Divorce by mutual consent

Verified 30 May 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You are married and you want divorce out of court ?

If you agreeYou may divorce by mutual consent. It's a simpler and faster procedure.

Your divorce agreement by mutual consent must be deposited with a notary or be validated by the judge.

Validation by the judge is mandatory if one of your minor children wants to be heard by a judge.

We present you with the information you need to know.

What applies to you ?

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Attention: if at least one of the spouses is protection of adults (guardianship, guardianship, family entitlement...), divorce by mutual consent is not not possible.

Agreement deposited with a notary

Divorce by mutual consent by agreement filed with a notary allows you to divorce without going before a judge.

Attention: if you are a foreigner, check if your country of origin accepts a divorce that is not validated by a judge.

Step-by-step approach

The lawyer is obligatory to divorce by mutual consent.

Every husband duty choose your lawyer.

Who shall I contact

You must sign a fee agreement with your lawyer to to fix his fees.

If you don't have enough resources, you can legal aid to cover all or part of these costs.

You don't have to explain the reasons for the divorce.

Your lawyers will write the draft convention for you divorce.

In particular, the agreement shall include the following information:

FYI  

until the agreement is lodged with a notary, the spouses may bring an application before the court for body separation or judicial divorce.

Each lawyer shall send the draft agreement by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt to the spouse whom he or she is assisting.

You have a cooling-off period of 15 days.

You have to wait until the end of this period to sign the convention.

The Convention is signed by the spouses and their lawyers in 3 copies.

Each spouse shall keep an original of the agreement together with its supporting documents. On the 3rde original is for the notary.

In the 7 days who follow the signature, one of the lawyers must send the 3e copy of the agreement to a notary.

The notary checks the presence of the mandatory indications in the agreement and whether the reflection period of 15 days has been respected.

The notary classifies the agreement to preserve it and avoid its loss or destruction. It is said that it places the convention among the minutes.

This formality of filing is done without an appointment with the notary.

The deposit of the agreement with the notary allows the agreement to be given certain date and enforceability, i.e. the Convention is now applicable.

Please note

if you lose your original of the divorce agreement, the notary may issue you a copy.

The mention of divorce in the margins of each spouse's marriage certificate and birth certificate shall be obligatory.

This notice is used to require third parties to comply with your divorce agreement. It is said to make divorce “enforceable” against third parties.

Normally, your lawyer should take steps to update your marital status.

If your lawyer doesn't do that, you need to update your marital status. The request to update is to be sent to the town hall of the place of marriage and must be accompanied by a certificate of deposit issued by the notary.

Who shall I contact

If the marriage certificate has been issued abroad, the request to update the civil status must be sent to the Central Civil Status Service (Scec).

Who shall I contact

  • Attention: the Central Civil Registry Service does not welcome any public.

    Civil status (birth, marriage or death) of a Frenchman abroad

    Only by mail to:

    Central Civil Registry Service

    11 White House Street

    44941 Nantes Cedex 09

    You can apply for a civil status certificate through a online service.

    For more information, you can:

    • Go to diplomatie.gouv.fr
    • Call the+33 1 41 86 42 47 Monday to Friday from 9 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 4 pm
      Free access to video interpretation or instant speech transcription for the deaf or hard of hearing
    • Email courrier.scec@diplomatie.gouv.fr

The City Council or the Scec shall forward the information to the birth authorities of the spouses so that they too can update the birth certificates.

FYI  

You can also update your family booklet.

The cost of divorce varies with lawyers' fees, goods to be shared, notary's fee and procedure.

Each spouse must pay his or her lawyer and his or her fees are set freely with him or her.

A spouse with insufficient resources to initiate divorce proceedings may apply legal aid. If you receive full legal aid, you don't have to pay anything.

The divorce agreement lays down the apportionment of the costs of divorce between the spouses. The agreement may not charge the party receiving legal aid more than half of the costs of the divorce. If the agreement is not clear, the costs of divorce are shared by half.

The deposit at the notary of the agreement amounts to €41.20 excl. tax (€49.44 TTC).

Notary fees may be added if the agreement includes a statement of settlement relating to immovable property or an allocation of immovable property under a compensatory benefit.

FYI  

Divorcing spouses must share the property they had together and a tax applies on the value of the shared property. This is called the right of sharing.

Agreement validated by the judge

The minor child of the spouses must be informed by his parents of his right to be heard by the judge, if he is of age to understand. In this case, the divorce agreement must be certified, that is to say validated by the judge. We're talking about divorce by mutual consent judicial.

Step-by-step approach

You can choose each your lawyer or a common lawyer.

