Does France have a single concept called "custody"?

Not really, and that's the most important thing to understand. French law separates two questions that US law often bundles into "custody." Autorité parentale (parental authority) is the bundle of rights and duties toward the child, and both parents hold and exercise it jointly by default, whether they're together, separated, or never married, as long as filiation is established for both. Résidence de l'enfant (the child's residence) is the separate, practical question of where the child actually lives day to day, which is what gets decided when parents separate.

Is résidence alternée (alternating residence, i.e. shared physical custody) the default in France?

No. There's no legal presumption for or against alternating residence. Article 373-2-9 of the Code civil gives the Juge aux Affaires Familiales (JAF) two options: fix the child's residence alternately at each parent's home, or fix it at one parent's home with the other parent getting a droit de visite et d'hébergement (right of visitation and overnight stay). Judges decide case by case based on the child's best interest, though courts have increasingly favored alternating residence when parents live close enough and can cooperate.

Can one parent lose parental authority (autorité parentale)?

Only in serious, specific circumstances, courts don't strip a parent of autorité parentale simply because the parents separate or disagree about the child's residence. A parent can lose it (déchéance de l'autorité parentale, or retrait) only through a separate, more serious legal process, typically involving danger to the child, abandonment, or a criminal conviction against the child or the other parent. Losing physical residence time is not the same as losing parental authority.

Do parents have to try mediation before going to the JAF?

Mediation (médiation familiale) is strongly encouraged throughout the process, and a judge can require parents to at least meet with a mediator to be informed about what it involves before proceeding. Whether an attempt at mediation is a strict precondition to filing depends on the specific procedure, for example, requests to modify an existing decision on the exercise of parental authority have at times been subject to a mandatory preliminary mediation attempt (tentative de médiation familiale préalable obligatoire) in certain courts. Check the current rules for your tribunal judiciaire, or ask at Justice.fr's médiation familiale page.

Can I move away with my child if we share alternating residence?

Not unilaterally in most cases. If a court order or agreement sets a residence arrangement, a parent who wants to relocate in a way that would disrupt it generally needs the other parent's agreement or a new decision from the JAF. Sudden or unagreed relocation can itself become a factor the judge weighs under Article 373-2-11 when deciding or revisiting the residence arrangement.

How is a parenting schedule actually built once residence is decided?

The JAF's decision (or the parents' agreement, which the judge can homologate/approve) sets the framework, alternating or fixed with visitation, but doesn't necessarily spell out every date. Many separated parents in France still work out or adjust the week-to-week calendar, holidays, and handoffs themselves. See the custody schedule generator for building the actual calendar once the residence arrangement is settled.

France, Europe

France Child Custody: A Parent's Guide

How child custody actually works in France, in plain English: autorité parentale, résidence de l'enfant, alternating vs. fixed residence, how the JAF decides, and where to find official resources.

Legal sources reviewed: August 11, 2026

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In short: French law doesn't use a single "custody" concept the way the US does. Autorité parentale (parental authority), the rights and duties toward the child, is held and exercised jointly by both parents by default, separated or not (Code civil, Article 371-1 and Article 372). What actually gets decided when parents separate is the child's résidence (residence): alternating between both parents' homes, or fixed at one parent's home with the other getting visitation and overnight stays (Article 373-2-9). A Juge aux Affaires Familiales (JAF) decides disputed cases using a defined set of statutory criteria, and family mediation is strongly encouraged throughout.

This is an educational overview written for parents, not lawyers. It isn't legal advice, and French family law can turn on the specifics of your situation. For anything beyond general understanding, consult a licensed French family law attorney (avocat en droit de la famille) or use the resources at Justice.fr and Service-Public.fr.

Autorité parentale: joint parental authority by default

Article 371-1 of the Code civil defines autorité parentale as "un ensemble de droits et de devoirs ayant pour finalité l'intérêt de l'enfant" — a set of rights and duties whose purpose is the child's interest, covering the child's security, health, private life, and moral upbringing, and ensuring their education and development, exercised without physical or psychological violence, and with the child associated with decisions concerning them according to their age and maturity.

Crucially, Article 372 makes joint exercise the default rule: both parents exercise parental authority together, regardless of whether they're married, unmarried, or separated, as long as filiation is legally established with respect to both of them. This is a structural difference from a "custody award" model, separation doesn't, by itself, change who holds parental authority or how it's exercised. Both parents generally keep equal legal say over major decisions, education, health care, religious upbringing, unless a court specifically limits one parent's authority (which happens only in serious circumstances, not as a routine consequence of separation).

