F – France

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Part 1: Description of the Child Support Model

A. Overview

In France, matters pertaining to children such as parental responsibility, child support and guardianship are codified in the French Civil Code (FCC).258 Family court judges259 have exclusive jurisdiction to rule on child support260 during the course of divorce proceedings or when unmarried parents are separating.

However, in some cases of parental agreement, the child support amount can be registered by a notary (for a divorce) or a social security office (referred to B below).

France doesn’t have a formal child support model or a formula set out in legislation for the calculation of child support. However, family court judges are guided by several underlying principles relating to the responsibilities of parents towards their children that the court must take into consideration when determining child support amounts. Thus, while the method for determining child support amounts is based on the discretion of the judiciary, they must hold parents responsible in making decisions regarding their children. A summary of these principles follows.

Firstly, the FCC clearly states that the separation of the parents does not affect the rules and principles governing the exercise of parental responsibility.261 In practical terms, this means that separated parents, regardless of their marital status, continue to exercise joint parental responsibility over their children. In exceptional circumstances, such as in cases of physical abuse and gross negligence, the court can and will give exclusive and sole exercise of parental responsibility to one of the parents.262

Secondly, the maintenance of children provisions contained in the FCC impose a duty on both parents regardless of their marital status, to contribute financially to the well-being and education of their children.

Thirdly, although French law does not recognize the right of a minor child to be a party to a proceeding related to them, they have a right to be heard in all proceedings that concern them. An appointed legal aid lawyer can either assist them or, if the child is capable of judgment, they can be heard at the judge’s discretion.263

While France has had a strictly court-based, discretionary system for determining child support amounts, it has moved recently to standardize some practices for the courts by providing tools for judges, parents and family justice officials. These include the introduction in 2010 of a “Barème des pensions alimentaires”264 – a Table of Child Support265 - to standardize child support amounts for all family courts in France. The Table is based on a fixed percentage model. Its use is discretionary for the courts and is updated and published annually.

The Table contains amounts that are “per child”. In consulting the Table information, three factors are required. These are:

• The monthly income level (in 100 EUR266 increments) of the paying parent;267
• The amount of time spent with the child; and
• The number of children.

This chart, along with an online calculator268 is available on the Ministry of Justice website.

The child support amount is payable to the parent with whom the child is primarily residing.269 In cases where the child alternates residence between the two parents, the child support payment is required to be paid provided that the receiving parent has an income level that justifies receiving a monthly support in order to cover the child’s daily needs.

Child support is payable in various ways, but often takes the form of a monthly child support payment. This payment is indexed using the Consumer Price Index annually and is linked to the living costs in the region in France where the child primarily resides.

Child support can also, in all or in part, take the form of a direct contribution to the costs and expenses incurred on behalf of the child, such as the payment of school fees. It can also take the form of a right to the use of a home. Rarely, and if justified by the financial situation of the paying parent, it can be payable by way of a lump sum payment to an accredited organization who in turn will allocate the child a yearly amount to cover their needs or by way of allocating income-producing assets for the benefit of the child.270

B. How can Parents Obtain a Child Support Amount?

As noted earlier, jurisdiction pertaining to family law in France resides solely with the courts.271 That being said, parents have four options to arrange child support. They can opt for:

1. Family negotiated maintenance arrangements. Regardless of the marital status of the parents, a couple can determine their own child support arrangement (both custody and a child support amount) by way of a private agreement. These private arrangements are not enforceable and if one of the parents refuses to comply with the agreement, the other parent will be required to apply to the court to obtain an order that can then be enforced.272

2. Seek a court order. In cases where the couple decides to obtain a court order, a family court judge will rule on the matter of parental responsibility, residence, the amount of contact each parent will have with the child, and the amount of child support that is to be paid.273

   If the couple is married, a conciliation hearing is the first step in divorce proceedings. During this process, the judge will review the facts with the parties. Should the case proceed to trial, the judge will take the results of the conciliation hearing into account when determining the final child support amount and custody arrangement.

