Autorité Parentale: Parental Authority Under French Family Law

Autorité parentale, or parental authority, is the set of rights and duties French law gives parents toward their minor child, covering everything from everyday decisions to major choices about health, education, and upbringing. This article explains how it is exercised jointly by default, which decisions one parent can make alone, and when a court can restrict, suspend, or withdraw it.

Information last verified on 19 July 2026. This article presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This article describes French law only, as set out in the Code civil and applied by French courts, including the juge aux affaires familiales and the criminal courts, in mainland France and the French overseas departments. It does not describe the law of Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland, or any other French speaking jurisdiction.

What Parental Authority Means Under French Law

Article 372 of the Civil Code sets the baseline rule: both parents exercise parental authority jointly. This is true whether the parents are married, divorced, in a civil partnership, or never lived together, and it does not depend on which parent the child primarily lives with under a shared custody or single-residence arrangement.

Parental authority is a broader concept than residence. It covers the whole set of rights and duties a parent holds toward a minor child, including decisions on health, education, religion, and the child's place of residence, as well as the ongoing duty each parent has to protect the child's safety, health, and morals, to provide for the child's education, and to allow the child's development while respecting the child as a person. Two parents can share parental authority jointly even where the child lives primarily, or exclusively, with only one of them; residence and authority are governed by separate provisions of the Civil Code and answer different questions.

The main exception to joint exercise concerns filiation established late. When a second parent's legal filiation to the child is established more than one year after the birth of a child whose filiation was already established with respect to the other parent, that other parent remains the sole holder of the exercise of parental authority. Joint exercise is not automatic in that situation; it can be restored either by a joint declaration the parents file with the registry, or by a decision of the family court judge.

Actes Usuels and Actes Importants: What One Parent Can Decide Alone

Because parents jointly hold authority, French practice distinguishes between two categories of decisions to keep everyday family life workable, since requiring both parents' formal agreement for every single decision would be impractical.

An acte usuel is a routine, everyday decision that carries no particular gravity, does not commit the child's future or fundamental rights, or simply follows an established, uncontested prior practice. Examples commonly cited include routine medical appointments and vaccinations, enrolling the child in school, and ordinary administrative formalities. Either parent can handle these alone, and French administrations and third parties, such as a school or a doctor's office, are generally entitled to presume the other parent's agreement to an acte usuel unless there is specific evidence to the contrary.

An acte important, sometimes called an acte non usuel, is a decision serious enough to require both parents' agreement because of its gravity or its lasting effect on the child. This includes significant medical decisions such as non-emergency surgery, a change in the type of schooling, a change to the child's religious upbringing, or a decision that departs from prior practice or could meaningfully affect the child's life going forward. If parents disagree on such a decision, either one can ask the family court judge to resolve the disagreement rather than proceeding unilaterally, since acting alone on an acte important without the other parent's consent can expose the acting parent to legal consequences.

Delegating Parental Authority

French law also allows a délégation of parental authority, a mechanism by which a parent can transfer part or all of the authority to a third party through the family court, for example to a stepparent who plays a significant role in raising the child on a daily basis, or to a family member or other trusted adult in other circumstances. A délégation can be partial, covering specific decisions or areas such as schooling, or total. Granting a délégation does not necessarily strip the original holder of their own rights unless the court specifically decides otherwise, and the arrangement remains subject to the family court's oversight rather than being a purely private agreement between adults.

In practice, a délégation is often sought when a stepparent has taken on a lasting, day to day caregiving role, or when a parent is temporarily or permanently unable to exercise their authority and a family member steps in. The family court examines the request in light of the child's interest rather than approving it automatically, and it can attach conditions or limit the délégation to specific areas of the child's life rather than granting a blanket transfer of every parental decision.

Total Withdrawal of Parental Authority After a Criminal Conviction (Loi Santiago)

Article 378 of the Civil Code governs withdrawal of parental authority by the criminal court following a conviction. Since the loi Santiago, loi n. 2024-233 du 18 mars 2024, which entered into force on 20 March 2024, the rule changed substantially, shifting the criminal court's starting point from an optional sanction to a required one absent specific reasons otherwise.

Where a parent is convicted as author, co-author, or accomplice of a crime or an incestuous sexual assault committed against their own child, or of a crime committed against the other parent, the criminal court must now order total withdrawal of parental authority. This is the outcome the court applies by default; it can only decide otherwise by a specially motivated contrary decision explaining why total withdrawal is not appropriate in that specific case. If the court does not pronounce total withdrawal, it must instead order partial withdrawal, or withdrawal of the exercise of parental authority, again unless it gives specially motivated reasons not to.

This default-toward-withdrawal rule reversed the prior approach, under which withdrawal following a conviction was one option among several available to the sentencing court rather than the court's starting point. The reform is named after Santiago, a child murdered by his father, and was adopted specifically to close the gap between a parent's criminal conviction and any automatic consequence for that parent's continuing legal authority over the surviving children.

Automatic Suspension Upon Prosecution (Article 378-2)

A distinct and separate provision, Article 378-2 of the Civil Code, addresses what happens before any conviction. It provides that a parent's exercise of parental authority, along with that parent's visitation and residence rights, is suspended automatically, by operation of law, as soon as that parent is prosecuted by the public prosecutor or placed under formal judicial investigation (mise en examen) for rape or incestuous sexual assault of the child, or for a crime committed against the other parent.

