Family Law

Moving abroad with the children after a separation requires the other parent's consent or the judge's permission. Holidays, relocation, travel forms and bans, abduction: the rules and remedies.

Your parents kicked you out at 18 or older? Call 115 for tonight and take your papers, then know your rights: French parents must still support an adult child who is not independent, and you can ask the family judge yourself.

Your family is preparing a forced marriage, in France or during a trip abroad? French law protects you: 17 and 3919, a protection order from the family judge, a travel ban at your request, a complaint and annulment.

Texts day and night, calls, threats, fake accounts: ex harassment can be proved and punished in France. Penalties, evidence to keep, the complaint, the protection order within six days and the immediate order within 24 hours.

Your brother has moved into the inherited house and refuses to sell? In French joint ownership he owes an occupancy payment, you can claim five years of it, and nobody stays stuck: buyout, court-approved sale or judicial division.

Your ex refuses to leave the home after separating in France? Married, in a PACS or unmarried, tenants or owners: who can stay, what the judge decides, why not to change the locks and what changes if there is violence.

Your ex won't return the children at the time set by the court order? First steps, a criminal complaint for non-return, the family judge, a child taken abroad: what you can do tonight.

My ex wants me back and keeps pushing, threatening or using the children: in France you have the right to say no. Where harassment begins, helplines, evidence to keep, the complaint and the family judge's protection order.

Your ex emptied the joint account when you split up? Freezing the account, evidence, your rights whether married, in a PACS or unmarried, the judge and a lawyer: how to recover your share.

Your in-laws claim the inheritance after your spouse's death? In France the surviving spouse always inherits: with children, parents-in-law receive nothing; without, a quarter each at most. The home, family assets, wills and life insurance.

Direct payment lets you collect child support from the other parent's employer or bank, without a new judgment. Six months of arrears, wage garnishment without a judge since 2025, the public Treasury and costs.

Unpaid child support can be reported from the first missed month. The ARIPA, run by the CAF and the MSA, pays the family support allowance, recovers arrears from the other parent and can stand between you for every payment.

The family support allowance helps a parent raising a child alone without support from the other parent. The amount from 1 April 2026, conditions, the top-up, the recoverable allowance, living as a couple and how to apply.

More than two months without child support? Family abandonment then becomes an offence, punishable by two years in prison and a €15,000 fine. Where to file, what evidence to gather, time limits and the link with the ARIPA.

Settling an estate means accepting or renouncing, declaring within six months, then leaving joint ownership. The succession option, the reserved share, the surviving spouse's rights, tax and deadlock between heirs.

Child maintenance follows a reference table, is indexed every year and now passes through the family allowance fund. The 2026 scale, review before the judge, recovery of arrears and criminal penalties.

Child custody rests on precise criteria, and a parent can obtain shared residence despite the other's refusal. What the family court judge weighs, hearing the child, the procedure, benefits and penalties for withholding a child.

Divorce by mutual consent settles everything without a judge, through an agreement that two lawyers countersign and a notary files. The steps, the 15-day reflection period, the real cost in 2026 and when a judge comes back in.