Debt write-off in France: the personal recovery procedure explained

Your income no longer covers your outgoings, your debts keep growing, and no repayment plan holds up. In that case, French law offers a way out: personal recovery (rétablissement personnel), which can lead to a debt write-off. It does, however, follow strict conditions and leaves a five-year mark. A lawyer reviews your situation in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

Debt write-off: the last stage of over-indebtedness

Personal recovery is not a separate procedure. It is one of the possible outcomes of an over-indebtedness file lodged with the Banque de France.

So everything starts with that file. Filing it is free, online, by post with form cerfa no. 13594, or at a Banque de France counter. A departmental commission then examines it. It has three months to decide whether the file is admissible. In 2025, according to the Banque de France, it took a little over a month in practice.

Once the file is admissible, the commission chooses what comes next:

• An agreed plan, negotiated with the creditors, especially if you own property.
• Imposed measures, such as spreading payments over seven years at most, or a deferral.
• Personal recovery, when no repayment is realistic.

The commission only steers a file towards a debt write-off when your situation leaves no other solution. It is therefore not an option you pick when you file.

The conditions: a situation beyond repair

Personal recovery first requires the conditions of any over-indebtedness case. You must be a natural person, live in France and be unable to pay your debts. You must also act in good faith: you must not have organised your own insolvency.

Next comes a condition specific to this procedure. Your situation must be irremediably compromised. In other words, no recovery measure can improve it, even over several years.

To judge this, the commission looks at your whole situation:

• Your income and how it is likely to change, for example disability or upcoming retirement.
• Your essential outgoings, such as rent and food.
• Your assets, and above all whether you own anything of value.
• Your good faith, because any concealment leads to the file being rejected.

A sole trader can only file after closing the business, once only personal debts remain. Otherwise, they fall under insolvency proceedings before the commercial courts.

Debt write-off without court liquidation

This is the most common form. The commission imposes it when your situation has no way out and you own nothing of value.

Some assets do not count in this assessment:

• Items needed for everyday life.
• Items essential to your work.
• Items with no market value, which nobody would buy.

In this case, nothing is sold. The commission imposes a write-off of all your debts, except those the law excludes. You therefore start again debt-free, apart from those exceptions.

Debt write-off with court liquidation

The second form applies when you own significant assets, for example property or a valuable vehicle. Selling them must then help pay the creditors.

With your consent, the commission refers the case to the judge. A liquidator then sells your assets. The proceeds go to the creditors, as far as possible.

At the end of the procedure, the judge closes the case. Debts that the sale did not cover are then wiped out, again except for the legal exceptions.

	Without court liquidation	With court liquidation
Situation	Irremediably compromised	Irremediably compromised
Assets	Nothing of value	Significant assets
Who decides	The commission imposes the measure	The judge, referred by the commission with your consent
Sale of assets	None	By a liquidator
Write-off	All debts, except exceptions	Debts not covered by the sale, except exceptions
FICP listing	5 years	5 years from closure

Debts that a debt write-off never covers

The write-off does not reach every debt. Some remain payable after the procedure:

• Maintenance debts, such as unpaid child support.
• Criminal fines.
• Damages awarded to a victim in a criminal conviction.
• Pawn loans.
• Fraudulent debts owed to a social security body, for example an overpayment obtained through a false declaration.
• Sums paid on your behalf by a guarantor or a co-debtor who is a natural person.
• Some tax debts.

A parent who owes child support therefore still owes it. The other parent can still turn to the child support recovery agency or to wage garnishment.

Likewise, if a relative stood as guarantor and paid on your behalf, they can claim those sums from you. Talk to them before you file.

Debt write-off for a couple

A couple, whether married, in a civil partnership (PACS) or living together, has a choice. They can file one joint case, two separate cases, or a single case in the couple's name. If the debts are shared, each partner must state and prove their own income.

This choice matters later on. Indeed, the commission assesses each person's situation. A debt write-off may therefore concern one partner, while the other is placed on a repayment plan.

Moreover, a co-debtor who pays a shared debt on your behalf can claim those sums from you, even after a debt write-off. Before filing, review the debts you both signed and those that bind only one of you.

Over-indebtedness in figures

According to the Banque de France, 148,013 cases were filed in 2025, 9.8% more than in 2024. The total debt of the households concerned reached €5 billion. In addition, 476,000 people were listed on the FICP for an over-indebtedness measure.

Filings have been rising since summer 2023. Even so, they remain about 32% below the 2015 level. You are not alone in this situation, and the procedure is open to anyone who meets its conditions.

Unpaid rent and housing

Personal recovery can also wipe out a rent debt. According to service-public, the termination clause of the lease is then suspended for two years. You must, however, keep paying the current rent throughout the procedure.

In addition, neither the landlord nor a creditor can end a contract solely because you filed. The commission can also ask the judge to suspend an eviction, but this is not automatic. If a procedure has already started, read our article on the eviction procedure and act quickly.

During the procedure: what changes for you

As soon as the file is admissible, several protections apply, for two years at most:

• Seizures stop, except for maintenance or criminal debts. An enforcement officer can no longer sell your goods for a debt in the file.
• Interest and late penalties stop on the declared debts.
• Your bank account stays open, with no fees for rejected direct debits.
• Housing benefit resumes if it had been suspended, paid to the landlord.

In return, you must not take on more debt or sell your assets. Nor do you pay the old declared debts. On the other hand, rent, current charges, child support and fines must still be paid.

The FICP after personal recovery

Filing the case puts you on the national register of household credit repayment incidents, the FICP. That listing lasts throughout the procedure.

After personal recovery, with or without liquidation, it lasts a fixed five years. That period starts from the approval of the measure or the closure of the procedure. Unlike a repayment plan, there is no early removal.

In practice, getting credit becomes very hard during those five years. Plan your budget with that in mind.

Challenging a decision in court

Do you disagree with the commission? Several appeals exist, before the judge for consumer protection disputes (juge des contentieux de la protection).

Decision challenged	Time limit
Admissibility or inadmissibility of the file	15 days from notification
Detailed statement of debts	20 days, by reasoned request to the commission
Imposed measures	30 days from notification

An appeal on admissibility does not suspend the decision. For a personal recovery decision, read the notification carefully: it states the time limit and how to appeal. These limits are short, and a late appeal will not be examined.

An appeal makes sense, for example, when the commission proposes an unworkable plan rather than a debt write-off. Conversely, it can serve to dispute a debt you believe is time-barred. Our article on the debt limitation period explains how to check it.

Free help and what a lawyer brings

You do not need a lawyer to file. The Banque de France first points people to budget advice points (points conseil budget), the town's social welfare office (CCAS), the department's social services and family or consumer associations. They help you put the file together for free.

A point-justice also gives a free first legal consultation, on 30 39. Finally, legal aid covers lawyer's fees before the judge. In 2026, full legal aid applies to a single person whose reference tax income does not exceed €12,957.

A lawyer becomes useful as soon as a disagreement arises. They challenge admissibility, the statement of debts or the measures before the judge. They also check which debts will remain payable, especially for a couple, as our article on couple debts explains. Finally, they assist you during a court liquidation, when your assets must be sold.

No professional can promise you a debt write-off, though: the decision lies with the commission, then with the judge. If repayment is still possible, a negotiated payment plan may be enough.

A consumer law lawyer answers in 20 minutes. The official rules appear on the service-public page on personal recovery.