French Court Cancels CAF’s Seizure of Moroccan Mother’s Benefits
The CAF in Hérault deducted child support from a Moroccan woman’s benefits even though the court ruling named her ex-husband as the debtor. In a ruling, the Montpellier Court of Appeal overturned the proceedings brought against her and awarded her 1,000 euros in legal costs.
It all began with a ruling issued in January 2016, after the couple’s divorce. The court set child support at 100 euros per month for each of the two children. But an error slipped into the decision: the judge’s reasoning made the mother responsible for the payments, while the final section ordered the father to pay them.
On Bladi.net : They Divorce in Morocco, but the Netherlands Refuses to Apply the Decision to Their Children
This contradiction was not corrected when the CAF intervened eight years later. In April and May 2024, the agency launched two direct payment procedures through Pôle emploi, now known as France Travail. Money was deducted from the mother’s benefits to cover payments presented as overdue.
The Moroccan woman challenged the deductions before the enforcement judge. In October 2024, the CAF ended the deductions, stating that the debt had been paid off. That did not settle the dispute: the mother continued to seek the cancellation of the procedures and the return of the sums collected.
She initially lost her case. On May 26, 2025, the court declared her claims inadmissible. She appealed.
The CAF could not disregard the court ruling
Before the Court of Appeal, the CAF defended its interpretation of the case. It argued that the father’s name in the final section of the ruling was a drafting error: the reasoning above showed that the mother was required to pay.
The judges, however, reached the opposite conclusion in their March 3, 2026 ruling. Only the final section of a ruling, known as the operative part, can serve as the basis for enforcement. It did not name the Moroccan woman as the debtor.
The CAF should therefore have asked the father to have the ruling corrected before pursuing recovery. Without a correction, it had no enforceable title authorizing deductions from the mother’s benefits. Ending the deductions in October 2024 could not undo that irregularity.
On Bladi.net : Moroccan-Italian man wins court fight over €1,222 CPAM sick-pay claim
The court overturned both direct payment procedures. It nevertheless rejected the request for reimbursement: the Moroccan woman had not specified the amount deducted or provided documents that would make it possible to calculate it.
The CAF in Hérault must pay her 1,000 euros in legal costs. It will also bear the costs of the proceedings in both the first-instance court and the appeal.
