Formal demand to pay or perform an obligation (France)
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This document is in French
The PDF you download is in French — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
For a private person in France waiting for a business or another person to pay, deliver, finish work or perform any other obligation: you set a deadline and put the debtor on formal notice (mise en demeure) under Article 1344 of the French Civil Code. For a sum of money, the formal notice starts interest at the statutory rate (Article 1344-1). It is the written step before mediation, conciliation or court. In French, to send by registered post with proof of receipt, or to have served by a commissaire de justice.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- A business in France took your money but has not delivered what you ordered.
- A tradesman left your building work unfinished and does not come back.
- A company or a person has not done what was agreed and you want to give them a last deadline.
- You want to put the other party on formal notice in writing before mediation or court.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Creditor
- Creditor's address
- Debtor
- Debtor's postal address (street and number, postcode and town)
- City
- Date
- Obligation not performed and where it comes from (contract, invoice, dates)
- Amount due
- Deadline to comply
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Is a registered letter enough to put someone on formal notice in France?
- Yes, if it contains a sufficient demand: Article 1344 of the French Civil Code accepts a summons by a commissaire de justice or any act that clearly calls on the debtor to perform. Registered post with proof of receipt proves sending and receipt, not the content; keep a copy of the letter. Service by a commissaire de justice, which costs money, proves both content and date. If the debtor is a business, a qualified electronic registered letter also works.
- What next if the formal notice in France has no effect?
- For a claim of up to €5,000, the law in principle requires an attempt at an amicable settlement before going to the tribunal judiciaire (Article 750-1 of the French Code of Civil Procedure): a free conciliateur de justice, mediation or a participatory procedure. Against a business, a consumer can go free of charge to the consumer mediator. For a sum of money, the order-for-payment procedure (injonction de payer) is also available. Always add the formal notice and its proof of receipt to the file.
- What statutory interest rate applies in France after a formal notice in 2026?
- For the second half of 2026 it is 6.84% where the creditor is a private individual not acting for business purposes, and 2.75% in other cases. The rate is set by order every six months and changes on 1 January and 1 July. Interest runs on the sum owed from the formal notice; it does not replace the penalties that a contract or the law sets between businesses.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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