What this article is — and isn't
Every guide on this site explains one piece of the process in isolation: the court, the procedure, the documents, the language. This one puts the pieces back together as a single sequence, following a composite, illustrative case — a foreign supplier owed an unpaid invoice by a French buyer — from the first email to the funds landing in the creditor's account.
No two files are identical, and outcomes depend on the facts, the debtor's conduct and the evidence available. This walkthrough shows the shape a case typically takes and the decision points along the way — not a promise of a specific timeline or result for any particular file.
Day 0 — the file lands
The creditor — based outside France, no French entity, no French bank account, no French speaker on staff — sends an outline of the situation: an invoice issued months earlier, several reminder emails, no payment, and now silence. Attached are the contract, the invoices, proof of delivery, and the reminder correspondence, all in English, none translated or notarised. As covered in preparing your foreign documents for a French court, that is exactly what is needed to begin.
The firm reviews the documents, confirms the claim clears the firm's minimum threshold, and replies the same day with an initial view: is the debt likely disputed or simply unpaid, which route fits, and what it will cost at each step. No French lawyer, no power of attorney, no trip to Paris — the mechanics of getting started are covered in instructing a French lawyer without travelling to France.
The sequence, stage by stage
to D+3
to D+90
months later
That sequence assumes no genuine dispute is raised — the pattern this firm sees most often. Roughly 30% of files never get past the first step: the formal notice alone prompts payment, because it converts a business decision to delay into a documented legal deadline with consequences attached.
Where the sequence branches
Three points in the file determine which of several different roads it actually takes.
Branch 1 — does the debtor reply to the formal notice?
Pays or negotiates
File closes, or moves into a short negotiation. Cheapest and fastest outcome, and the most common one.
Ignores it entirely
The firm moves to a payment order — a written, no-hearing procedure well suited to a debt nobody has actually contested.
Branch 2 — does the debtor raise an actual objection?
An objection that looks serious redirects the file toward référé-provision if it is weak on the merits, or toward a full action before the tribunal de commerce if it is genuinely arguable. This is the fork that most changes the timeline — from weeks to potentially well over a year.
Branch 3 — is there a flight risk?
If there are signs the debtor is moving money, closing accounts or otherwise becoming judgment-proof, the file runs a parallel track: a pre-judgment asset freeze, which for an unpaid invoice first requires a judge's authorisation and is then executed by a commissaire de justice — in our experience, usually around two weeks after the request — independent of which route above is chosen for the merits.
What the creditor actually does, throughout
Across every branch above, the creditor's own workload stays small and constant: approve the strategy at the outset, answer document requests as they come up, and decide on any settlement offer. As set out in does not speaking French stop you suing a French debtor, every one of those exchanges happens in English — the French-language steps (filings, the hearing, the judgment) are the firm's work, not the client's.
Responsiveness. Several steps in the sequence run on short statutory clocks — the debtor's opposition window after a payment order, the one-month deadline after an asset freeze to start proceedings for an enforceable title. A slow reply to a document request is the most common reason a fast file becomes a slow one.
Where it ends
Once an enforceable order exists and is served, the commissaire de justice executes against the debtor's bank accounts or other assets, and recovered funds are transferred to the creditor's own account, wherever it is held. Late-payment penalties are owed by the debtor, and enforcement costs are in principle charged to the debtor once there is an enforceable title — except, notably, part of the commissaire de justice's proportional recovery fee, which the regulated tariff leaves to the creditor. The full breakdown of what is charged at each stage, and what the law lets the creditor claw back from the debtor, is in timelines and costs.
Frequently asked questions
No — this shows the most common path and the main branch points. The specific route depends on your debtor's conduct, the strength of any objection raised, and whether asset protection is needed. The firm maps the likely path for your specific file at the outset.
Whether the debtor raises a genuine objection. Everything else — language, distance, which country you are in — has little to no effect on timeline or cost.
Yes, and it is the most common self-inflicted delay. Several stages run on statutory deadlines that do not pause for you, so a prompt reply to a document request is the one thing genuinely in your control.
Individual recovery stops, and the file converts into filing a claim within the insolvency proceedings. An early asset freeze can help, but only up to a point: frozen funds are secured for the creditor only if the freeze has been converted into a final attachment, which requires an enforceable title, before the insolvency judgment — and a freeze made after the date the debtor stopped paying its debts can be set aside. Acting early is what makes the difference.
Send the contract, unpaid invoices, proof of delivery, correspondence with the debtor, and the debtor's exact registered name using the form below. You will get an initial view of the likely route the same day.
Related guides
Tell us about your case
Outline your situation — Maître Bensimhon will reply personally within 1 business hour.
Reply within 1 business hour