3. Use the services of a social security office. France’s system of social security offices provides services to assist separating/divorcing parents, as well as obtain various other services. This agency is a non-government agency called Caisses d'allocations familiales (CAF).274 It also provides financial assistance to parents who have a child support order, as it will provide an allowance to single parents, living alone with at least one dependent child, where the child is not receiving any support from one or both parents, or as a top-up to a low child support award. The family support allowance can also be paid in advance if the other parent is in arrears on their child support payments. Child support amounts can also be used by CAF when unmarried parents agree with the child support amount. In these cases, CAF has to apply the Table of Child Support275. As well, the child support amounts are registered by CAF and parents do not need to proceed to family court to obtain an enforceable child support order because titles delivered by CAF are already enforceable.

4. Use of a Qualified Notary. Another service provided for a fee (50 euros) is a notary or qualified private lawyer, who is designated to finalize the agreement of divorced parents on issues related to their children upon a separation/divorce. In these cases, parents who are in agreement with respect to their child support amount can use the services of the notary who will then register the order with the court.276 In these cases parents are free to consult, but are not obligated to use, the Table of Child Support when they determine their child support obligation.

C. How the Formula Works

As noted earlier, France does not mandate the use of child support guidelines. However, the French Ministry of Justice does provide guidance to the courts by publishing the Table of Child Support that includes the basic elements of a formula. Although there are no prescribed “steps” to use the Table of Child Support (nor the online calculator), parents require three pieces of information. These are:

• The monthly gross income of the paying parent;
• The number of children in the family; and
• The type of residence arrangement in place (alternating residence, classic visitation rights or reduced visitation rights).

Once parents agree on these three pieces of information, they may consult The Table of Child Support that provides the “percentage of the child average expenses”, that generates the relevant child support amount. The child support amounts presented are “per child”.

As mentioned earlier, an online calculator is also available for parents and family law professionals. It is only indicative and the final child support amount, if parents appear before a judge, may be different than the amounts generated by using the online calculator.

Part 2: Elements of the Child Support Model

A. Data Source used to Determine Expenditures on the Children

How are expenditures for the child determined?

The expenditures on children are based on average costs of children in intact families.277 These average expenditures are converted into the percentages of expenditures on the child that the average intact family would spend. To determine the costs of maintenance and education of children, the scale is based on the econometric work of L’Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) based on the survey "Family Budget", which proposes an average value of the relative cost of the child, regardless of age, sibling rank, or parental income level. These data explain the choices that were made in the elaboration of the Table of Child Support.278

How are the expenditures reflected in the formula calculations?

The expenditures are represented as “percentages of income” amounts in the Table. The Table indicates the percentage of income above each column broken down by the number of children (one to six) and the type of parenting time for the paying parent – reduced, classic and alternating.279

B. Approach used to Apportion the Amount that the Two Parents will Share

France uses a fixed percentage of income model to determine child support amounts. The percentages are shown in the Table and are “per child” percentages. The percentages decrease as the amount of time spent increases. Below are the percentages:

C. Accompanying Policy/Legislation (Rules)

i) Determination of income

The paying parent's personal resources that are taxable, as well as social benefits, are taken into account, with the exception of those aimed at improving the standard of living of children (e.g. family benefits).

Self-support Amount: This fixed amount is deducted from the paying parent’s income. It represents a “subsistence level” corresponding to the amount of the Revenue Active Solidarity (RSA).280 The amount of the RSA is updated annually. For 2019, the amount of the deduction is 550 €/ month.

ii) Income attribution

If a parent does not provide sufficient or in the court’s opinion accurate, income information, the judge will order the parent to produce tax records and wage/salary slips to find the correct income level.

iii) Impact of Custody and Parenting Time

The general principle contained in the FCC281 is that a shared/alternate residence order can be made in favor of both parents when the circumstances permit. In most cases, this means that the child will reside with each parent on an alternate week basis. However, this doesn’t mean that the child will spend an equal amount of time at the home of each parent.282 Often the judge will order that the primary residence of the child should be with one parent. The other parent is then granted visitation rights that can take the form of regular visits or overnight stays. In addition, there are three types of custody. The following describes the three types.

