General Alimony Statements

What does it support?

Alimony is a sum of money paid by one person to another pursuant to a maintenance obligation. This differs from the compensatory allowance as it helps offset disparities in living standards caused by the spouses’ divorce.

When the family lives together, this support does not exist. In the event that one spouse refuses to contribute to the cost of the household, the other could go to court to compel them to contribute financially to the expenses related to maintenance of children.

However, in case of parental separation, alimony has its purpose. It is mainly due to serve the children's interests, but one spouse can benefit from it during the divorce procedure.

Who can get it?

Child support is paid:

- for maintenance of minor children;

- during the divorce proceedings and beyond the procedure in certain cases.

What are the benefits?

The amount of the alimony is fixed either by agreement between the parties (especially in the case of a divorce by mutual consent), or by the judge. The judge in this case will take into account the respective resources of the creditor and debtor. It may also consider evidence of the INSEE (National Institute of Statistics) on the cost of living.

It may be revised at any time upon request of the pensioner or the one who pays if there is a change of situation in one of the ex-spouses, or in the child’s needs.

In the event of remarriage or cohabitation of the recipient:

- the recipient is only maintained by alimony if they are allocated for maintenance of children;

Alimony paid to the former spouse(s) and minor children is subject to a deduction from the taxable income if it was fixed by the court.

How to obtain the payment of alimony?

There are various ways to force the ex-spouse to pay the alimony:

Seizures

There are several forms of seizure:

- seizure-allocation is done through the bank account;

- seizure of wages or salaries is made directly from the employer;

- seizure and sale of goods.

The seizure can qualify for payment of all arrears of pension for up to 5 years. This route is preferable if one wants to recover an alimony which has been unpaid for more than six months.

Direct Payment

A third party (e.g. a bank or employer of the former spouse) will pay the pension directly to the place of the defaulting debtor. You need a deadline up to which alimony hasn’t been paid.

It is addressed to a bailiff, who must give the trial setting alimony and all debtor information.

The costs of such proceedings is borne by the debtor.

This allows us to reach the amounts due for the six months preceding the application.

This pensions divorce only works if you have the debtor’s address and if they have a stable income.

Public collection of alimony

The pension is claimed by the Accounting Treasury as a tax.

You must have already had some unsuccessful attempts, implying that non-payment can last for a long time, and naturally create a difficult situation for the creditor.

This is the most effective method to obtain payment for a previous 6 months and for future terms. This procedure is free.

It is conducted at a prosecutor's high court of the creditor’s domicile.

You must send a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt and include:

- a copy of the divorce decree;

- a certificate of the Registrar (for capture-attribution) or bailiff (for direct payment) proving that you have already tried to get the pension;

- all the information you have on the debtor (last known address and previous employer).

Help from family allowances

There is a service to assist parents to recover unpaid child support for over 2 months.

Single parents may perceive the family support allowance as an advance on the unpaid pension. The payment of this allowance automatically triggers the implementation of service recovery. The conditions in order to qualify for this allowance are:

- provide a court order setting child support;

- be a single parent (not married, not living with a partner);

- have dependent children.

In case of partial payment, a differential allowance supplementing the amount actually due is paid.

The non-insulated parents are not entitled to family support, but they can benefit from using the collection services for unpaid child support (within 2 years) for minor children. This requires having already committed themselves to paying the pension and these actions have to be proven unsuccessful.

The family allowance funds may also be responsible for the recovery of alimony from the spouse, former spouse and other children of the debtor, including amounts due under the compensatory allowance or action to end subsidies.

Note : Section 314-7 of the penal code imposes a prison sentence of 3 years and a fine of €45,000 on people who have organized their insolvency or worse in order to not pay child support.