Is my French divorce agreement valid abroad?

Many couples divorce in France, and then one or both of them move abroad. Chloé Oudiz asked me what happens to their divorce agreement. The episode is in French; here is the substance.

Watch the episode · 26 min · in French

Podcast · 26 min · October 24, 2024Listen onYouTube ↗Spotify ↗

Chapters

• 0:00Introduction
• 1:00Is the agreement recognized abroad?
• 6:23Adapting the children’s residence
• 11:00The impact on child support
• 15:55What to do before moving
• 19:10Three tips before you leave

A divorce agreement is not a judgment

A French divorce by mutual consent (divorce par consentement mutuel) is made by an agreement countersigned by both lawyers and filed with a notary. It is not a court decision, and many countries only recognize a divorce granted by a judge.

Two questions must be kept apart. First, the divorce itself: if it is not recorded on the foreign marriage certificate, you can be divorced in one country and still married in the other. Second, its consequences: the children’s residence, support obligations (which depend on where the paying party lives), and the division of property (which depends on where it is located). Recognition may require legalization, an apostille, a translation, or exequatur proceedings in the other country.

When a move is on the cards, a joint petition to the court is safer: the judge approves the spouses’ agreement, and the judgment will travel abroad. It takes longer, but redoing the divorce in the other country would take longer still.

Adapting the children’s residence

A move reshuffles the cards: neither shared residence nor every other weekend works anymore. One parent has the child during the school year; the other has more of the holidays. Splitting every short break in half would mean exhausting trips for a single week, and the cost of many plane tickets.

Other points need negotiating: who pays for tickets and in what proportion, who travels with the child, from what age the child can fly alone, and how many days before school starts the child must be back. The right setting is project mediation or a negotiation between lawyers, leading to a new parenting agreement. The safest course is to have it approved by the French judge (French Civil Code, Art. 373-2-7) and by the judge of the destination country, so each country has an identical enforceable decision.

The impact on child support

The cost of living changes, and so do the child’s needs. The applicable law changes too: it is in principle the law of the habitual residence of the person receiving support, and it follows that person’s move (Hague Protocol of November 23, 2007, Art. 3). The paying parent’s cost of exercising visitation must be taken into account.

Two points often come up: the age at which support ends, which varies from country to country, and its taxation, governed by bilateral tax treaties. Paying certain costs directly (school, activities) can avoid a lose-lose agreement.

Before you leave: three tips

• Never leave with the children without the other parent’s written consent. The move could be treated as international child abduction, and the other parent could obtain the children’s return.
• Check that the agreement reached in France will be recognized there, with a lawyer in the destination country, on their own or working with your French lawyer. A legal opinion can confirm it and list the steps.
• Don’t assume nothing changes, even within the EU: residence, visitation, and support can all be called into question by local law.

Episode produced by Chloé Oudiz (The Divorce & Separation Coach). The YouTube player only loads with your consent.