The maintenance obligation constitutes the obligation to help a family member if they are no longer able to meet their needs (food, shelter, medical care, etc.). This assistance may be:

• in kind (e.g. free accommodation or food)
• material (e.g. a pension paid in cash)

An ascendant (parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc.), who is in need, may claim this maintenance obligation from one of his descendants (child, grandchild, etc.). This obligation also applies to sons-in-law and daughters-in-law to their in-laws.

This aid varies according to the needs and resources of the food-dependent person, i.e. the person who is going to finance the needs of his relatives in the ascending line.

Law on aging well: removal of maintenance obligation for certain descendants

The Law of 8 April 2024 on measures to build the business of aging well and autonomy removes this obligation in certain cases.

Thus, it no longer applies to:

• children who have been removed from their family environment before the age of 18 and for a period of at least 36 cumulative months;
• children of a parent convicted as an author, co-author or accomplice of crime on the other parent;
• children of a parent convicted as an author, co-author or accomplice ofsexual assault on the other parent;
• grandchildren in the setting an application for social assistance for housing (ASH) for one of the grandparents.

You can find all the information concerning the maintenance obligation on the dedicated Service-Public.fr fact sheet.