Recognition of Foreign Divorce in France

Recognition of a foreign divorce in France means having a divorce granted abroad accepted by French authorities and recorded on French civil status records. Some older lists and lawyer pages call this service “Register Foreign Divorce”. People also search for registering a foreign divorce in France, whether a foreign divorce is valid in France, or the French terms transcription du divorce and vérification d'opposabilité, the check the public prosecutor (procureur de la République) carries out before the divorce is noted in the margin of the French records (mention en marge). Enforcing a foreign judgment, for example a payment order, is a different step called exequatur.

Who needs it

Mostly French citizens, and foreigners married to French citizens, whose marriage or birth is recorded in the French civil registers and who divorced abroad. Without the mention, French records still show them as married, which can hold up a new marriage in France and complicate an inheritance or a property sale. Two foreigners whose marriage was never recorded in France usually rely on the foreign judgment itself, unless something has to be enforced.

How it works in France

• Divorces from EU countries (Denmark apart) are generally entered on the French records directly, with the certificate the EU rules provide, without a prosecutor's check.
• Divorces from other countries go through the vérification d'opposabilité. The request goes to the prosecutor of the court for the place where the marriage was celebrated in France or, when the marriage record is held by the central civil registry in Nantes (Service central d'état civil), to the prosecutor in Nantes.
• When the marriage took place abroad, it usually has to be transcribed in the French registers before the divorce can be noted on it.

The file normally includes the divorce judgment, proof that it is final, the marriage and birth records, and translations by a sworn translator. The prosecutor checks that the foreign court had a real link to the case, that the decision does not offend French public policy, as a one-sided repudiation would, and that it was not obtained to get around French law. Waiting times at the Nantes prosecutor's office have been long.

What a lawyer does

A lawyer is not compulsory for the prosecutor's check, but foreign divorces often raise questions: missing proof that the decision is final, a religious or administrative divorce, a spouse who was not informed of the case. A lawyer assembles the file, answers the prosecutor's requests, takes a refusal to court and, when payments or property are involved, brings the exequatur case.

Questions and answers

Is a divorce from abroad valid in France?

Often yes, if the foreign court was competent and the decision respects French public policy. The French record is updated only after the steps above.

Can I remarry in France before the mention is made?

The town hall relies on the civil status records, so a missing mention usually delays a new marriage.

What if France refuses to recognise the divorce?

The refusal can be challenged in court or, where France has jurisdiction, a new divorce in France may be the answer.

Does recognition also cover child support or custody decided abroad?

Those parts may need their own recognition or enforcement; see changing child support or alimony when the amount no longer fits.

How do I get proof of the divorce afterwards?

Once the mention is made, an extract of the marriage or birth record shows it; see divorce certificate or decree copy.