A divorce pronounced in 2010, a liquidation still being argued over in 2022, and a former matrimonial home occupied for thirteen years by one of the former spouses, who let it fall into disrepair. At what date should the property be valued, and how should the occupation indemnity be set? The Cour de cassation (the French supreme court for civil and commercial matters) gave a precise answer in a decision of 1 October 2025 that concerns every long-running liquidation.
The facts
The divorce of two spouses married without a marriage contract was pronounced on 11 March 2010, upheld in 2013 and became final in 2014. The liquidation of their property interests led to a ruling of the Nîmes Court of Appeal of 20 April 2022. For the former matrimonial home, that court adopted the value set by an expert report of February 2009, namely €382,000, on the ground that the former husband, who had had exclusive use of the property until 2017, had let it deteriorate and had to bear the loss of value. It set the occupation indemnity owed to the joint estate (indivision, joint ownership) at €1,530 a month, on the basis of the 2009 rental value, refusing to take account of the dilapidated state of the property since that state was attributable to the occupant.
The decision
The Cour de cassation quashed the ruling on both points (Cass. 1re civ., 1 October 2025, appeal no. 23-16.501).
On the valuation date, it recalled article 829 of the Civil Code: assets are valued at the date of jouissance divise (the date from which each co-owner enjoys their share separately), which is as close as possible to the partition, unless the court sets an earlier date because it is more favourable to equality. In the absence of such a decision, the property had to be valued at the date closest to partition, in its state at that date. Damage attributable to a co-owner does not change the valuation date: it gives rise to separate compensation under article 815-13, paragraph 2, under which a co-owner is liable for deterioration that has reduced the value of the jointly owned assets through their act or fault.
On the occupation indemnity, article 815-9, paragraph 2, provides that a co-owner who has exclusive use of the property owes an indemnity. That indemnity had to be assessed by reference to the rental value of the property during the period of exclusive use, deterioration again falling under article 815-13. Adopting a 2009 rental value for the whole period, without considering how the property and the market had changed, was an error.
What the ruling asks of the valuer
Three separate valuations in a single report. The market value of the property at the date of partition, in its state at that date, dilapidation included. The rental value of the property over the whole period of occupation, year by year if the market or the state of the property has changed, taking account of the precarious nature of the occupation. The cost of the damage attributable to the occupant, that is, the difference between the value of the property normally maintained and its actual value, or the cost of the repair works, as the case may be.
Do not confuse the items. The ruling penalises precisely the mixing of them: compensating for the deterioration by freezing the valuation date, or by keeping an old rental value. Each item has its own legal basis and its own calculation.
Update rather than reuse. A 2009 report cannot serve as it stands in 2022. The Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (the French property valuation charter) treats the updating of an earlier valuation as an assignment in its own right, with a review of the changes that have occurred and a further inspection where the property or its surroundings have changed (6th edition, November 2025, Title II, chapter 5). The definitions of market value and market rental value are those of Title III, § 1.1 and § 1.4, and of EVS 1 of the European Valuation Standards 2025.
What this means for the former spouses
The spouse who occupies the property bears two things: an occupation indemnity calculated on the actual rental value over the whole period of their use, and compensation for the deterioration attributable to them. They cannot have the property valued at an old date to reduce what they owe the other. The spouse who left the property has an interest in asking for a recent valuation, in its current state, and in documenting the deterioration separately.
Further reading
The Market value page describes the valuation in the event of divorce, its timescale and its fee; the Private clients page presents related situations. On the same theme: Divorce in France: when to value the house, who pays the expert. The decision is available on Légifrance.
What next
A liquidation that drags on, a property occupied by one of the former spouses?
Value at the date of partition, rental value over the whole period of occupation, costing of the damage attributable to the occupant: I provide all three in a single report that the notaire and both lawyers can work from.
Free quote, by email or by phone. No commitment before the quote is accepted. Fees are never linked to the value of the property (Charte de l’expertise, Title I, §2.1).