Résidence de l'enfant: alternating vs. fixed residence

What separated parents in France actually litigate or negotiate is the résidence de l'enfant, where the child physically lives. Article 373-2-9 gives the JAF two structural options:

Résidence alternée (alternating residence): the child's residence is fixed alternately at each parent's home. This is the closest French equivalent to US "shared physical custody," though French law doesn't require or presume any particular split, the judge can order it provisionally at either parent's request, or when the parents disagree, before ruling on it definitively.
Résidence fixée chez l'un des parents (residence with one parent): the child lives primarily with one parent, and the JAF sets the terms of the other parent's droit de visite et d'hébergement (right of visitation and overnight stay). Where the child's safety or interest requires it, visits can be ordered to take place in a supervised meeting space (espace de rencontre) designated by the judge, and handovers can be arranged with protective measures, including through a neutral third party, if needed.

There's no legal presumption favoring one arrangement over the other, the JAF decides based on the child's best interest in each case.

How the Juge aux Affaires Familiales decides

When parents can't agree, the JAF applies the criteria set out in Article 373-2-11 of the Code civil. In deciding the terms of parental authority and residence, the judge considers in particular:

The arrangement the parents had previously followed, or agreements they had previously reached
The feelings the child has expressed, if heard (per Article 388-1)
Each parent's ability to fulfill their duties and to respect the other parent's rights
The findings of any expert evaluations ordered, taking the child's age into account
Information gathered from any social investigations (enquêtes sociales) or counter-investigations
Any pressure or violence, physical or psychological, exercised by one parent against the other

No single factor is decisive on its own, courts weigh them together against the overall standard of the child's best interest, and appellate courts have required judges to address each relevant criterion concretely rather than rule in general terms.

Parenting time and schedules

Once the JAF sets the residence framework (alternating or fixed-with-visitation), the day-to-day calendar, which weeks, which holidays, which handoff times, still generally needs to be built out, whether by the parents' agreement or spelled out in the order itself. Common patterns for résidence alternée in France include week-on/week-off and other regular splits, chosen based on the child's age, school schedule, and how far apart the parents live, similar considerations to what courts and parents weigh elsewhere. See the custody schedule generator to build the actual calendar once the residence arrangement is settled, and how to choose a custody schedule for a general framework that applies regardless of jurisdiction.

Family mediation

Médiation familiale is a recurring theme throughout French family law procedure: a neutral, trained mediator helps separated or separating parents work out arrangements for parental authority, residence, and related questions outside a contested hearing. Judges can propose it at any stage, and in some circumstances, particularly requests to modify a previous decision on how parental authority is exercised, an attempt at mediation (or at least an information meeting about it) has been required before the JAF will hear the request in certain courts. The rules on exactly when it's mandatory have evolved and can vary by tribunal, so check current requirements for your court or ask at Justice.fr's médiation familiale page. Mediation is typically faster and less adversarial than a contested hearing, and many disputes over résidence or the exercise of parental authority resolve there.

Common questions

What if my co-parent won't respect the résidence arrangement or visitation order? You can go back to the JAF to ask for enforcement, and repeated, serious violations can be treated as a criminal offense (non-représentation d'enfant) under the Code pénal, separate from any civil enforcement through the family court.

Can the résidence arrangement be changed later? Yes. Either parent can go back to the JAF to request a modification if circumstances have materially changed, a move, a change in the child's needs or wishes, a change in a parent's situation, and the new arrangement would better serve the child's best interest.

Do grandparents or other relatives have visitation rights in France? Yes, in principle. French law recognizes a child's right to maintain personal relationships with their ascendants (grandparents), and a grandparent can petition the JAF for visitation if it's being unreasonably denied, subject to the child's best interest.

Can I represent myself in a French custody case? Parents can appear without an avocat in many family court proceedings, though family law procedure in France has specific formal requirements, and for contested cases, especially involving relocation, safety concerns, or a change to parental authority itself, consulting a family law attorney is worth strongly considering.

Practical considerations

Because autorité parentale stays joint by default regardless of the résidence arrangement, most major decisions, school enrollment, medical care, travel documents, still legally require both parents' involvement even after separation, which makes a shared, current record of the agreed schedule and of major decisions genuinely useful day to day, not just at the point of a court filing. Whatever the résidence arrangement ends up being, keeping both parents looking at the same calendar and logging changes or requests instead of relying on memory or scattered texts is a separate, ongoing piece worth planning for.

Official France resources

FAQ

Questions, answered

This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Family law varies by individual circumstances and may change over time. Consult a qualified attorney or appropriate official resource for advice about your situation.