Child Maintenance Calculator France

Under Article 371-2 of the French Civil Code (Code civil des Français), both parents contribute to the maintenance and upbringing of their children in proportion to their respective financial resources and the needs of the child. This legal duty does not terminate upon the child reaching 18 years of age; it continues as long as the adult child remains in bona fide education or apprenticeship without self-sufficient earnings.

The Barème indicatif published by the Ministère de la Justice is the nationwide reference standard used by Family Judges (Juge aux Affaires Familiales - JAF). The calculation steps are:

1. Take the paying parent's net taxable monthly earnings (excluding family allowances).
2. Subtract the Minimum Vital, which corresponds to the single-person RSA (Revenu de Solidarité Active, currently €635.71).
3. Apply the statutory percentage from the Table de Référence corresponding to custody type and child count.

Since 1 January 2023, the French government instituted mandatory universal intermediation (l'intermédiation financière des pensions alimentaires) managed by ARIPA (part of the CAF / MSA network). All child maintenance orders made by courts or registered notary divorces are collected directly from the debtor's bank account via SEPA mandate and paid directly to the creditor, eliminating direct financial disputes.