The Assembly adopted this Thursday, with very rare unanimity, a bill which intends to ensure direct payments of alimony to adult children.
The text, adopted by the 102 voting deputies, is carried by the deputy Vincent Thiébaut (Horizons, party of Édouard Philippe), on a day reserved for the texts of his group.
It plans to extend the scope of an intermediation system of the Family Allowance Fund, which can replace the parent who must receive the pension, and recover sums from the debtor parent, since January 2021. Successfully: the unpaid rate “which is now around 25%” and weighs overwhelmingly on single women, recalled Mr. Thiébaut, citing figures from the CAF.
✅🏛️ The National Assembly unanimously adopts, at first reading, my proposed law aimed at guaranteeing the payment of alimony to adult children.
Thank you to @Horizons_AN MPs for their trust.
#DirectAN @HorizonsJeunes @EPhilippe_LH pic.twitter.com/17Xwjzkhvi
— Vincent Thiébaut (@VincentThiebaut) March 14, 2024
“Contrary to popular belief, the obligation (to pay alimony to meet the needs of a child, editor's note) does not end when the child reaches the age of majority” but continues until the child is autonomous, recalled Sarah El Haïry, Minister Delegate in charge of Children and Families, supporting the text.
The CAF intermediation system is “now the norm”, except in certain cases by decision of a judge or agreement between parents, welcomed the MP.
But "in the current state of the law (...) the adult child must go through the creditor parent to obtain recovery", he laments in his report on the text.
“What if both parents have terrible relationships?
Is it up to the child, even an adult, to find himself in the middle of a potential conflict?
», commented Joël Aviragnet (PS).
To remedy these situations, Vincent Thiébaut proposes extending the CAF intermediation system, no later than January 1, 2026, to cases where pensions must be paid directly to adult children.
The number of beneficiaries is difficult to estimate.
Louis Boyard (LFI), estimated that the proposed law, which will help “thousands” of young people, stands out alongside the “millions” facing a “violent wave of poverty”.
The ecologist Marie-Charlotte Garin also supported the measure but called for ensuring the needs of mediation services, arguing that "the time limit for payment of alimony by the intermediation service is today 12.8 days instead of of the usual seven days.