What is the contribution to the maintenance and education of the child?

As a parent, you have an obligation to ensure that your child’s basic needs are met: food, housing, clothing, health, education, leisure activities, transportation, etc. This legal obligation applies to both parents, even in the event of separation, divorce, or dissolution of a PACS (pacte civil de solidarité, the French civil partnership).

In the event of separation, it most often takes the form of child support (pension alimentaire) paid monthly by one parent to the other, or directly to the child if they are of legal age.

How is it determined? Child support is determined on a case-by-case basis, according to three criteria:

1. Your resources (salaries, property income, expenses, debts, etc.)
2. The other parent’s resources
3. The child’s needs (age, education, health, residence arrangements, etc.)

In what forms can it be paid? Child support can take the form of:

1. Cash support, i.e., the payment of a sum of money (the most common form)
2. Direct payment of certain expenses (e.g., non-reimbursed medical expenses, extracurricular activities, etc.)
3. Sharing in kind in the case of alternating residence (résidence alternée): each parent can pay expenses directly during their own residence periods, without any payment of money, if their resources are equivalent.

What to do in case of change? You can request a review of the child support (upward or downward) if your resources change (unemployment, salary increase, etc.), if the child’s needs change (illness, expensive studies, etc.), or if the other parent’s situation changes.

What happens in the event of non-payment? You can first attempt to reach an amicable solution (letter, family mediation), then initiate legal recovery on the basis of a decision or approved agreement.

There are several possible avenues:

• intermediation by Aripa (the French family-support recovery agency),
• direct enforcement by a judicial officer (commissaire de justice): direct payment, garnishment of a bank account or wages,
• recourse to the Public Treasury as a last resort.

You can also file a complaint for family abandonment (abandon de famille) after two months of non-payment, an offense punishable by two years in prison and a €15,000 fine. In the case of fraudulent organization of insolvency, the penalty can be up to three years in prison and a €45,000 fine.

How long do you have to pay? Your obligation does not automatically end when your child reaches the age of majority. It continues as long as your child is not financially independent (for example, if they are studying or looking for a job).

Gaëtan Escudey is available to help you assert your rights regarding child support and assist you with all amicable or legal proceedings in the event of non-payment.

This general information does not replace a consultation: each situation requires individual assessment.