This suspension does not wait for a conviction and does not require a separate court hearing to take effect; it operates as soon as the prosecution or investigation begins. It lasts until the family court judge decides otherwise, which the prosecuted parent can request, or until the investigating judge issues a non-lieu (a decision not to pursue the case), or until the criminal court itself rules on the underlying charge. Article 378-2 was created and renumbered by the same loi Santiago that amended Article 378, but the two provisions operate at very different stages of a case. Article 378-2 applies automatically at the investigation or prosecution stage, well before any trial or finding of guilt, while Article 378 governs what the criminal court decides after a conviction has already been entered. Confusing the two, or citing only Article 378 for both situations, misstates how the protection actually works and when it takes effect.

Withdrawal of Parental Authority on Non-Criminal Grounds (Article 378-1)

Parental authority can also be withdrawn without any criminal conviction, under Article 378-1 of the Civil Code. The grounds include habitual mistreatment of the child, habitual excessive consumption of alcohol or use of illegal drugs, notorious misconduct or delinquent behavior, exposing the child to physical or psychological pressure or violence between the parents, or a failure of care or guidance that manifestly endangers the child's safety, health, or morals. Withdrawal on these grounds can also follow at least two years of a parent's voluntary non-exercise of their rights and duties after an educational assistance measure was put in place for the child, reflecting a sustained absence of parental involvement rather than a single incident.

Unlike the loi Santiago mechanism in Article 378, which is triggered by a specific criminal conviction, Article 378-1 operates independently of any criminal case and can be raised directly before the family court by anyone with standing to do so, including the public prosecutor, a family member, or the child's guardian, depending on the circumstances. Because Article 378-1 does not require a prior criminal proceeding, it functions as a broader safety net that can apply to situations, such as ongoing neglect or substance dependency, that may never result in criminal charges but still put the child at real risk.

Restoring or Changing the Exercise of Parental Authority

Parental authority arrangements are not necessarily fixed forever. Where the Article 372 filiation exception applies, the parents can jointly restore shared exercise by declaration, or a judge can order it. More broadly, a parent whose authority was limited, suspended, or withdrawn can, depending on the legal basis involved, ask the competent court to reconsider the situation if circumstances have genuinely changed, though the specific route and requirements depend on which article the original decision was based on, and a withdrawal ordered under the loi Santiago framework is not treated the same way as a suspension under Article 378-2 or a withdrawal ordered under Article 378-1.

Because parental authority and child support obligations are governed by separate rules, a change to a parent's authority status, including a withdrawal or suspension, does not by itself end that parent's underlying duty to contribute to the child's maintenance and education, which is assessed independently under its own provisions of the Civil Code. Readers dealing with a specific situation involving withdrawal, suspension, or a criminal case should consult a qualified family law attorney, since the interaction between these articles can be intricate and fact dependent.

Disclaimer

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Parental authority disputes, and especially cases involving withdrawal, suspension, or criminal proceedings, depend heavily on individual circumstances. Only a qualified French family law attorney (avocat), the competent juge aux affaires familiales, or the relevant criminal court can advise on or decide a specific case. Readers should consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on this content. Recordinglaw.com makes no warranty as to the completeness or current accuracy of the information above beyond the verification date stated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do both parents automatically share parental authority?

Yes, joint exercise is the default rule under Article 372 of the Civil Code. The main exception applies when a child's second filiation link is established more than one year after birth. In that situation the parent whose filiation was established first remains the sole holder of the exercise of parental authority, unless joint exercise is restored by a joint declaration or a judge's decision.

What is the difference between an acte usuel and an acte important?

An acte usuel is a routine, day to day decision that does not commit the child's future or fundamental rights, such as routine medical care or school enrollment, and one parent can handle it alone. An acte important, such as a major medical decision or a change to the child's religious upbringing, requires both parents' agreement.

Does a criminal conviction automatically remove a parent's parental authority?

Since the loi Santiago of 18 March 2024, total withdrawal is the outcome the criminal court must order by default upon conviction of a parent for a crime or incestuous sexual assault against the child, or a crime against the other parent, unless the court gives specially motivated reasons to decide otherwise. If the court does not order total withdrawal, it must instead order partial withdrawal or withdrawal of exercise, again absent specially motivated reasons.

Is parental authority suspended before a conviction if a parent is under investigation?

Yes, under a separate provision, Article 378-2 of the Civil Code. Exercise of parental authority and visitation and residence rights are automatically suspended as soon as a parent is prosecuted by the public prosecutor or placed under formal judicial investigation for rape or incestuous sexual assault of the child, or a crime against the other parent. This suspension applies before any conviction and lasts until the family court judge, the investigating judge, or the criminal court decides otherwise.

Can parental authority be withdrawn for reasons other than a crime?

Yes. Article 378-1 of the Civil Code allows withdrawal on non-criminal grounds such as habitual mistreatment, habitual excessive alcohol consumption or drug use, notorious misconduct or delinquent behavior, or a failure of care or guidance that manifestly endangers the child's safety, health, or morals.

Can a parent transfer part of their parental authority to someone else?

Yes, through a délégation of parental authority granted by the family court, which can transfer part or all of the authority to a third party, such as a stepparent, while the original holder generally keeps their own rights unless the court decides otherwise.

Are Article 378 and Article 378-2 the same rule?

No, they are separate provisions covering different stages. Article 378 concerns the criminal court's decision on withdrawal of parental authority following a conviction. Article 378-2 is a distinct, earlier safeguard that automatically suspends a parent's exercise of authority and visitation rights as soon as that parent is prosecuted or under formal investigation, well before any conviction takes place.