Compensatory payment in France: three calculation methods and what the law says
The calculator compares practitioners’ methods; the text explains why none of them is binding.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
The prestation compensatoire is a sum paid by one spouse to the other to make up, as far as possible, for the disparity the divorce creates in their living conditions (Civil Code, article 270). It is not maintenance in the British sense and not alimony in the American sense: it is normally a one-off capital sum, settled once and for all. There is no scale: the judge, or the spouses in their agreement, set it according to one spouse’s needs and the other’s resources, looking at the length of the marriage, age and health, qualifications, career choices made for the family, assets after the division of property and pension rights. Practitioners use calculation methods. For a couple on €4,500 and €1,800 a month married eighteen years, they give €24,300, €51,840 and €97,200. Paid as a lump sum within twelve months, the payment gives a 25 % tax reduction on up to €30,500 paid.
Compensatory payment: three rule-of-thumb methods
Indicative range (lump sum)
€24,300 – €97,200
| Half the monthly gap × years | €24,300 |
| 20% of the yearly gap × 8 years | €51,840 |
| A third of the yearly gap × half the length | €97,200 |
| Income gap per month | €2,700 |
No method has legal force: the judge weighs the criteria of article 271 of the Civil Code.
The criteria the judge must examine
Article 271 of the Civil Code gives a non-exhaustive list. The judge looks at the length of the marriage; the spouses’ age and health; their qualifications and work situation; the consequences of career choices one spouse made during the marriage to bring up the children, or to further the other’s career at the expense of their own; the estimated or foreseeable assets of both, in capital and income, after the matrimonial property regime has been wound up; their existing and foreseeable rights; and their pension position, taking into account the reduced rights of a spouse who cut back their work.
These criteria explain why two couples with identical incomes end up with very different amounts. A fifty-five-year-old who stopped working for fifteen years to raise three children is not in the same position as a thirty-five-year-old whose pay gap already existed before the wedding. A calculation based only on the income gap sees neither difference.
The three methods applied to four couples
| Incomes A / B | Length | Half gap × years | 20% × 8 years | Third × half length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €3,000 / €2,000 | 10 yrs | €5,000 | €19,200 | €20,000 |
| €4,500 / €1,800 | 18 yrs | €24,300 | €51,840 | €97,200 |
| €6,000 / €2,000 | 23 yrs | €46,000 | €76,800 | €184,000 |
| €8,000 / €0 | 30 yrs | €120,000 | €153,600 | €480,000 |
The first method, half the monthly gap times the years of marriage, gives the lowest amounts for short marriages. The second, 20% of the yearly gap over eight years, caps the payment at the maximum instalment period and does not depend on length. The third, a third of the yearly gap times half the length, doubles each time the length doubles. Law firms combine them and then adjust for assets and pensions; the result is negotiated in the agreement or argued before the judge.
Lump sum, instalments or annuity: tax changes everything
For the same amount, the form decides each side’s tax. With €30,000 and a taxable income of €60,000 for the payer, a lump sum paid within twelve months saves them €7,500 through the tax reduction; the same €30,000 paid over several years is deducted from their income, and the saving then depends on their tax bracket, €9,000 here for one year, but the recipient declares €27,000.
Lump sum within a year, instalments or annuity: the tax
Tax saved by the payer
€7,500
| Tax reduction (25%, on €30,500 at most) | €7,500 |
| Net cost to the payer | €22,500 |
| Taxable for the recipient | €0 |
One tax share, no décote: an order of magnitude.
| Form | Payer | Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Lump sum at once or within 12 months | 25 % reduction, €7,625 at most | not taxable |
| Lump sum over more than 12 months | amounts deductible from income | taxable, 10% allowance |
| Annuity | deductible | taxable, 10% allowance |
| Lump sum plus annuity | reduction on the lump sum, deduction of the annuity | annuity taxable |
Not to be confused with child support
Support for the children is worked out separately, on the Ministry of Justice table, and is never offset against the compensatory payment. During the proceedings, a spouse in need can receive support under the duty of support (devoir de secours), which ends when the divorce is final: see spousal support. The division of property logically comes first: a spouse who receives half of a large estate needs less compensation, which the page on dividing assets helps measure.