European e-Justice Portal

Costs

France

In this case study on family law – divorce, Member States were asked to advise the party filing for divorce on litigation costs in the following situations: Case A – National situation: a couple gets married. Later they separate and agree to a divorce. Case B – Transnational situation: Two nationals from the same Member State (Member State A) marry. The marriage is celebrated in Member State A. After the wedding, the couple moves to live and work in another Member State (Member State B), where they establish their residence. Shortly thereafter, the couple separates with the wife returning to Member State A and the husband remaining in Member State B. The couple agrees to a divorce. Upon her return to Member State A, the wife immediately files for a divorce before the courts of Member State B.

Costs in France

Costs for legal proceedings, appeals and the alternative dispute resolution process

Case study	Legal proceedings			Appeal			Alternative dispute resolution process
	Initial court fees	Transcription fees	Other fees	Initial court fees	Transcription fees	Other fees	Is this option available in this type of case?	Costs
Case A	No	No	No	No	No	No	Mediation can be used to try to find an agreement between the parties on the consequences of the divorce, but in all circumstances a court decision is required for the pronouncement of the divorce.	Mediation costs are payable by the parties, but may be covered by legal aid.
Case B	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem

Costs for lawyer, bailiff and expert

Case study	Lawyer			Bailiff		Expert
	Is representation compulsory?	Average costs	Is representation compulsory?	Pre-judgment costs	Post-judgment costs	Is use compul-sory?	Costs
Case A	Yes	Free to set own fees.	Yes, if summons/ subpoena. No, if joint application.	Summons: EUR 18.70 Service: EUR 26.70	Service: EUR 26.70	A notary is required if real property forms part of community property.	List of fees
Case B	Idem	Idem	Idem	Document originating from another Member State: EUR 50 Document destined for another Member State: EUR 36.30	Document originating from another Member State: EUR 50 Document destined for another Member State: EUR 36.30	Idem	Idem

Costs for witness compensation, oath or other security and other relevant fees

Case study	Witness compensation		Oath or other security		Other fees
	Are witnesses compensated?	Cost	Does this exist and when and how is it used?	Cost	Description	Cost
Case A	No	No	No	No	No	No
Case B	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem

Costs for legal aid and other reimbursement

Case study	Legal aid
	When and under which conditions is it necessary?	When is aid total?	Conditions?
Case A	Legal aid can be requested by a spouse before or in the course of court proceedings. It is granted if: - the action for divorce brought by the spouse does not appear manifestly inadmissible or without any foundation in law; - the income declared does not exceed the limits set by law; - the costs of the divorce proceedings are not covered by legal protection insurance.	The State pays all the costs of the proceedings if the spouse is awarded total aid.	Total legal aid is granted if the monthly income declared by the petitioner does not exceed EUR 911. Partial aid is granted for those with income between this amount and EUR 1 367. The upper limits for income are raised by EUR 164 for the first two dependants and EUR 104 for the third dependant and any subsequent.
Case B	Idem	Idem	Idem

Case study	Reimbursement
	Can the winning party obtain reimbursement of litigation costs?	Are there instances when legal aid should be reimbursed to the legal aid organisation?
Case A	No, where the parties agree, the principle applied is division of costs, except where the parties agree otherwise or the judge decides otherwise.	When the divorce judgment awards costs to a spouse who does not benefit from legal aid, the spouse must reimburse the Treasury office with the costs advanced by the State in the defence of a spouse who does benefit from legal aid.
Case B	Idem	Idem

Costs for translation and interpretation

Case study	Translation		Interpretation
	When and under which conditions is it necessary?	Approximate cost?	When and under which conditions is it necessary?	Approximate cost?
Case A	Documents submitted to the judge must be translated.	There are no statistics available relating to costs.	When the judge does not understand the language in which the parties communicate.	Fixed by the judge.
Case B	Idem	Idem	Idem	Idem

Last update: 08/11/2019

The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective Member State. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. The European Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.