An informal oral explanation does not replace the applicable documentary translation requirements. Prepare the required family evidence according to the receiving authority’s instructions.
Treat civil records as their own evidence
A qualifying spouse and unmarried children under 21 may seek derivative status subject to individual requirements and applicable age rules. Translating a civil record does not itself establish that the relationship or age qualifies, and translating the principal’s financial file does not replace family records. Handle the family file as a separate matter with its own inventory, its own translations and its own deadlines, because it proves facts the financial file never touches.
Marriage and birth records establish relationship; they do not establish that a derivative continues to qualify, since eligibility for an unmarried child under twenty-one is assessed against the applicable rules at the relevant time rather than at the moment the record was issued. Hypothetical example: an acte de naissance is translated and filed early, and nobody diaries the child's approaching birthday against the case's own milestones, so the age question surfaces at the worst moment. Someone in the household who reads French fluently is a genuine help with organisation and with spotting inconsistencies, but an oral explanation of a document is not a translation of it, and the certification requirement applies to the family records exactly as it applies to the investment records.