Section II: Judicial divorce and legal separation

On pain of inadmissibility, the petition shall include in its appendix, where applicable, the information form of the minor child requesting to be heard dated and signed by him or her as well as an agreement dated and signed by each of the spouses and their lawyer settling in full the effects of the divorce and including in particular a liquidation statement of the matrimonial property regime or the declaration…

The family affairs judge is seised by the submission of the application to the clerk’s office, which is equivalent to a pleading. After hearing the minor under the conditions defined in Title IX bis of Book I or, in the absence of discernment, refusing to hear the minor under the conditions defined in Articles 338-4 and 338-5, he summons each of the spouses by simple letter sent at least fifteen…

On the appointed day, the judge proceeds in accordance with the procedures set out in articles 250 to 250-3 of the Civil Code; it verifies the admissibility of the application; it ensures that the spouses’ consent is free and informed and draws their attention to the importance of the commitments made by them, particularly with regard to the exercise of parental authority. With the agreement of the parties, in the…

If the agreement appears to him or her to insufficiently safeguard the interests of the children or of one of the spouses, the judge may refuse to homologate it, not grant the divorce and adjourn his or her decision, by order made forthwith, until a new agreement is submitted. The judge informs the spouses that they must submit a new agreement within six months. The order shall mention this information…

The six-month time limit for submitting a new agreement is suspended in the event of an appeal. Failing the submission of a new agreement within the time limit, the judge shall, by order, declare of his own motion that the application for divorce has lapsed. When the spouses submit a new agreement, the parties are summoned according to the procedures set out in Article 1092. If he refuses to approve…

Decisions by the family court judge may be appealed, with the exception of those granting a divorce. The time limit for appeal is fifteen days; it runs from the date of the decision.

The time limit for appealing to the Court of Cassation is fifteen days from the delivery of the decision homologating the spouses’ agreement and pronouncing the divorce.

The creditors of either spouse may have the homologated agreement declared unenforceable against them by lodging third-party proceedings against the homologation decision within one year of completion of the formalities mentioned in article 262 of the Civil Code.

The costs of the proceedings shall be shared equally between the spouses. However, their agreement may provide otherwise subject to the application of provisions of article 123 of decree no. 2020-1717 of 28 December 2020 when one of the spouses is receiving legal aid.