Children in the event of separation

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The exercise of parental authority  

Despite the separation, parents are still required to exercise parental authority over their children by maintaining personal relations between them and the child. This makes them responsible for their children in material, educational and moral terms.

This authority is exercised jointly by the father and the mother if the parents were married .

If the parents were in a civil partnership or in cohabitation, the father will only be able to exercise it if he has recognized the child before the age of 1, otherwise the mother will exercise it alone. However, a request to the judicial court may be made in order to see the joint authority pronounced. In addition, if the family court judge considers it to be in the best interests of the child, he may entrust parental authority to only one of the parents.

The parents will be able to agree on the terms of exercise of parental authority at the time of separation and set them in an agreement that they can submit to the judge for approval. They will thus be able to determine the contribution of each to the maintenance and education of the children (alimony).

Even if parental authority is entrusted to only one of the parents, the other will always have a right to supervise the education and maintenance of the child . Parents will be able to refer cases to the family court judge for questions relating to the exercise of parental authority and the contribution to maintenance and education.

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Child's place of residence

When the parents separate, they can agree on the child's place of residence in the agreement submitted to the family court for approval.

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In case of disagreement , it is the judge himself who will fix the residence. This can be set either with both parents in the event of alternating residence, or with only one of them. The parent who does not have custody of his child will be able to exercise visitation and accommodation rights which will be fixed by the parents within the framework of an agreement or by the family affairs judge.

Only serious reasons can justify the refusal of one of the parents to exercise his right of visit or accommodation.

In the event of separation, the family court judge may also provisionally grant the enjoyment of family accommodation to one of the two parents for a maximum period of 6 months by allocating to the other an occupancy allowance that he will fix.

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Parents' obligations towards their child

Even when they separate, parents are required to contribute to the maintenance and education of their children through the payment of child support. It will be calculated according to the resources of the parent and the needs of the child.

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This will be paid to the person having custody of the child and will be set by the family court judge during or after the divorce proceedings.

You have access to an online simulator by following this link .  

If the pension is not paid, recovery procedures are opened.

If the parents separate while they were cohabiting , they will be able to fix together the consequences of their separation on the children within a parental agreement (they will be able in particular to enter the amount of the maintenance allowance).