In 2025, nearly a million children in France will benefit from child support, and around 30% of families report experiencing delays or non-payment. These pensions represent on average 18% of the resources of single-parent families. However, many creditors are still unaware that a public service can today intervene directly to recover unpaid sums, without immediately relaunching traditional legal proceedings.
Since 2017, ARIPA (Maintenance Recovery and Intermediation Agency), attached to the CAF and the MSA, has allowed the creditor parent to delegate the recovery of unpaid child support. For Maître Dominique Attias, lawyer specializing in family law, the main pitfall remains waiting: “Many parents first seek to resolve the situation amicably, which is understandable. But every month that passes, it’s an extra month to recoverdebts which accumulate and therefore an increasingly complicated financial situation. »
How does ARIPA work?
ARIPA can intervene from the first unpaid date when alimony has been fixed by a judgment, an approved divorce agreement or an enforceable title. The request is made directly online at pension-alimentaire.caf.fr and the service is completely free for the creditor parent. Once contacted, the agency can recover unpaid pensions but also set up financial intermediation: the debtor pays the pension each month to ARIPA, which then pays it to the beneficiary parent.
The direct payment system by the employer constitutes one of the major innovations introduced by the 2021 reform: it allows automatically deduct the amount of the pension from the debtor’s salaryr, significantly reducing the risk of non-payment. This mechanism profoundly changes the relationship between ex-spouses. “ Before, many parents had to follow up themselves every month, sometimes by SMS or e-mail, which fueled conflicts”observes Maître Dominique Attias, who continues: “Today, ARIPA plays the role of a neutral third party: the debtor knows that the levy will take place, and the creditor no longer has to beg for what is owed to him.
Strongly increasing results
ARIPA recovered nearly 300 million euros in 2024 for 140,000 parentscompared to 157 million in 2021. Between 2017 and 2023, the recovery rate increased from 62.5% to 70%. Over the same period, 353,546 parents submitted a request for financial intermediation, and 193,870 benefited from at least one intermediated payment.
These figures illustrate a real increase in power of the system but also its limits: three out of ten cases do not result in complete recoveryoften because the debtor is himself in a precarious situation or is organizing his insolvency.
Up to 5 years of arrears can be recovered
Many parents are unaware of this, but unpaid child support can be claimed for five years, in accordance with article 2224 of the Civil Code. A parent who has not received anything for several years can therefore still recover significant sums, provided they act before this period expires.
Let’s take a concrete case: a mother supposed to receive alimony of 450 euros per month for her child no longer receives any payment for five years. In total, this represents 27,000 euros in arrears recoverable via ARIPA. But if it waits another year before acting, the first year of unpaid debts will fall under the statute of limitations. She will then permanently lose 5,400 euros. “Some parents think it is too late because several months have passed without any reaction. In reality, the law gives them five years. What they lose in waiting is above all time, evidence and money.notes Master Dominique Attias.
To initiate recovery, it is essential to keep supporting documents from the first incident: judgment fixing the pension, bank statements, written exchanges with the ex-spouse or even formal notices.
The CAF can directly seize the debtor’s income
One of the main advantages of the system is that ARIPA has real means of enforcement: salary garnishment, bank account deduction, recovery of certain social benefits. Penalties are added for the defaulting debtor: 104 euros in the event of late paymentand 110 euros if he refuses to transmit the necessary information to the agency.
This procedure often prevents the creditor parent from having to contact a court commissioner themselves or relaunching new proceedings before the family court judge. The case law of the Court of Cassation is also consistent on this point: the debtor cannot decide alone to interrupt paymentseven in the event of financial difficulties, without first contacting the judge to request a review of the amount.
When can you file a complaint?
When unpaid debts exceed two months, the debtor parent can also be prosecuted for family abandonment. This offense is provided for by article 227-3 of the Penal Code and can result in up to two years of imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros. In the most serious cases and particularly when abandonment directly puts children in danger, the penalty can be increased to seven years of imprisonment and 100,000 euros fine.
In practice, sentences handed down for a first offense are most often accompanied by a suspended sentence. But the conviction itself can have a real triggering effect. A conviction for family abandonment can also weigh heavily in family proceedings related to child custody or the exercise of parental authority.
For the offense to be committed, a court decision must clearly establish the alimony, the unpaid payments must last for more than two months, and the non-payment must be intentional (the debtor must be in a situation of absolute and proven impossibility capable of escaping conviction). “ The criminal procedure is not revenge. It’s a lever. In situations where the debtor refuses to pay even though he has the means to do so, or when he voluntarily organizes his insolvency, the risk of a correctional hearing may be enough to resolve the situation very quickly. “, specifies Maître Dominique Attias.
Can we combine CAF procedure and criminal complaint?
Yes. The two approaches are completely independent and can be engaged simultaneously. A parent can therefore ask ARIPA to recover the amounts owed while filing a complaint for family abandonment at the police station, the gendarmerie or directly with the public prosecutor.
The two procedures pursue distinct objectives: one aims to restore the financial flow for the benefit of the child, the other to sanction the failure to fulfill a legal obligation. In most cases, the CAF route remains the fastest to obtain effective payments. But faced with a recalcitrant debtor, the combination of the two can prove decisive.
Why you shouldn’t wait
The most common error remains inaction in the first months. The more the arrears accumulate, the more difficult the amounts become to recover in full even if the law allows them. And the more evidence becomes scarce. “Alimony is not a debt like any other”recalls Master Dominique Attias. “It directly finances the education and maintenance of a child. Each month of unpaid debt represents a concrete lack in one’s daily life. Acting quickly also means sending him the message that his rights will be defended and that the creditor parent is not losing interest in him” concludes the expert.