Reduced: This form of custody occurs when the residence of the child is primarily with one parent and the other parent's residence time is less than 1/4 of the overall residence time. This may include infrequent access and accommodation due to unavailability of the parent, or simple access without accommodation. This occurs if the parent does not have adequate housing, if adequate accommodation is not available, or if it is not in the best interests of the child to have additional access to the other parent.

Classical: This form of custody occurs when the residence is fixed mainly by one of the parents and the residence time of the other parent is equivalent to 1/4 or more of the total residence time (for example one weekend out of two, and half of the school holidays).

Alternate: This occurs when the children live alternately in the home of each parent. Alternate residence may be used as a contribution to the maintenance and upbringing of children when parents cannot agree on the sharing of child-related costs according to their resources or when one parent cannot bear the financial burden of the alternating residence alone.

In cases of shared residence, where each parent spends an equal amount of time with the child, no child support payment is required – except in situations where the two parents’ income and resources are not the same.

iv) Dependent Children

When calculating the amount of child support payable, all the children for which the paying parent has legal liability is used. This means that no child has priority over another child. This is because the underlying policy is that the paying parent has a (financial) responsibility towards each of those children.283 As the amounts generated by using the Table of Child Support is on a “per child” basis, the amount for the child who is the subject of the child support calculation is easily determined.

v) Special expenses

In France, the determination of child support does not recognize per se, special expenses such as extra medical or private tuition etc. The individual court and judge has the discretion to include any expenses they deem appropriate in the determination of a child support amount.

vi) Concept of Undue Hardship

In France, the determination of child support does not recognize the concept of undue hardship, or the inability to pay. The courts and judges consider specific case circumstances as they arise.

vii) Other circumstances that could be considered that may result in a variation or modification to the monthly support payable

In the case of new elements in the personal and/or financial situation of the paying or receiving parent, it is possible to request from judge a revision to the child support amount. In these cases the amount may be modified (upwards or downwards).

In France, mechanisms are available to adjust the child support amount to reflect yearly changes to the Consumer Price Index. In order to reassess the amount of the support, the judgment or order made by a judge must mention the indexation of the award to reflect changes to the Consumer Price Index. Depending on the rise or fall of this index, there may be a revaluation of the amount of support.284

Parents may also update their child support amounts to reflect the current Consumer Price Index285 using an online tool.286 To use the tool, parents enter the date of the last update and the appropriate Consumer Price Index and the tool will generate both the detailed calculations and the “new” child support amount to be paid. In general, the revaluation is scheduled every year on a fixed date (e.g. the anniversary date of judgment).

viii) Other considerations

Age of the child: Parents have the obligation to provide material support to their adult child if they are not financially independent. The amount of this assistance varies according to the resources of the paying parent and the needs of the child. Once a child is in a position to cover their own needs and has completed, where applicable, secondary or tertiary/university education, child support is payable directly to the child.287

Minimum support: The Table of Child Support only applies to the paying parent whose monthly income and resources are EUR 700 or more.

Maximum support: The Table of Child Support only applies to the paying parent whose income and resources are 5,000 €/ month or less, however the online calculators can generate child support amounts for incomes greater than 5000 €/ month.

Non-payment of support: The non-payment of child support is a crime. A person who doesn’t pay their child support obligation for two months is guilty of a crime of “abandonment of the family”. The penalties can range from a prison term of two years to a fine of 15000 euros, or a combination of the two forms of penalties.288

Part 3: Summary of the Key Changes to the Child Support Guidelines Legislation

A. Overview of the Changes

As noted earlier, France does not have legislation that sets out the requirement or prescribes a child support guideline to determine child support amounts. However, contained in the FCC are principles that underlie judicial decision making in this area. These principles have changed over time and are summarized below.

