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What if the support is unpaid and the debtor is abroad?

Verified 26 juin 2020 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Additional cases ? What if support is not paid?

If the person who has to pay you support does not do so and lives abroad, you must make a procedure for the recovery of maintenance claims abroad through the ministry of foreign affairs.

This process is carried out in 2 steps:

  1. You send your full application package by letter to the Office for the Recovery of Maintenance Claims (RCA) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This service can help you build your application file.
  2. After receiving your file, the Office for the Recovery of Maintenance Claims (RCA) sends it to the central authority of the State in which the debtor..

You can contact the office of recovery of maintenance claims (RCA) by mail or by mail.

Who shall I contact

  • Office for the Recovery of Maintenance Claims (RCA)

    Office for the Recovery of Maintenance Claims (RCA)

    By phone

    +33 (0)1 43 17 90 01

    By mail

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    French abroad and consular administration

    Convention, Civil Affairs and Mutual Legal Assistance Service

    Mission for the Protection of the Rights of Persons

    Office for the Recovery of Maintenance Claims (RCA)

    27 Convention Street

    CS 91533

    75732 Paris Cedex 15

    By email

    obligation.alimentaire@diplomatie.gouv.fr

  Warning : if you do not know where your debtor resides and the address of his employers, you must file for abandonment. The public prosecutor will then order an investigation to obtain that information.

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