The calculation sheetDisability · Caf and MDPH
AAH disability allowance in France in 2026: amount, conditions and working
AAH is at most €1,041.59 monthly in 2026. It requires, among other conditions, at least 80% incapacity, or 50 to 79% with substantial lasting restriction of access to work, and eligible resources under the ceiling. Children raise the resource ceiling, but pension plus AAH cannot exceed the AAH maximum. Temporary earnings disregard requires the restart and duration conditions of D821-9; age, residence and special situations still need checking.
Go to the tool: the calculation sheet
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General legal information with official references and dated checks. It is not personalised advice: for a decision that commits you, have your situation checked by a qualified professional.
Let’s look at your situation
Give your incapacity rate, your income and your housing situation.
Example questions
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How much AAH could you receive each month?
Enter your incapacity rate, your income and your dependent children: the calculator applies the deductions on earnings, the ceiling and, where relevant, the supplement for independent living. The example: a person assessed at 80%, in work for more than 6 months, earning €1,500 net taxable a month. The result is indicative: confirm the ordinary-case conditions; a special case or unknown decisive fact prevents calculation.
Fictional example · AAH
AAH reduced to €365.63 a month: your counted income, €675.96, is deducted from the ceiling.
- Full-rate AAH
- €1,041.59 a month
- Income counted
- €675.96 a month
- Monthly resource ceiling
- €1,041.59
- Estimated AAH
- €365.63 a month
Monthly estimate, excluding sheltered work (Ésat). The Caf or the MSA calculates the AAH on the income declared each quarter when you work, otherwise on that of the year before last.
Which amounts and ceilings apply to the AAH in 2026?
The figures published by service-public and the calculation rules of the Social Security Code.
| Item | Amount | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Full-rate AAH | €1,041.59 a month | CSS L821-3-1; service-public F12242 |
| Income ceiling with no child | €12,499 a year | CSS D821-2; service-public F12242 |
| With one dependent child | €18,749 a year | CSS D821-2 |
| With two dependent children | €24,998 a year | CSS D821-2 |
| Earnings not counted | At most 6 months in rolling 12: no prior-calendar-month earnings and work after entitlement opened | CSS D821-9 |
| Deduction on earnings | 80% up to €560.11 a month, 40% above | CSS D821-9 |
| Supplement for independent living | €104.77 a month | CSS D821-3 |
| Hospital or prison stay of more than 60 days | AAH cut to 30%, €312 a month, with exceptions | Service-public F12242 |
The €560.11 threshold is 30% of the gross monthly Smic of €1,867.02 in force since 1 June 2026.
Sources: CSS L821-1 · CSS L821-3 · CSS D821-2 · CSS D821-9 · Service-public F12242
Who can receive the AAH in France?
A person whom the CDAPH, the commission that sits within the departmental disability centre (MDPH), assesses at an incapacity rate of at least 80%, or 50 to 79% with a substantial and lasting restriction of access to work, expected to last at least a year (Social Security Code, articles L821-1, L821-2 and D821-1-2). You must be 20, or 16 if you are no longer your parents’ dependant for family benefits (article R821-1).
You must live in France; a non-EU national must be lawfully resident, an EU national resident for more than 3 months unless working (article L821-1). A retirement or invalidity pension or a work-accident annuity at least equal to the AAH rules it out; a smaller one is topped up by the AAH.
Sources: CSS L821-1 · CSS L821-2 · CSS R821-1
How is the amount of the AAH worked out?
With no income, the AAH is paid at the full rate: €1,041.59 a month, according to service-public, an amount raised every 1 April (Social Security Code, article L821-3-1). With a pension or an annuity, it pays the difference up to that amount. Since 1 October 2023, only your own income counts, not your spouse’s.
The yearly ceiling is 12 times the AAH, raised by half per dependent child (article D821-2): €12,499 with no child, €18,749 with one and €24,998 with two in 2026, according to service-public. Without earnings, the income of the year before last counts, 2024 income for a claim in 2026.
Sources: CSS L821-3 · CSS D821-2 · Service-public F12242
Can you work and receive the AAH?
Yes. For the first 6 months of work started or resumed, the salary is not counted (Social Security Code, article D821-9). After that, 80% of the part of the salary up to 30% of the monthly Smic, €560.11 a month, and 40% of the part above are deducted before the calculation. Full disregard also requires no earnings in the preceding calendar month, work after AAH entitlement opened, and at most six months in twelve rolling months (D821-9).
A net taxable salary of €1,500 a month therefore counts for €675.96, and the full-rate AAH is reduced by that much, to €365.63 a month. The quarterly income return to the Caf or the MSA is compulsory. In a sheltered work establishment (Ésat), the AAH and the guaranteed pay together cannot exceed the gross Smic, 15% more with a dependent child or parent (article D821-5).
