesses having the proper qualifications. The betrothed
are granted considerable liberty over the provisions of
their marriage contract, as the following quotations show:

ART. 2,325. In relation to property, the law only regulates
the conjugal association in default of particular
agreements, which the parties are at liberty to stipulate as
they please, provided they be not contrary to good morals
and under the modifications hereafter prescribed.

ART. 2,326. Husband and wife can in no case enter into any
agreement or make any renunciation the object of which would
be to alter the legal order of descents, either with respect
to themselves, in what concerns the inheritance of their
children, posterity, or with respect to their children
between themselves, without prejudice to the donations
_inter vivas_ or _mortis causa_, which may take place
according to the formalities and in the cases determined by
this code.

The parties are also "prohibited from derogating from the
power of the husband over the person of his wife and
children which belongs to the husband as the head of the
family, or from the rights guaranteed to the surviving
husband or wife" (C. C., Art. 2,327).

If the parties adopt the _dotal regime_ in their marriage
contract the dotal effects are (except under some
circumstances) inalienable during marriage; and at the
dissolution of the marriage, they are to be replaced or
returned to the wife, or her heirs, and to secure this, the
wife has a mortgage on her husband's lands, and a privilege
on his movables, including those of the community (C. C.,
Art. 2376; Art. 2347). "The dower is given to the husband,
for him to enjoy the same as long as the marriage shall
last." Strong as is this language, the dowry is given by the
wife or her father or mother or other relations or friends,
simply to support the marriage.

Under the _regime_ of the community, the individual property
of the husband or wife, and all property