Divorce in France: who keeps the house, how much is the buy-out?

You are separating and the house is the couple’s main asset. One of you would like to stay there with the children, the other wants their share to find a new home. The notaire (French civil-law notary) talks of a soulte, of récompenses, of the date of jouissance divise, and each of you has a different figure in mind for the house. This guide explains how it is decided who keeps it, how the soulte is calculated, at what date the value is assessed, and what a valuation report brings to the liquidation.

What happens in practice

Separation in fact comes first. One spouse leaves the home, the other stays. Nothing is divided yet: the house remains community property or jointly owned, depending on the matrimonial regime.

The divorce comes next. In a divorce by mutual consent, the agreement drafted by the lawyers must settle the liquidation of the regime; where a property is involved, a notarial liquidation statement is annexed (article 229-3 of the French Civil Code). In a contested divorce, the court pronounces the divorce and the liquidation takes place afterwards, before the notaire or, if it stalls, before the family court judge with an appointed notaire.

For the house, three outcomes. It is sold to a third party and the net proceeds are shared. It is allocated to one spouse, who pays a soulte (equalising payment) to the other. Or it stays jointly owned for a time, by agreement, which postpones the problem. The bank steps in with the second outcome: the spouse who keeps the house must take over the loan in their sole name, which requires the bank’s consent and often a valuation of the property.

The notaire then does the arithmetic. Value of the house, less the outstanding loan capital, equals the net asset. Récompenses (compensation between spouses) and claims between spouses correct the result. The soulte is the difference between what the spouse keeping the house receives and what they are entitled to. The partition duty, reduced to 1.1 % of the net assets divided since 2022 for partitions following a divorce (article 746 of the General Tax Code), is added to the deed costs.

What French law says

Value at the date of partition. The partition of community property follows the rules for the partition of estates (article 1476 of the Civil Code). Assets are therefore valued at the date of jouissance divise, the date from which each spouse enjoys their share separately, as close as possible to the partition (article 829). The Cour de cassation (the French supreme court for civil and commercial matters) restated this for a home occupied and allowed to deteriorate by one of the former spouses: the valuation date does not move back, and the deterioration gives rise to separate compensation (Cass. 1re civ., 1 October 2025, appeal no. 23-16.501, discussed on this site).

Date of effect of the divorce. Between the spouses, the divorce takes effect as regards property at the date of the divorce petition or, on application, at the date on which they ceased to live together and to cooperate (article 262-1). That date fixes the composition of the assets to be divided, not their value. From that date, the spouse who occupies the home alone owes an occupation indemnity to the joint estate (article 815-9).

Preferential allocation. The spouse who actually lives in the home may apply for its preferential allocation (article 831-2, by reference from article 1476). In the partition of community property after divorce, it is never automatic: the court decides. The soulte is payable in cash unless otherwise agreed (article 832-4).

Récompenses. Where separate funds financed a community asset, or the reverse, a récompense is owed, at least equal to the subsisting benefit: the proportion of the expenditure to the value of the asset at the time, applied to the value at the date of liquidation (article 1469, paragraph 3). For works financed by the community on a separate asset, the Cour de cassation has laid down the formula (Cass. 1re civ., 23 May 2024, appeal no. 22-18.911, discussed on this site). Under separation of property, claims between spouses are calculated in the same way (article 1479).

What a valuation report changes

The report gives the notaire and the lawyers the figures the law requires them to use.

The market value at the date closest to partition, as a single figure and not only a range, with identified comparables. This is the basis of the soulte.

The value at a past date where a récompense is at stake: the value of the property at the date of purchase or of the works, reconstructed from sales of the time, to apply the proportion of article 1469.

The rental value during the sole occupation, if an occupation indemnity is claimed, with a reasoned deduction for precariousness.

Three formats exist (Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière, the French property valuation charter, 6th edition, November 2025, Title I, § 1.1). The single-party valuation, ordered by one spouse, serves to form a view and to negotiate. The joint private valuation, ordered by the two lawyers who choose the expert together, invites both spouses to the inspection; in most cases it avoids a court-ordered valuation. The court-ordered valuation, directed by the judge, is the answer when nothing else works.

What the report does not do: it does not decide the allocation, it does not calculate the final soulte, which depends on the liabilities and the récompenses settled by the notaire, and it does not fix the occupation indemnity. It supplies the values that go into those calculations.

A worked example

A couple married without a marriage contract, owning a house in Fouesnant bought for €220,000 in 2015, with €90,000 of loan capital outstanding. The wife wishes to keep it. The husband puts forward a value of €380,000, on the strength of a nearby listing; the wife adopts €320,000, from an estate agent’s opinion.

The joint valuation concludes at €350,000. The net asset is €260,000. With no other correction, the wife would owe the husband a soulte of €130,000. Between the two figures put forward at the outset, the €60,000 gap in value represented €30,000 of soulte.

The wife then establishes that €44,000 received from her parents as a gift financed the purchase, that is 20 % of the price. The community owes her a récompense equal to 20 % of €350,000, that is €70,000. The net assets to be divided fall to €190,000, half of which, €95,000, goes to each spouse. The wife receives the house for €260,000 net; she is entitled to €95,000 plus the €70,000 récompense, that is €165,000. The soulte owed to the husband is €95,000 instead of €130,000. The report supplied the two values needed: the 2015 value to check the proportion, today’s value to apply it.

Common mistakes

• Using the price of a listing or a nearby sale. An asking price is not a sale price, and a neighbouring house is not yours. The soulte is calculated on a demonstrated value.
• Valuing at the date of separation. Three years later the market has changed, and the law uses the date of partition.
• Forgetting the loan and the récompenses. The soulte is based on the net asset, after liabilities and after récompenses. A forgotten family contribution is expensive.
• Each ordering your own valuation. Two opposing single-party reports rarely lead to an agreement. A joint report does.
• Neglecting the occupation indemnity. The spouse who has lived in the house alone since the divorce petition owes one to the joint estate, and it is time-barred after five years.

What to gather

• The purchase deed of the house and the marriage contract if there is one.
• The loan repayment schedule and the outstanding capital.
• Evidence of personal contributions: gift, inheritance, sale of a separate asset.
• Invoices for major works, with their date and how they were financed.
• The property tax notice, surveys, plans, photographs.
• The stage of the proceedings: date of the divorce petition, order or judgment, contact details of the lawyers and the notaire.

Timeframe and fee

The service is a market value report with an inspection: about 15 hours, from €975 travel not included, with the report usually delivered three weeks after the inspection. A value at a past date for the récompenses, or a rental value for the occupation indemnity, is added to the quote in hours. A joint private valuation, with a meeting attended by both spouses and their lawyers, is quoted individually. Travel is charged at €65 per hour or part hour from PONT-L’ABBÉ, 50 % deposit on ordering, VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French General Tax Code. On court appointment, the fee is set by the judge (article 284 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The Market value page describes the report and the Fees page gives the full scale.