What rights does a father have to a child when paying child support?

The procedure for collecting alimony

When considering the procedure for collecting alimony from a child, two types of solution to the issue should be noted:

1. Agreement on payment of alimony. Concluded between the needy parent and the child in writing and notarized. The contract contains the main points of payments, including the order of monthly alimony. As a rule, we are talking about financial payments or the acquisition of necessary things (food, medicine, clothing, furniture, etc.)
2. Judgment. If a child violates child support obligations, the father has the right to file a lawsuit demanding that the evader be brought to justice. A court order is a writ of execution, according to which a child is obliged to provide for his parents in the event of old age or disability.

Going to court is the most effective way to protect your rights to receive alimony. But as practice shows, parents are in no hurry to call their children to justice because they experience family feelings.

Collection of financial support through the court

If a man avoids paying his obligations in every possible way, then the mother should file a claim with the magistrate’s court. During the meeting, authorized employees will independently determine:

• form of payment;
• amount of liabilities;
• method of transferring funds.

After receiving the decision, the woman has the right to contact the bailiff service. The latter will issue a writ of execution and make a forced collection of funds from the alimony provider.

Important! The court has the right to assign alimony only in three forms: shared, fixed amount or mixed. The possibility of obtaining maintenance by purchasing things or paying for education when collecting through the court is not provided for by law.

Exemption from alimony payments

By law, adult children are required to support their disabled, needy parents. However, there are several cases when a child may be exempt from paying child support:

Deprivation of parental rights.

Expert opinion

Kurtov Mikhail Sergeevich

Practitioner lawyer with 15 years of experience. Specializes in civil and family law. Author of dozens of articles on legal topics.

Unscrupulous parents, deprived of parental rights to raise minor children, do not have the right to receive alimony from the child if he reaches the age of majority.

Attention: Restoration of parental rights returns to the father the right to receive child support from the child.

Avoidance of parental responsibilities.

This requirement does not imply deprivation of parental rights, as was the case in the first paragraph. If a parent evaded the financial support of his child and did not raise the child, then the court has the right to refuse such a parent’s statement of claim.

As a rule, fathers who did not transfer the alimony prescribed by law to their minor child are recognized as evaders.

Both circumstances exempt the child from paying alimony to the father even if the case is resolved in court.

Frequency of payments

Alimony is calculated from the date of filing the application or claim in court. That is, even if the complicated process lasted several months, the child will receive child support for all these months.

Alimony by court is paid once a month (this is usually reflected in the court decision). However, in most enterprises, salaries are paid twice a month: an advance and a monthly payment. Typically, “percentage” alimony is calculated at the time of calculating the basic salary, when it is already known exactly how many days and hours worked. “Solid” alimony can also be deducted on the day of the advance.

ATTENTION! The law establishes a three-day period for transferring the alimony amount to the recipient after the wages of the alimony payer are calculated. It is worth keeping an eye on this, since for each day the juice is violated, a penalty of 0.5% of the total amount is charged. However, if it can be proven that the delay occurred for reasons beyond the control of the alimony payer and the accounting department, the penalty can be challenged and not paid.

Documents for judicial resolution of the case

Most child support disputes are resolved in court. The procedure involves the collection of documents from the plaintiff and defendant.

The parent who applies to the court must provide:

1. passport;
2. child’s birth certificate (establishing the fact of relationship);
3. documents confirming incapacity for work (ITU certificate of disability or pension certificate);
4. confirmation of the need for alimony (certificates of income, receipts for payment of utility bills, receipts for medicines, etc.).

The statement of claim for alimony payments is submitted along with a collected folder of documents. The court considers the case within the established procedure and issues a final verdict in the form of a writ of execution signed by the judge.

A child who has been ordered to pay child support must provide the following documents:

1. passport;
2. documents indicating evasion of parental responsibilities (bailiff's decision on the father's arrears for child support);
3. court verdict on depriving the father of parental rights (an official ruling from the judge is provided);
4. receipts confirming the costs of treatment in childhood and evidence that the parent did not provide financial assistance in paying for medications;
5. documents indicating the inability to pay alimony to parents (certificate of income, confirmation of disability in the ITU, list of dependents);
6. information about other adult able-bodied children of the parent filing the claim (may be called upon as defendants in a child support case).

