My ex refuses to leave the home after the breakup: what now?

The relationship is over, but you still live under the same roof. Your ex refuses to leave the home, or has promised to go "next month" for weeks. Tension rises, and you do not know what the law allows. A lawyer reviews your situation in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

The answer turns on two questions: what ties you (marriage, PACS civil partnership, unmarried couple) and on what basis you occupy the home (lease, joint ownership, one owner). This article goes through each case under French law.

First: are you safe?

If your ex refuses to leave the home and threatens you, hits you or stops you from going out, this is no longer only a housing question.

• 17 or 112 in immediate danger, or a text to 114 if you cannot speak.
• 3919, Violences Femmes Info, free and anonymous, 24/7.
• The protection order from the family judge (juge aux affaires familiales) in principle gives the home to the victim, even after a stay in emergency housing (Article 515-11 of the Civil Code).

Eviction of a violent spouse, partner or cohabitant ordered in that context is exempt from the winter truce and the two-month delay (Article L. 412-8 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures). Our article My ex wants me back covers the other protections.

Your situation at a glance

Situation	Who may stay?	Who decides?
Married, lease in one or both names	Both, until the judge decides	Family judge
Married, home owned jointly or by one	Both, until interim measures	Family judge
PACS or unmarried, lease in both names	Both, each is a tenant	Judge seised after the breakup
PACS or unmarried, lease in one name	The leaseholder	Protection litigation judge
PACS or unmarried, joint ownership	Both, with possible compensation	Judicial court
PACS or unmarried, owned by one	The owner	Protection litigation judge

You are married: the judge allocates the home

While you are married, the family home is protected. Neither spouse may deprive the other of it alone, even as sole owner (Article 215 of the Civil Code). If your ex refuses to leave the home, you cannot simply put them out.

The solution goes through the family judge. As soon as divorce is requested, the judge can take interim measures (Article 255 of the Civil Code):

• give one spouse the use of the home and furniture;
• say whether that use is free or gives rise to an occupation indemnity;
• order the handover of clothes and personal belongings.

For a rented home, the lease belongs to both spouses, even if only one signed it, even before the marriage (Article 1751 of the Civil Code). The divorce judge can assign it to one of them. In a divorce by mutual consent, the agreement settles this point: see our guide to divorce by mutual consent.

PACS or unmarried: it all depends on the title

The lease is in both names

You are both tenants. Your ex refuses to leave the home? They may stay as long as their lease runs. Each can give notice for themselves, and one leaving does not end the other's lease.

For PACS partners, after dissolution one may ask the judge to be granted the lease, with the landlord joined to the case (Article 1751-1 of the Civil Code).

The lease is in your name only

Your ex is then an occupant without title towards the landlord, even if they paid part of the rent. If they refuse to go, you must ask the protection litigation judge (juge des contentieux de la protection), who hears cases against occupants of a home without right or title.

You own the home together

The property is held in indivision. Each may use it, and whoever has sole use in principle owes the other an occupation indemnity (Article 815-9 of the Civil Code). To end the indivision, you sell by agreement, one buys out the other, or the judicial court orders a division.

You are the sole owner

Your ex refuses to leave the home you own? They have no right to stay once the relationship is over. But here too, only a court decision lets you remove them if they persist.

What not to do

Anger sometimes drives people to change the locks or put belongings in the hallway. These moves backfire.

Forcing someone to leave the place they live by manoeuvres, threats, assault or coercion, without State assistance, carries three years in prison and a €30,000 fine (Article 226-4-2 of the Criminal Code). This applies even in your own home, if your ex lives there.

Avoid cutting the electricity or taking their papers. A judge will read these acts as pressure, just when you are asking that judge to decide.

Eviction, step by step

When your ex refuses to leave the home despite everything, the procedure follows a set order:

1. Formal written notice: a registered letter setting a reasonable departure date.
2. Going to court: the family judge for a married couple or where there is violence, the protection litigation judge for an occupant without title.
3. A judgment ordering departure, possibly with an occupation indemnity.
4. An order to vacate served by a commissaire de justice (court enforcement officer). A two-month delay then runs in principle (Article L. 412-1).
5. Police assistance, requested from the prefect if your ex still does not leave.

Mind the calendar: the winter truce suspends evictions from 1 November to 31 March (Article L. 412-6). It does not apply to the eviction of a violent spouse, partner or cohabitant ordered by the family judge.

And the rent meanwhile?

While the lease runs, the landlord can claim rent from the leaseholders. For spouses, joint liability lasts until the divorce is noted in the margin of the civil status records, even for the one who gave notice.

Between unmarried co-tenants with a joint liability clause, the tenant who leaves remains bound at most six months after their notice ends, if nobody replaces them on the lease. Where there is violence, the victim tenant gives one month's notice, and their joint liability ends the day after the letter is first presented to the landlord, with proof (protection order, prosecution or conviction).

Household debts follow other rules: see who pays the couple's debts after separating.

What a lawyer adds

You can write the formal notice yourself. But when your ex refuses to leave the home, a lawyer picks the right judge and procedure, which saves months. They calculate the occupation indemnity, prepare the buyout or sale of a shared property and, where there is violence, request the protection order.

No lawyer can guarantee a departure date, which also depends on the judge and the prefect. Legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) covers fees depending on your means: in 2026, it is full for a single person whose reference taxable income does not exceed €12,957. A family law lawyer answers in 20 minutes.

Your local ADIL (housing information agency) also gives free advice on leases. The official service-public page on domestic violence explains the protection order.

See also our article on ex harassment and the protection order.