Child maintenance: amount, revision and unpaid sums
Published on 09/07/2026
When parents separate, the question of child maintenance (pension alimentaire) almost always comes up — often at the heart of the tensions. How much? Who sets it? What to do if it is not paid? Here, in a documentary way, is how this contribution works in French law, based on the texts and official sources.
What exactly are we talking about?
The everyday term "pension alimentaire" covers a precise obligation: the contribution to the child's maintenance and education (contribution à l'entretien et à l'éducation de l'enfant, often abbreviated CEEE). Each parent is bound by it, separated or not. Article 371-2 of the Civil Code lays down the principle:
"Each parent contributes to the children's maintenance and education in proportion to their resources, those of the other parent, and the children's needs. This obligation does not cease by operation of law either when parental authority or its exercise is withdrawn, or when the child comes of age."
In the event of separation, this contribution most often takes the form of a maintenance payment made by one parent to the other — the one with whom the child habitually resides (Article 373-2-2 of the Civil Code).
Who owes it, and until when?
The rule often surprises: maintenance does not stop automatically when the child comes of age (the text above says so expressly). It continues as long as the child is not financially self-sufficient — pursuing studies, seeking a first job.
For an adult child, Article 373-2-5 of the Civil Code states that the parent who bears the burden may claim a contribution from the other, and that the judge (or the parents) may decide that it be paid in whole or in part into the hands of the child.
How is the amount set?
Two main routes:
- by agreement between the parents, who may have it approved by the family court judge — the judge then checks that the agreement preserves the child's interest and that consent is free (Article 373-2-7 of the Civil Code);
- by decision of the family court judge, failing an agreement.
In both cases, the criteria are the same: the resources of each parent, the child's needs, and in practice the residence time with each (classic custody, shared custody…) and the number of children. This is why it is useful to produce complete financial supporting documents from both sides — see our guide Building an evidence file for the family court judge.
The reference table and the official simulator
Since 2010, the Ministry of Justice has published an indicative reference table to help set the maintenance. It starts from the paying parent's income, deducts a subsistence minimum, then applies a rate that varies according to the number of children and the extent of the contact and accommodation rights.
⚠️ This table is purely indicative: it does not bind either the judge or the parents. For an estimate suited to your situation, use the official child maintenance calculation simulator — the amount it gives remains an estimate; only the judge (or the approved agreement) sets the final amount.
Revaluing or revising: two different things
These two mechanisms, which have nothing to do with each other, are often confused:
| Revaluation (indexing) | Revision | |
|---|---|---|
| What | Automatic yearly updating | A change to the amount itself |
| How | Application of an indexing clause on the INSEE price index, by the paying parent | New decision of the family court judge |
| Condition | Provided by the judgment or the agreement | Justifying a new factor (resources, needs, custody arrangement) |
The revaluation must be applied spontaneously by the paying parent, on the anniversary date provided; INSEE provides an online calculation module and service-public details the revaluation method. The revision, for its part, requires referring the matter back to the judge because the situation has changed.
In the event of non-payment: the recovery routes
Unpaid maintenance is not an inevitability. Several mechanisms exist, detailed on the page What to do if the child maintenance is not paid?:
- ARIPA (Agence de recouvrement et d'intermédiation des pensions alimentaires — the agency for the recovery and intermediation of maintenance payments), managed by the CAF and the MSA. Since 2022-2023, financial intermediation has even become the default principle: the paying parent pays ARIPA, which passes the money on to the receiving parent — avoiding the face-to-face over money. It is compulsory in cases of violence. You can get information and apply on the ARIPA website.
- Direct payment by a commissaire de justice, which allows the recovery of arrears for the last six months and future instalments.
- Seizure (of wages, bank account) and, as a last resort, public recovery by the public treasury.
⚠️ Non-payment of maintenance for more than two months constitutes the offence of abandonment of family (abandon de famille), punishable by two years' imprisonment and a fine of 15 000 € (Article 227-3 of the Criminal Code).
Not to be confused: child maintenance and compensatory allowance
Child maintenance concerns the children. The compensatory allowance (prestation compensatoire), for its part, concerns the former spouses: paid in principle as a lump sum, it aims to compensate for the disparity in standard of living that the divorce creates between them, and puts an end to the duty of support (Article 270 of the Civil Code). These are two distinct mechanisms, governed by different rules — see our guide The compensatory allowance.
Setting, revising or recovering maintenance requires up-to-date figures and dated documents: resources, expenses, the schedule of payments. This is precisely the organisational work Aridelle is designed to make easier — gathering your supporting documents, keeping track of the instalments and preparing your questions for a professional.
For any individual situation, turn to a lawyer, a point-justice or Allô Service Public (3939), a free information service that covers family law.