Preparing for your hearing before the family court judge (JAF)

Published on 20/07/2026

Receiving a summons before the family court judge (juge aux affaires familiales, JAF) is almost always a source of anxiety: you do not know how it will go, what to say, or what to bring. Yet a family hearing is nothing like a courtroom drama. Here, in a documentary way, is how it unfolds and how to prepare for it calmly, on the basis of the texts and of the official sources. To find out how the judge is seised beforehand, see our guide Applying to the family court judge.

How does a hearing before the JAF unfold?

Once the judge has been seised, the registry summons the parties by registered letter (stating the date, the time and the place). The hearing before the JAF is held in chambers (chambre du conseil): it is not public, unlike criminal hearings. In practice, it often takes place in a modest-sized courtroom, or even in the judge's chambers, around a table — each parent, assisted where applicable by their lawyer, facing the magistrate.

The judge listens to each party in turn. The principle governing the whole debate is that of adversarial proceedings (Articles 15 and 16 of the Code of Civil Procedure): each party must have knowledge of the other's claims and documents, and be able to respond to them. In practice, this means that the documents you produce (witness statements, statements of account, exchanges) must have been communicated to the other party before the hearing — a judge will set aside documents produced by surprise. Where the parties have a lawyer, the exchange is formalised by pleadings (conclusions) (the written document setting out the claims and the arguments) and by a schedule of numbered documents.

The judge often seeks first to reconcile the parents and may propose to them — or even order them to meet a mediator for information — a family mediation, except where violence is alleged. It is not unusual for a hearing to last fifteen to thirty minutes: hence the importance of a clear file that goes straight to the point.

⚠️ Respect for adversarial proceedings is a condition, not a formality. Communicate your documents to the other party (or to their lawyer) ahead of the hearing, and not on the day itself. A file of numbered documents with a summary schedule saves the judge precious time — and prevents a useful piece of evidence from being excluded from the debate.

Hearing the child: a right, subject to conditions

Many parents wonder: will my child be heard? The rule is laid down by Article 388-1 of the Civil Code:

"In any proceedings concerning them, a minor capable of discernment may, without prejudice to the provisions requiring their intervention or their consent, be heard by the judge or, where their interest so requires, by the person designated by the judge for that purpose. Such a hearing is of right where the minor requests it."

Three points to remember. First, the law sets no age: it is the child's capacity for discernment that the judge assesses case by case. Next, the hearing is of right if the child themselves requests it — the judge cannot then refuse it. Lastly, being heard does not make the child a party to the proceedings: they do not have to "choose" between their parents, and their views inform the judge without binding them. The child may be heard alone, with a lawyer or with a person of their choosing. The official page Can a minor child be heard by the judge? sets out the procedure.

What the child expresses is one of the elements — among others — that the judge takes into account in ruling on residence and contact rights. Article 373-2-11 of the Civil Code lists these criteria:

"Where the judge rules on the arrangements for exercising parental authority, they take notably into consideration: 1° The practice the parents had previously followed or the agreements they may previously have concluded; 2° The sentiments expressed by the minor child in the conditions provided for in Article 388-1; 3° The ability of each parent to assume their duties and to respect the rights of the other […]"

Do you need a lawyer?

Before the JAF, a lawyer is not always mandatory: it depends on the subject matter. The page Is a lawyer mandatory in a civil trial? distinguishes:

Lawyer not mandatory	Lawyer mandatory
Parental authority: the child's residence, contact and accommodation rights, child maintenance	Divorce and legal separation
Contribution to the expenses of the marriage	Revision of the compensatory allowance
Delegation of parental authority	Liquidation-division of the matrimonial regime
Protection of victims of violence (protection order)	Withdrawal of parental authority; grandparents' contact rights; actions relating to filiation

In other words, for most disputes about children after a separation — residence, contact rights, maintenance — you may appear without a lawyer. Divorce, for its part, requires each spouse to have their own. Even where it is optional, a lawyer often remains useful for formalising the pleadings and the exchange of documents; subject to income conditions, legal aid can cover the cost.

What to bring, and how to prepare

On the day of the hearing, come with an organised file: the judge has only a few minutes to grasp your situation.

To bring	Why
Proof of identity	To establish your identity on entry
The registry's summons	To find your courtroom and your case number
Supporting documents on resources and expenses (tax assessment, payslips, rent, loans, child-related costs)	To ground an application for maintenance or for its revision
The previous decision (judgment, order, approved agreement)	The starting point for any application to vary
Your numbered documents (witness statements, text messages, e-mails, certificates, invoices) already communicated to the other party	To support the facts while respecting adversarial proceedings
A dated timeline of the facts	To set out clearly, in order, what happened

As for the preparation itself: re-read your application (or the other party's petition) so as to know precisely what the judge has to decide; list your arguments, tying each one to a dated document; prepare your questions and what you concretely wish to obtain (a precise holiday schedule, for example); finally, anticipate the other parent's claims so as not to be caught off guard. A witness statement complying with Article 202 of the Code of Civil Procedure carries more weight than a simple handwritten note. Stay factual and calm: the judge is looking for the child's interest, not to apportion blame.

The cost: the 50 € stamp since March 2026

Since 1 March 2026, referring a matter to the civil courts at first instance requires paying a legal aid contribution of 50 € — a dematerialised tax stamp, bought online on timbres.impots.gouv.fr and attached to the application (2026 Finance Act). The official page Do you have to pay to go to court? and the service-public news item set this out in detail.

⚠️ Several situations are exempt from it. Exempt are notably: beneficiaries of legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) (attach the decision granting it or a copy of the application filed), applications for a protection order by victims of violence, the approval of an amicable parental agreement, and the order-for-payment procedure. Outside these cases, the absence of a stamp makes the application inadmissible — but the registry first invites you to put it right (within one month).

After the hearing: deliberation, judgment and enforcement

At the close of the debate, the judge rarely gives their decision on the spot: most often they reserve judgment and announce a date on which the judgment will be delivered (often a few weeks later). The decision is then notified to the parties, generally by the registry (registered letter) or served by a commissaire de justice.

The judgment becomes enforceable on the conditions it lays down; some JAF decisions carry provisional enforcement, that is, they apply immediately even in the event of an appeal. If you disagree, you can generally appeal within one month of notification (a shorter period in certain matters), with a lawyer. And if the other parent does not comply with the decision — for example by not returning the child — routes of recovery and, where appropriate, a criminal response exist (see our guide Failure to return a child). Where residence is shared, the arrangements settled also govern day-to-day organisation (see Shared residence).

You are all the better placed at a hearing if you arrive with a clear file, dated facts and documents sorted and numbered — exactly what Aridelle is designed to help prepare: gathering your supporting documents, keeping the timeline of events and building an evidence file for the JAF, then setting out clearly your questions for the hearing or 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; subject to income conditions, legal aid can cover all or part of the costs.