Contact us
Please note that we cannot offer Legal aid
PacisLexis Family Law
DIVORCE & SEPARATION
Evolution of marital property regimes & protection of family assets
Around the world, marital property regimes determine how assets, debts, income, and property are owned between spouses — both during the marriage and in case of separation or death. In 2025, many countries (including France) are updating their rules to create more fairness and predictability.
Refinance mortgage after divorce
Divorce is not only an emotional challenge — it is a financial and legal earthquake. One of the most stressful questions separating couples face is:
“What happens to the mortgage and the house?”
For many families, the matrimonial home is the most valuable asset. It also carries the most significant debt.
Common Law marriage France
When couples from English-speaking countries move to France, a common question arises:
“Will my common-law marriage be recognised under French law?”
In many common-law jurisdictions (United States, Canada, Australia, the UK historically), couples acquire legal rights simply by living together as a couple without any formal ceremony. These rights can include inheritance, spousal support, property sharing, and recognition as a spouse for immigration or benefits.
PacisLexis Family Law
CHILD LAW
Adoption
In France there are 2 types of adoption.
In the UK there are 4 main types of adoption: fostering to adopt, adoption of a child from foster care, non-agency adoption and overseas adoption.
In the US, there are 5 types of adoption: adopting through the Child Welfare system (foster care), private adoption, international adoption, relative adoption and adult adoption.
Surrogacy
Surrogacy, also known as surrogacy or “GPA” (Gestation Pour Autrui), involves a contractual arrangement between a woman, commonly referred to as a “surrogate mother,” and a couple known as the “intended parents.”
In surrogacy, a couple can hire the services of a surrogate mother to carry and give birth to a child on their behalf. Subsequently, the surrogate mother relinquishes custody of the child to the intended parents upon the child’s birth.
Children maintenance
Children maintenance definition
Children maintenance is a set of payments made from one parent to another to help pay for your child’s living costs. It’s paid by the parent who doesn’t usually live with the child to the person who has most day-to-day care of the child and called ’child support’.
This payment is not only based on day-to-day care of the child but also on both parents’ earnings.
PacisLexis Family Law
Criminal family law
Micro-cheating divorce
Digital technology has transformed the way people build connections—and, unfortunately, the way they break them. Behaviours that once seemed harmless have become powerful sources of marital conflict.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
PacisLexis Family Law
Financial matters
High net worth divorce
Divorcing is financial and time consuming and is also emotionally difficult.
In France, high net worth divorces are more complex due to the nature and size of the assets but also depending on the matrimonial property regime chosen in the first place.
Moreover, in a high net worth divorce, spouses have become used to a high standard of living too and their needs and expectations are thus different to a standard divorce.
As the expectations are higher, disputes can also be more important.
Civil partnership agreement
What is a PACS in France?
PACS stands for civil partnership between two people who do not wish to get married but look for a legal recognition. PACS is available to both same-sex or opposite-sex couples.
In France you can go to your town hall to register a PACS but also to bring it to an end whenever you want. In England to end a civil partnership, you have to wait until it has lasted for at least a year.
Calculating child maintenance payments
Child maintenance calculations can vary between countries, and both France and the UK have their own systems for determining child maintenance payments.
United Kingdom (UK):
In the UK, child maintenance payments are typically determined by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which is a government agency. The CMS uses a formula to calculate the amount of child maintenance that the non-residential parent (the parent who doesn’t have the main day-to-day care of the child) should pay. The formula considers factors such as the non-residential parent’s gross income, the number of children involved, and the number of nights the children spend with the non-residential parent.
PacisLexis Family Law
LEGACY
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
PacisLexis Family Law