Who we are
French insolvency law is public. It is just not written for you.
If you run, own, buy or advise a French company, the rules that decide its future are in French, spread across several sources, and their deadlines are short. Legal Rescue reads them for you, starting from the company, and explains them in plain English.
The problem
The rules are all public. In French, and in pieces.
Nothing about French insolvency is secret. The rules are in the Commercial Code (Code de commerce), the filings go to the court registry (greffe), and the judgments are published in the BODACC, the official bulletin of commercial notices. But all of it is in French, split between the three, and the deadlines are short. From abroad, a director, a buyer or their adviser often finds the right rule when there is little time left to use it.
- 45 days
to declare insolvency (cessation des paiements) to the court. After that, the director can be barred from running a company.
French Commercial Code, Art. L. 640-4 and L. 653-8 - 57,506
liquidations closed for insufficient assets in 12 months. The company disappears, and its director needs to know what can still be claimed from them personally.
BODACC, 12 months to 13 November 2026 - 142
professional recovery procedures (rétablissement professionnel) closed in 12 months. This procedure wipes out the debts of small sole traders, and it is still very rarely used.
BODACC, 12 months to 13 November 2026
Who it is for
For those who face French rules from the outside.
What Legal Rescue does
Everything about the company, in one place, in English.
Give the company's name or describe the situation. Legal Rescue reads what is public about it and tells you what French law provides, in plain English, without jargon.
- The proceedings open to the company, criterion by criterion
- The dates, starting with the filing deadline
- The documents to attach to a filing
- The competent court, with its address and phone number
- Free to startThe answers and the company check cost nothing.
- Nothing made upEvery answer cites the text or notice it comes from.
- Never legal adviceChoosing a procedure is your decision, with a lawyer's help if needed.
What we read
Official French sources, cited in every answer.
- The French Commercial CodeBook VI, on businesses in difficulty: 1,001 articles, read on Légifrance in their current version.
- The BODACCThe notices published by the courts: opening, judgment, plan, closing.
- The company registerThe company's legal form, headcount, published turnover and registered office.
- The public administration directoryThe 134 commercial and economic activities courts, with their address.
With a lawyer
When a choice has to be made, a lawyer takes over.
Choosing a procedure, making an offer for a business in receivership, defending the case in court, answering a claim against the director: that is a lawyer's job. Legal Rescue puts you in touch with a partner lawyer in France who works with companies in difficulty, at a price stated before any commitment. You can also file alone: declaring insolvency does not require a lawyer.
Talk to a lawyerWhere does the company stand?
Free, and you will know what lies ahead.