FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Elodie Mulon, Emmanuelle Bonboire-Barthélémy and Louise Astruc Baciotti, Chauveau Mulon & Associés
• The holders of parental responsibility have agreed on the jurisdiction at the time the court is seised, or have expressly accepted jurisdiction during the proceedings. • The exercise of jurisdiction is in the best inter - ests of the child. In the case of a lawful relocation from one mem - ber state to another (Article 8), the courts of the former member state retain jurisdiction for three months after the move to modify a visitation rights decision in that member state if the person to whom visitation rights were granted continues to reside in the former member state. In cases of wrongful removal or non-return of the child (Article 9), the courts of the member state where the child had habitual residence before the removal or non-return retain jurisdiction until the child acquires a new habitual residence in a member state and certain conditions are met. If the child’s habitual residence cannot be estab - lished, and there is no choice of jurisdiction under Article 10, the jurisdiction of a member state can be based on the child’s presence (Arti - cle 11) or on the domestic law (Article 14) Child Maintenance Obligations (Contribution à l’Entretien et l’Education de l’Enfant) Under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 4/2009, French courts have jurisdiction over child sup - port if France is: • the state where the defendant has their habitual residence; • the state where the creditor has their habitual residence (it should be noted that the court is generally that of the crediting parent, unless child support is paid directly to the child); or • the state where the court has jurisdiction to hear an action related to parental responsibili -
ty when the claim for child support is inciden - tal to this claim, for example in the context of divorce proceedings – this extension of juris - diction does not apply if jurisdiction is based on the nationality of only one of the parties. The choice of forum is expressly excluded by Article 4 in proceedings concerning a child under 18. Habitual Residence, Nationality and Domicile The concept of habitual residence under Euro - pean law differs according to whether the resi - dence in question is that of an adult or a child. With regard to a child’s residence, the Court of Justice of the European Communities has stated that habitual residence should be interpreted as “the place that reflects a certain integration of the child into a social and family environment”. It added that “[f]actors such as the duration, regu - larity, conditions, and reasons for the stay in a Member State, the child’s nationality, place and conditions of schooling, linguistic knowledge, and family and social relationships in the state must be taken into account”. The concept of nationality is the same as in divorce proceedings (see 1.2 Choice of Juris- diction – Domicile, Residence and Nationality”), and French law does not recognise the concept of domicile. 3.2 Living/Contact Arrangements and Child Maintenance Issues related to children encompass the follow - ing. • Parental authority: (a) the exercise of parental authority; (b) the residence of the child; and (c) the visitation and lodging rights of the other parent.
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