What Is a Livret de Famille in France?

The Livret de Famille is a passport-style document designed to record all the major administrative acts that occur during one’s lifetime pertaining to a family. For example, birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce certificates, death certificates, etc, as well as proof of ID/Titre de Sejour, etc.  Extracts of these certificates are copied into the book and stamped by an official, serving as proof of these key life events.

It is your legal responsibility to keep your Livret de Famille up to date in the event of any changes (a marriage or divorce, for example).

A Livret de Famille is only available to French citizens or family members. This means that in order to receive a Livret de Famille, you will need to have French citizenship, be married to a French person, or be the parent of a French child (if at least one of the parents are French). You will be issued your Livret de Famille upon reception of your French nationality, wedding certificate, or the birth certificate of your child.

No. It is entirely possible to navigate the French administration system without one. However, if you do have one, it can be very handy to have proof of all of these key documents in one place. You will be asked for your Livret de Famille when registering children in school or registering with a medecin traitant (doctor), for example.

Yes, why not? It may not be the ‘official’ document but it will essentially do the same job. The Livret de Famille simplifies the French administration process by grouping lots of different essential documents into one, but there is no reason why you can’t do this yourself and keep a file of such documents ready to go.

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