Couple debts after a separation in France: who pays what?

You have split up, but the bank is claiming the whole loan from you, or the tax office wants the tax for the year you were still living together. Couple debts do not vanish with the break-up, and the answer depends on your status: marriage, PACS (civil partnership) or cohabitation. A lawyer reviews your situation in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

This article is part of our series on debt in France. It explains who owes what, before and after a separation, under the rules in force on 20 October 2026.

Married couples: joint liability for household debts

Marriage creates joint liability. Debts taken on for the upkeep of the household or the children's education bind both spouses, whichever of them signed. This is household solidarity, set out in article 220 of the French Civil Code.

In practice, these couple debts of a married household include:

• rent and charges for the family home;
• food, energy and health costs;
• school fees and childcare.

For these debts, the creditor can seize the joint property as well as each spouse's own property. An unpaid energy supplier can therefore turn to the spouse who did not sign the contract.

The exceptions to this solidarity

Solidarity does not cover everything. Several couple debts stay with the spouse who took them on alone.

A manifestly excessive expense. If it clearly exceeds the household's standard of living, it binds only the spouse who made it. The creditor can seize joint property, but neither the other spouse's salary nor their own property.

A loan or a deferred-payment purchase made alone. It binds only the borrower's own property and income. There are two exceptions: modest sums needed for everyday life, and several small loans that remain reasonable given the household's standard of living.

The spouse's consent changes things. If the other spouse expressly agreed to a loan, the joint property also answers for the debt. The same rule applies to a personal guarantee given by one spouse alone.

These nuances matter a great deal in a separation, because they decide which couple debts follow you and which do not. A revolving credit taken out alone online does not, in principle, weigh on the other spouse, unless it financed small everyday expenses.

Community of property: personal debts and joint assets

Without a marriage contract, spouses live under the statutory community of property regime. A personal debt that arose during the marriage can then be recovered from the joint property. The other spouse does not become personally liable, though: their own property and income stay protected, except for household debts.

The Cour de cassation confirmed this on 21 May 2025 (1st civil chamber, no. 23-21.684). A husband had embezzled around €450,000. His wife, married under community of property, was not ordered to repay anything personally.

Two further rules complete the picture:

• Debts from before the marriage stay personal to the spouse who had them.
• Under separation of property, only the indebted spouse answers for their debts, except for household debts.

PACS: a close form of solidarity

PACS partners are jointly liable for everyday living debts, under article 515-4 of the Civil Code. The exceptions resemble those for marriage:

• manifestly excessive expenses bind only the partner who made them;
• an instalment purchase binds the other partner only if they consented;
• a loan binds the other only for modest sums needed for everyday life, or if they agreed.

Debts from before the PACS stay personal.

Cohabiting partners: each to their own debts

Cohabitation creates no solidarity. Each partner answers only for their own commitments: legally, cohabiting partners have no couple debts as such.

There are three exceptions, all linked to a signature: a loan taken out together, a lease signed together, or a personal guarantee given for the other. In those cases, you remain bound towards the creditor, even after the break-up.

Couple debts by status

Status	Everyday living debts	Loan signed by one partner	Earlier debts
Married	Joint, except excessive expenses	Borrower alone, except modest sums or consent	Personal
PACS	Joint, except excessive expenses	Borrower alone, except modest sums or consent	Personal
Cohabiting	No solidarity	Borrower alone	Personal
All	A loan or lease signed by both binds both signatories

The joint mortgage after a separation

Divorce does not release co-borrowers. As long as the contract has not been changed, the bank can claim every instalment from either of you. What you agree between yourselves, for example who keeps the house, does not by itself change the loan contract.

In practice, there are three ways out:

1. Release from the joint loan (désolidarisation): the partner who keeps the property takes over the loan alone. The bank must agree, and it can refuse if that person's income is not enough to repay alone.
2. A buy-out of the loan by another bank, in the name of the partner who keeps the property.
3. Selling the property, repaying the loan and sharing what is left.

Until one of these succeeds, keep paying or agree in writing with your former partner how you will pay. A missed payment exposes you both, including to registration on the national register of repayment incidents (FICP).

Taxes among the couple debts

The tax office also relies on solidarity. Each partner remains liable for taxes assessed during the period of joint taxation, and the administration can claim the whole amount from either of you.

Tax solidarity relief does exist, however. Provided for by article 1691 bis of the General Tax Code, as amended by the law of 31 May 2024, it requires three cumulative conditions:

• the end of life together: divorce, legal separation, dissolution of the PACS, authorised separate residences, abandonment of the home;
• a marked disproportion between the tax debt and your financial situation and assets;
• compliance with your own tax obligations since the separation.

You apply on plain paper to the departmental director of public finances. If your former partner committed fraud without your knowledge, an application for leniency (recours gracieux) is also possible.

Taking stock of the couple debts

Before signing anything, draw up a complete list. Separations rarely happen in calm conditions, and paperwork often stays with one partner, so ask for copies of contracts and statements early. A forgotten debt often resurfaces months later, as a reminder letter or a seizure.

For each debt, note:

• the creditor and the contract reference;
• the signatory or signatories: you, your former partner, or both;
• when the debt arose: before or during your life together;
• its nature: everyday expense, loan, guarantee, tax;
• the amount still owed and any missed instalments.

Also ask the Banque de France whether you are registered on the FICP. This table shows, debt by debt, whether you are liable alone, jointly or not at all. This inventory of couple debts then serves as the basis for negotiating with your former partner and with the creditors. Keep a dated copy: if a dispute arises, it shows what each of you knew at the time of the separation.

Dividing the assets: partition duty and compensatory allowance

Winding up the matrimonial regime has a tax cost. The partition duty (droit de partage) has been 1.1% since 1 January 2022 in the case of divorce, legal separation or the end of a PACS. A source still quoting 2.5% predates that cut.

Couple debts weigh on this division, which is why you should list them all before signing. Our article on divorce by mutual consent details this step.

A compensatory allowance (prestation compensatoire) is paid in principle as a lump sum, in one go or in instalments over 8 years at most. It remains due even during an over-indebtedness procedure. If the other parent stops paying child support, direct payment lets you collect it at the source.

If the debts become too heavy

A separation often tips an already tight budget over the edge. When couple debts exceed what you can repay alone, several tools exist, depending on how serious things are.

To gain time, a payment plan with the creditor or a court grace period of up to 2 years lets you spread a debt. When everything piles up, an over-indebtedness file can be lodged free of charge with the Banque de France. A couple, married, in a PACS or cohabiting, can file one joint application, two separate ones, or a single one in the couple's name.

If a debt collection agency chases you for your former partner's debt, first check whether you are actually liable for it. And if a wage garnishment targets you, part of your pay always stays protected.

Free help and the role of a lawyer

Points conseil budget (budget advice points), the CCAS (municipal social action centre) of your town and family associations help you rebuild a budget after a break-up, free of charge. Points-justice offer a first free legal consultation, on 30 39.

Legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) can cover a lawyer's fees. Under the circular of 16 January 2026, it is full for a single person whose reference tax income does not exceed €12,957.

A lawyer sorts out the couple debts: which ones bind you, which ones stay with your former partner. They negotiate a release from a joint loan, prepare the application for tax solidarity relief and defend your interests when the matrimonial regime is wound up. Consult a family lawyer or a consumer law lawyer in 20 minutes.