Sources: CSS D821-9 · Service-public F21615 · CSS D821-3
How do you claim the AAH, and for how long is it granted?
The claim goes to the MDPH, online where it offers it or on the form, with a medical certificate; the CDAPH answers within 4 months, and silence means refusal, according to service-public. The AAH is paid from the first day of the month after the claim is filed (Social Security Code, article R821-7).
It is granted for 1 to 10 years, and with no time limit from 80% where the limitations cannot improve; for 50 to 79%, for 1 to 2 years (article R821-5), up to 5 years if the disability cannot improve, according to service-public. A refusal is first challenged by a prior administrative appeal to the MDPH, within 2 months.
Sources: CSS R821-5 · Service-public F12242
What does article L821-3 of the Social Security Code provide?
Article L821-3 is the text on combining the AAH with income, in its version since the spouse’s income stopped counting.
L’allocation aux adultes handicapés peut se cumuler avec les ressources personnelles de l’intéressé dans la limite d’un plafond fixé par décret, qui varie selon qu’il a une ou plusieurs personnes à sa charge.
Les rémunérations de l’intéressé tirées d’une activité professionnelle en milieu ordinaire de travail et les indemnités de fonction des élus locaux sont en partie exclues du montant des ressources servant au calcul de l’allocation selon des modalités fixées par décret.
In English, briefly (our summary, not an official translation): The AAH can be combined with the claimant’s own income up to a ceiling set by decree, which varies with the number of dependants. Earnings from work in an ordinary workplace, and the allowances of local elected officials, are partly left out of the income used for the calculation, as set by decree. The decree sets the ceiling at 12 times the AAH, raised by half per child (article D821-2), and the deductions on earnings (article D821-9).
What has changed for the AAH since 2023?
Three steps: the spouse’s income no longer counts, the April increase, the quarterly calculation.
The AAH is calculated on the claimant’s own income only; the former calculation with the spouse is kept where it is more favourable, until it no longer is (article L821-3; service-public).
Sources: CSS L821-3 · Service-public F12242
Yearly increase on 1 April: the full-rate AAH is €1,041.59 a month (article L821-3-1; service-public).
Source: Service-public F12242
For workers in sheltered establishments (Ésat), the AAH will be calculated on the income of the last quarter rather than that of the year before last, phased in until December 2026 (decrees no. 2026-547 and 2026-548 of 25 June 2026; service-public).
Sources: CSS R821-4-1 · Service-public F21615
What do people receiving the AAH ask?
Does my spouse’s income count for the AAH?
No, since 1 October 2023: only your own income counts. If the former calculation with your spouse gives you more, the Caf or the MSA keeps it automatically until it no longer does (service-public, fiche F12242).
Can the AAH be combined with the RSA?
Yes, if you meet the conditions of both, but the RSA is then reduced by the AAH received; keeping only the AAH can be better when it is higher (service-public, fiche F20209).
What happens to the AAH at retirement age?
From 80%, it can top up a pension below the maximum, subject to the applicable entitlement and continued-work rules. For 50 to 79%, it stops at the legal retirement age; with no pension right, the old-age solidarity allowance (ASPA) takes over (service-public; Social Security Code, article L821-2).
What is the supplement for independent living?
€104.77 a month paid without a claim to a claimant assessed at 80% or more who receives the full-rate AAH or tops up a pension with it, lives in an independent home with housing aid and has no earnings (Social Security Code, articles L821-1-2 and D821-3).
Do the heirs have to repay the AAH?
No. Sums paid to the claimant are not recovered from their estate; the heirs only report the death to the Caf or the MSA (service-public, fiche F12242).
Which texts set the AAH and its calculation?
- Social Security Code, article L821-1 (general conditions of the AAH)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, articles L821-2 and D821-1-2 (50 to 79% rate, restricted access to work)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, article R821-1 (age, residence)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, articles L821-3 and L821-3-1 (combination, ceiling, increase on 1 April)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, article D821-2 (ceiling of 12 times the amount, raised per child)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, article D821-9 (deductions on earnings)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, articles D821-3 and D821-5 (supplement for independent living, Ésat)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, articles R821-5 and R821-7 (length of award, start date)Légifrance, in French
- Adult disability allowance (AAH) (fiche F12242)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 14 September 2026
- Can you work and receive the AAH? (fiche F21615)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 1 June 2026
- Social Security Code, articles R821-4 and R821-4-1 (quarterly income, decrees of 25 June 2026)Légifrance, in French
- Can the AAH and the RSA be combined? (fiche F20209)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 31 July 2026
Texts cited last checked: 25 September 2026