There is a long history in France that requires parents to take mutual responsibility for their children. Starting in 1970,289 reforms to the FCC broadly acknowledged the responsibilities of both parents and required them to exercise these responsibilities in a manner that was in the “best interests of the child”. Further reforms in 1985290 abolished the only advantage the father had retained under the previous 1970 reforms, which was with respect to the administration of the child’s property. Then again in 1987, further reforms 291 modified the rules concerning the exercising of parental responsibilities after divorce, as well as for all other non-married parents. In 1993, further amendments to the FCC 292 clearly articulated the principle of joint parental responsibilities with respect to their children (autorité parentale conjointe) for divorced or separated parents as well as for non-married parents.

The next set of reforms to the FCC occurred in 2002.293 Although the 2002 reforms no longer mentioned the three terms that, up until 2002 referred to custody arrangements, day to day supervision and education, the reforms still referenced the general components of parental responsibilities (garde, surveillance, éducation). French authors assert that these three fundamental parental tasks still exist and remain part of the parental responsibilities.294 “Garde“ meant that the parents should live with their child or, more generally, determine where their child should live. It is therefore part of the “communauté de vie” (living together, community of living) between parents and children. “Surveillance”, is a term no longer used in the new legal provisions; however, it still exists as a parental duty to take care of, to protect, and to pay attention to the child and their needs.295 The new terminology now requires that the exercise of parental responsibilities should be used to protect the child’s safety, health and morality. Education is still mentioned in the legal provisions of the FCC concerning the parental authority.

The 2002 reforms296 also provided a new definition for autorité parentale (parental authority). The new definition was a collection of rights and duties aimed at ensuring that the child’s interests are to always be taken into account.297 These reforms modernized the exercise of parental responsibility and improved the principle of equality between the parents (coparentalité). They also included amendments to the FCC that made it very clear that all children are equal (the law no longer uses the terms filiation légitime and filiation naturelle with respect to parental responsibilities). Finally, legal provisions concerning parental responsibilities after divorce were put in the section containing the general rules on parental responsibilities under a broad heading regardless of the parents’ marital status.298

2011 - Towards better harmonization of amounts299

Noting some discrepancies between the amounts of child support allocated from one jurisdiction to another, the Ministry of Justice proposed the use of a Table of Child Support (Barème des pensions alimentaires) that sets out child support amounts for magistrates and parties.

The view was that this type of tool is both useful for legal professionals in facilitating their decision, and for litigants in making justice more transparent and understandable to all. Originally, the table was only used in a selected few courts in France. However, based on a study conducted by the Court of Appeal of Toulouse, its use is now extended to all the national territory. This type of tool is both useful for legal professionals in facilitating their decisions, and for litigants in making justice more transparent and understandable to all.300

2019

France is presently undergoing a review of the Table and the determination of child support by the courts to examine various components of their present Child Support Model such as the percentage of the child average expense, categories of parenting time, use of a self-support reserve (RSA), etc. The completion date and implementation of changes are expected to be effective at the end of 2019 or beginning of 2020.

Part 4: Summary of the Literature that Assesses the Model

There have not been any formal or informal evaluations of the way in which child support is determined in France. A review of the available literature on the advantages and disadvantages of the elements of the Model revealed the following opinions:301

A. Advantages

• ...the introduction of a scale has the advantage of improving the degree of information of the parties and of guaranteeing greater predictability in the sense that it clarifies the calculation rules on which the judge will rely on calculate the amount of support and the criteria that will be used to make this calculation.302

B. Disadvantages

• Child support levels are generally low.303

Part 5: Selected Case Scenarios

The following table provides the outcomes from two case scenarios using the online calculator on Sevice-France.fr.304 These scenarios illustrate the basics of formula assessment in France. (All amounts in € EUR.)

Case Scenario 1: Jean-Pierre and Marie are separated and have one child, Phillip, aged 7. Jean-Pierre has a monthly income of 4167,00 €. They have an “alternating” residence agreement for parenting time for Phillip, however, Marie does not have the financial resources to raise Phillip on her own.