As judicial practice shows, an objective decision on a case is not always made. It often happens that a father, who has been restored to parental rights, claims alimony from the child, although before that he took almost no part in raising his son.

Be that as it may, legal proceedings require qualified legal assistance for both parties to the conflict.

This is important to know: Written commitment to use maternity capital: sample 2021

Author of the article: Petr Romanovsky, lawyer Works in the legal field for 16 years, specializing in resolving housing disputes, family matters, inheritance, land disputes, criminal cases.

Is it possible to quickly deprive parental rights for non-payment of child support?

The answer to this question: yes, such a basis is provided by the legislator. But not everything is so simple here. Firstly, if the father does not pay child support for two or three months, the court will most likely find this period insufficient to record the fact of continuous non-payment.

It is advisable that the alimony arrears be at least six months old. And the presence of father's guilt is obligatory. If he himself has become a hostage of the situation (for example, the company does not pay wages for a long time), you will not be able to deprive him of parental rights for failure to pay child support.

Second important point. Failure to pay alimony is a significant reason, but the court is in no hurry to deprive a man of paternity only on this basis. He will probably first be limited in his parental rights and given six months to correct himself. If the father maliciously evades, it is to his advantage: after all, he did not pay and is not going to pay in the future. And all this time you need to feed your children something. In order not to get into trouble and not leave your children without the required funds for another six months, or even longer, indicate additional grounds in your claim.

In addition to non-payment of alimony, the grounds may be: drug addiction, alcoholism, neglect and other grounds provided for in the Family Code (see Article 69). If you have several grounds and they are properly confirmed, the court will probably take your side and will not delay deprivation of paternity.

To confirm non-payment of alimony, you must provide the court with a certificate of alimony debt indicating the period and amount. It can be obtained from the bailiffs where your alimony case is pending.

Father's rights to a child in a full-fledged family

The law of the Russian Federation establishes equal rights for both parents. The father is obliged to participate in the upbringing, provision of his child and protect him in every possible way. The choice and capabilities of the parents determine where the child lives, what he eats, what kind of clothing he wears, and what school or kindergarten he attends.

In all life situations, mother and father are obliged to act in the interests of the children, take into account their opinions, if possible, and make decisions that will benefit them. The atmosphere at home in which children should feel comfortable, and, accordingly, their psycho-emotional state depends on the parents.

The task of the mother and father is to educate the individual, forming in the process of education qualities that will be useful throughout life. Morality, spirituality, morality - this is what parents should take care of.

Participation in important decisions

Among the rights that a father who pays child support has is participation in making important decisions for the child’s life. This right is also enshrined in paragraph 1 of Article 66 of the Family Code.

If a parent attempts to carry out one of these procedures without the knowledge of the ex-spouse, government authorities will refuse to carry it out.
Legislatively, to resolve such issues, the opinion of both parents noted on the birth certificate is sought. Their signatures on applications are mandatory. This ensures the exercise of parental rights to participate in the child’s life. Still, it is necessary to specify what rights a father who pays child support has. For example, the choice of school, club (especially a paid one), diet (for example, if the mother insists on a vegetarian diet), as well as issues related to the child’s health.

Does a father who refuses to pay child support have rights to the child?

Refusal of any parent to pay child support is grounds for deprivation of parental rights. This procedure is very complex, psychologically difficult for all participants, it requires lengthy preparation and collection of documents.

Expert opinion

Kurtov Mikhail Sergeevich

Practitioner lawyer with 15 years of experience. Specializes in civil and family law. Author of dozens of articles on legal topics.

In court, after considering all the materials and evidence of the father’s failure to fulfill parental responsibilities, a decision is made to deprive him of paternity.

Deprivation of paternity does not get rid of the payment of alimony, but the child will no longer depend on the father in any way, although he will still remain his heir. A son or daughter is not obliged to support his father in old age or in case of incapacity if he is deprived of paternity.

In this case, the father loses the right to be the heir of the children in the event of their death. In addition, he will not be able to adopt another child or become a guardian.

The entire amount of alimony debt will be collected by the bailiff service. The offender will be prohibited from traveling outside the country if the debt is not repaid.

When the child's legal father does not pay child support, this creates both economic and psychological problems for the children's mother.

