“Livret de famille”: the family record book
The livret de famille is a booklet issued to a couple and updated over the years with marriages, births and deaths. It is a convenient household record rather than a civil status certificate, and an authority that names it usually wants the register extracts behind it as well.
Checked on 8 September 2026 Last updated 8 September 2026
In brief
- Document category
- Civil status documents
A livret de famille is a booklet handed to a couple when they marry, or to a parent at a first birth, and then completed by the registry as the family grows: births, adoptions, deaths, divorce annotations. France, Belgium under other names, Luxembourg and parts of Switzerland all use some version of it. Québec does not; its civil status is administered centrally and certificates are issued individually.
What it is useful for
It is a summary of a family in one place, and it is convenient. Registries consult it, schools and municipalities accept it for routine purposes, and it saves ordering four separate extracts to prove who belongs to a household.
That convenience is also its limit. The booklet is a copy held by the family, updated when someone remembers to bring it in. The authoritative source remains the register, which is why the certificates described in “copie intégrale” versus “extrait” are what a formal file is built from.
The nearest Turkish document
Türkiye issues the family booklet (aile cüzdanı) at marriage, and it is used domestically much the same way. For a file going abroad, however, the document that carries weight is the population registry record listing family members and the events recorded against them. If an instruction sheet names a livret de famille, that registry record — obtained fresh and translated in full — is normally the right Turkish response.
What it does not mean
- Not a civil status certificate. It reproduces register data but is not itself an issue from the register, so an authority requiring certified proof will still want the extracts.
- Not proof of current marital status. A divorce is recorded against the register entry; a booklet not presented for updating can still show a marriage that has ended.
- Not a family relationship in law by itself. Where parentage is the point at issue, the record with parentage is what proves it.
- Not something to send abroad. It is the only copy you have, it is difficult to replace, and it is not what a foreign office actually needs.
Practical handling
Photograph every completed page for your own reference, then order the registry documents the receiving office named. Where a francophone office asks specifically for the booklet, ask whether a registry record listing the same family events is acceptable — for a Turkish applicant it almost always is, and it is the version that can be apostilled and translated. The document list for a family file is set out in family sponsorship: Turkish documents.
Frequently asked questions
It can be translated, but it rarely satisfies the requirement on its own. A fresh registry record showing the same information is what an authority can verify, and it is the document that carries an apostille.
Not for the file, provided you send current registry documents. It can cause a problem in Türkiye when dealing with offices that consult it, so have it updated at a population directorate when convenient.
A record showing parentage — the full copy or the registry record with family events. An extract without parentage will not do it, however recent it is.