Case Scenario 2: Andre and Isabelle are divorcing and have two children: Charles, aged 12 and Emile, aged 6. Andre has a monthly income of 2900,00 €. Andre has a “classic” parenting (equivalent to at least ¼ (25%) of parenting time) arrangement with Isabelle for spending time with Charles and Emile.

Appendix A: References

The Sections of the French Civil Code dealing with parental responsibility and child support can be found in: Book I: People; Title IX: Parental authority; Chapter I: Parental authority in relation to the person of the child; Section 1: The exercise of parental authority. Articles 373-2-1 to 373-2-11. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCode.do?idSectionTA=LEGISCTA000006165499&cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006070721&dateTexte=20130701

Bourreau-Dubois, Cécile and Jeandidier, Bruno. "Que peut-on attendre d'un barème de pension alimentaire pour enfant ?,"Revue française d'économie, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(4): 213-248. https://ideas.repec.org/a/cai/rferfe/rfe_124_0213.html

Butriuille, Charlotte. Family Law in France: Overview, Cardew Partner, CNBBC Avocats, 2019. https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/6-615-3545?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true&bhcp=1

“Divorce sans juge 2019 : loi, prix et notaire.” Journal du Net (JDN) (2019). https://www.journaldunet.fr/patrimoine/guide-des-finances-personnelles/1201957-divorce-sans-juge-2019-loi-prix-et-notaire/

Hourriez, Monsieur Jean-Michel et Olier, Madame Lucile, “Niveau de vie et taille du ménage: estimations d'une échelle d'équivalence.” Economie et statistique, N°308-310 (Octobre 1998): 65-94.

Ferrand, Prof. Frédérique. University of Lyon. National Report: France. Commission on European Families, 2008. http://ceflonline.net/wp-content/uploads/France-Parental-Responsibilities.pdf

France. Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information. Factsheet: “Child Support Payment: Amount and Disbursement.” July 23, 2018. https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F991

France. Ministry of Justice. “Alimony: All About Child Support”(2019). https://www.justice.fr/themes/pension-alimentaire

France. Ministry of Justice. Child Support: Towards Better Harmonization of Amounts, May 2011. http://www.justice.gouv.fr/justice-civile-11861/pensions-alimentaires-20077.html

France. Ministry of Justice. Handbook: La Pension Alimentaire. http://www.justice.gouv.fr/publication/fp_pension_alimentaire.pdf

The Law Office of Jeremy D. Morley. “France Child Support.” https://www.international-divorce.com/France-Child-Support.htm

Contact Person
Edith Launay
Bureau du droit des personnes et de la famille
Sous-direction du droit civil
Direction des affaires civiles et du sceau
Ministère de la justice

Appendix B: Two Case Scenarios

Case Scenario 1

Alimony Calculation Simulator

The amount of the child support per child is calculated in proportion to the income of the paying parent, after the deduction of a subsistence level corresponding to the amount of the RSA.

This proportion is different depending on the total number of dependent children of the paying parent (regardless of the union they were born from) and the extent of access and accommodation (reduced, classic, or alternating without sharing unplanned costs.

Income and children

• Net monthly income of the paying parent: 4167,00 €
• Category of access and accommodation: Alternating
• Number of children of the paying parent: 1

Applicable rate per child: 9.00%

Child Support Amount per child: 325.00 €

Total amount: 325.00 €

Case Scenario 2

Alimony Calculation Simulator

The amount of the child support amount per child is calculated in proportion to the income of the paying parent, after the deduction of a subsistence level corresponding to the amount of the RSA.

This proportion is different depending on the total number of dependent children of the paying parent (regardless of the union they were born from) and the extent of access and accommodation (reduced, classic, or alternating without sharing unplanned costs.

Income and children

• Net monthly income of the paying parent: 2900,00 €
• Category of access and accommodation: Classic
• Number of children of the paying parent: 2

Applicable rate per child: 11.5%

Child Support Amount per child: 269.00 €

Total amount: 538€

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