Direct payment and wage garnishment for child support in France

The judgment sets child support, but the other parent does not pay it. Several tools then let you collect at the source, from their salary or bank account. A lawyer helps you pick the right one in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

Our guide to child maintenance explains how it is calculated. This article details the enforcement routes, from direct payment to the public Treasury.

Direct payment: the principle

Article L.213-1 of the French Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures offers a tool designed for maintenance. Any maintenance creditor can be paid directly by third parties who owe money to the paying parent.

In practice, those third parties are mainly:

• The employer, who deducts the support from the salary.
• France Travail or the pension fund, from benefits.
• The bank, from the seizable sums in the account.

Direct payment only requires an enforceable title: a judgment, an approved agreement, a divorce agreement filed with a notary or a title issued by the CAF. It can then start from the first missed payment. No new court hearing is needed.

The direct payment steps

You hand the request to a commissaire de justice (court enforcement officer) of your choice. The procedure moves quickly:

1. The officer notifies the request to the third party within eight days, by registered letter.
2. The third party acknowledges it within eight days and says whether it can pay.
3. The paying parent is informed of the measure.
4. The third party then pays you the support every month, before the parent even receives the money.

Direct payment covers future instalments, with no time limit. It also catches up on the last six months of arrears, paid in instalments over twelve months. So the measure stays in place for as long as support is due.

Only six months of arrears: be careful

The six-month limit catches many creditors out. A parent who waits two years recovers only the last six months through direct payment. The rest must go through another route.

So start direct payment as soon as payments are missed. For older debts, two options remain: wage garnishment or the maintenance recovery agency. The 2026 Social Security Financing Act also extends the period the ARIPA can cover to five years.

Finding the paying parent's employer or bank

Do you not know where the other parent works? That is not an obstacle. With an enforceable title, the court enforcement officer can query public bodies. Article L.152-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures allows this.

The officer thus obtains the parent's address, the employer's name and the bank accounts, through the FICOBA register. Still, give them everything you know: a former employer, a trade, a town. Every clue shortens the search.

For a self-employed parent, direct payment instead targets the bank or the clients. In addition, an unemployed parent can still be reached through France Travail benefits.

The cost of direct payment

The paying parent bears the costs of the procedure. The enforcement officer cannot ask the creditor for any advance. This makes direct payment accessible to every parent.

The paying parent can challenge the measure before the enforcement judge (juge de l'exécution). A challenge, however, does not suspend the duty to pay the support itself.

Wage garnishment since 1 July 2025

Wage garnishment changed on 1 July 2025. The enforcement judge no longer authorises it in advance. The court enforcement officer now runs it from start to finish, and the judge only steps in if there is a dispute.

The steps follow a precise timetable:

1. A payment order served on the paying parent by the enforcement officer.
2. One month to pay, reach an agreement or challenge it before the judge.
3. A garnishment report drawn up within the following three months, sent to the employer by a distributing enforcement officer.
4. Monthly deductions, passed on to the creditor.

A national digital register tracks these garnishments. However, once the three-month period has passed, the payment order lapses.

How much of the salary can be taken

For an ordinary debt, part of the salary cannot be seized. Child support, however, enjoys a more favourable regime. Under article L.3252-5 of the Labour Code, the current instalment and the last six months can be taken from the whole salary.

The deduction first comes out of the normally protected portion. The paying parent nevertheless keeps an amount equal to the RSA for a single person. That figure stands at €651.69 a month since 1 April 2026.

Direct payment or garnishment: a comparison

Each tool meets a different need. Here are the essentials for choosing.

Route	Arrears covered	Prior judge	Costs for you
Direct payment	Last six months, plus the future	No	None, borne by the paying parent
Wage garnishment	Up to five years	No, since 1 July 2025	In principle borne by the paying parent
ARIPA	Up to five years under the 2026 act	No	None
Public recovery by the Treasury	Last six months, plus the future	No, request to the prosecutor	None, 10% surcharge for the paying parent

In practice, people often combine direct payment for the future with garnishment for the past.

Public recovery by the Treasury

The law of 11 July 1975 provides a last resort. The public Treasury can recover the support on your behalf. You must, however, prove that another route failed, for example a direct payment that produced nothing.

The request goes to the public prosecutor at the judicial court where you live. The prosecutor issues an enforceable statement and sends it to the public accountant. The accountant then pursues the paying parent with the means of the State.

This route covers future instalments and those of the last six months. In addition, the paying parent bears a 10% surcharge for the Treasury. Today, the ARIPA often uses this channel itself.

What about a criminal complaint?

Enforcement routes recover the money. A complaint, by contrast, punishes the paying parent. After two months of arrears, our article on family abandonment details this route. The two can be combined without difficulty.

When to consult a lawyer

A lawyer calculates the exact arrears, indexation included, and picks the most effective route. They also step in when the paying parent goes before the enforcement judge. Finally, they apply for legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) if your income allows it.

A family lawyer answers within 20 minutes. The official rules are on the service-public page on unpaid maintenance.