Who shall I contact

You must sign a fee agreement with your lawyer to to fix his fees.

If you don't have enough resources, you can legal aid to cover all or part of these costs.

The application for divorce shall be made by counsel for the parties or by a lawyer chosen in common.

It is made by a single application from the spouses.

Spouses do not have to disclose the reasons for divorce.

This application must include a convention to settle the effects of divorce (division of property, parental authority, maintenance, compensatory benefit). It must include a statement of assets of the matrimonial property regime or the statement that there is nothing to liquidate and share. All assets acquired jointly by the spouses must be liquidated and shared.

In particular, the agreement shall include the following information:

Each of the documents must be dated and signed by each spouse and the spouse's lawyer(s).

Hearing of the minor

The Judge shall hear or cause to be heard the minor who has made the request, before bringing the spouses to court.

The judge may refuse to hear the minor if he or she considers that he or she does not have judgment sufficient. Several criteria are taken into account: the child's age, maturity and level of understanding.

Hearing of spouses

The parties are summoned before the judge, by simple letter sent 15 days before the date of the hearing.

At this hearing, the judge hears the spouses separately and then together with the lawyer or their lawyers. The judge ensures their willingness to divorce and their free and informed consent.

2 situations are possible:

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Validation of the divorce agreement

The judge validates the divorce agreement (we are talking about certification) and issues a divorce judgment if he finds that the agreement preserves the interests of the child and the spouses.

The marriage is dissolved 15 days later, if none appeal in cassation has not been trained.

The divorce judgment may be the subject of appeal on a point of law within 15 days of delivery. This remedy is suspensive except for measures concerning the child.

Refusal by the court to validate the divorce agreement

The court may refuse divorce if the divorce agreement does not sufficiently safeguard the interests of the child or of one of the spouses.

In this case, he adjournment its decision by ordinance, i.e. it postpones it until a new convention has been tabled.

Such an order may be the subject of an call within 15 days of the date of the decision.

The Ordinance specifies the points that must be amended in order for the agreement to be validated or approved. In that order, the judge may certify interim measures on which the spouses have agreed (maintenance, temporary allocation of family housing to one of the spouses, etc.). They are applicable until the divorce judgment is final.

The spouses must submit a new agreement within a maximum of 6 months. If the judge refuses a 2e on the occasion of the approval of the agreement, or in the absence of a new agreement, the divorce application shall be deciduousThat is, it is no longer valid.

The mention of divorce in the margins of each spouse's marriage certificate and birth certificate shall be obligatory.

This notice is used to require third parties to comply with your divorce agreement. It is said to make divorce “enforceable” against third parties.

Normally, your lawyer should take steps to update your marital status.

If your lawyer doesn't do that, you need to update your marital status.

The request for update is sent to the town hall of the place of marriage. It must be accompanied by an extract from the judicial decision and proof that it is final (certificate of non-appeal in cassation). Such justification may be the result of an act drawn up by the lawyer.

Who shall I contact

If the marriage certificate has been issued abroad, the request to update the civil status must be sent to the Central Civil Status Service (Scec).

Who shall I contact

  • Attention: the Central Civil Registry Service does not welcome any public.

    Civil status (birth, marriage or death) of a Frenchman abroad

    Only by mail to:

    Central Civil Registry Service

    11 White House Street

    44941 Nantes Cedex 09

    You can apply for a civil status certificate through a online service.

    For more information, you can:

    • Go to diplomatie.gouv.fr
    • Call the+33 1 41 86 42 47 Monday to Friday from 9 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 4 pm
      Free access to video interpretation or instant speech transcription for the deaf or hard of hearing
    • Email courrier.scec@diplomatie.gouv.fr

The City Council or the Scec shall forward the information to the birth authorities of the spouses so that they too can update the birth certificates.

FYI  

You can also update your family booklet.

The cost of divorce varies with lawyers' fees, goods to be shared, notary's fee and procedure.

Each spouse must pay his or her lawyer and his or her fees are set freely with him or her.

A spouse with insufficient resources to initiate divorce proceedings may apply legal aid. If you receive full legal aid, you don't have to pay anything.

The divorce agreement lays down the apportionment of the costs of divorce between the spouses. The agreement may not charge the party receiving legal aid more than half of the costs of the divorce. If the agreement is not clear, the costs of divorce are shared by half.

The deposit at the notary of the agreement amounts to €41.20 excl. tax (€49.44 TTC).

Notary fees may be added if the agreement includes a statement of settlement relating to immovable property or an allocation of immovable property under a compensatory benefit.

FYI  

Divorcing spouses must share the property they had together and a tax applies on the value of the shared property. This is called the right of sharing.

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      Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.

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