But when the father pays alimony, the financial component becomes easier, but this also means that the father fulfills his obligations before the law to support his children, and therefore entails rights to the children.

Procedure for calculating child support after deprivation of parental rights

During court proceedings, when it is necessary to decide whether to release a parent from his rights to a child or not, the issue of child support obligations is necessarily considered. Why is this being done?

1. The court, according to Russian law, is obliged to promote the protection of children's interests, therefore, it must check that these interests are not violated.
2. If the irresponsible parent has previously paid child support, the court must ensure that the amount of the child support payment is fair and reasonable and, if necessary, recalculate it. The alimony debt remains the same. If an irresponsible parent, for example, is in a formal marital relationship with the other parent, then by law he does not pay child support. However, as soon as he (she) is deprived of his rights, he is obliged to provide financially for the child with the help of alimony. Thus, in 100% of cases the court is obliged to study the alimony issue and make a correct and informed decision.

How can the issue of alimony be resolved? The solution options are described in the table below.

Father's rights to raise children

Let's consider the case if the child's father regularly pays child support and wants to see them, take them on weekends, take part in cultural and sports events, or make decisions related to the educational process.

In this case, the mother has very few rights to prevent her children from seeing their father. In this situation, the court will be on the side of the father, because he is responsible for supporting the children.

If the court has no grounds to deprive the father of parental rights, then he has every right:

1. It is an established agreement between parents to see their children at an agreed time and for a set duration.
2. Give or refuse written consent for the mother and children to travel abroad.
3. Makes decisions in real estate transactions involving minor children.
4. Makes decisions on changing or issuing any new documents for children.
5. Request certificates and documents for children in hospitals, educational institutions.
6. In the event of incapacity for work, it is possible to apply for child support.

The last point is especially troubling for mothers who are left without spousal support, especially if the father unsystematically pays alimony.

Only one solution will help protect children from future possible requests for alimony from the father due to loss of ability to work, and that is deprivation of his parental rights.

How to apply for child support for the father of a child?

In the absence of paternity, the first step is to go to court to recognize paternity. In this situation, the application for establishing paternity can be supplemented with a requirement for the collection of alimony. This will save time in establishing child support and will protect the interests of the child.

sssIf there is a fact of paternity, you should choose a method for collecting alimony. We mentioned this in more detail above.

The application for the collection of alimony must contain:

• Name of the court, information about the claimant and the child’s father, indicating their addresses and passport details;
• Specific circumstances of your situation: fact of paternity, date of divorce, father living separately from the child, confirmation of your expenses for the maintenance of the child;
• Links to legislation and judicial practice;
• The petition part, where you ask to establish a specific method of collecting alimony.

Important to remember:

• the alimony claimant has the right to submit a claim to the magistrate’s court at his place of residence;
• the state duty for this category of cases has not been established;
• the plaintiff must independently send to the alimony debtor a copy of the application with all attachments, and to the court - documents confirming such sending.

Grounds for deprivation of paternity rights

Paternity rights can be revoked for several reasons:

• cruelty towards minors.
• immoral behavior.
• systematic use of alcoholic beverages or drugs.
• avoidance of one's obligations to raise children.
• criminal acts against former family members.
• failure to fulfill obligations to provide for minors.

It is important to know that even if the father is deprived of parental rights for any of the above reasons, the parent must pay the debt accumulated for child support. And also, if the father causes harm or does not take part in raising the children, he will be deprived of parental rights, but will not be deprived of the obligation to pay child support.

There is a practice when a father is deprived of parental rights due to alcohol abuse, but until the age of 18 he is obliged to support the children, and at the same time he loses the opportunity to file for child support when he reaches old age.

Many problems arise when the mother gets married, but the previous spouse bears the obligation to pay alimony. With these events in the family, conflicts are inevitable, and if the new spouse expresses a desire to take paternity of the child and raise him, there must be grounds for depriving the previous husband of parental rights.

In practice, there are different options for finding the optimal solution, for example: when a new father of the family appears, sons and daughters come under attack, since two fathers are involved in raising them, and the mother will not be on the side of the former. The decision will be made to deprive the children's natural father of parental rights.

Whatever the decision of the former spouses, one should proceed from the interests of the children, and how it will actually be better for him.

General provisions

According to generally accepted rules, alimony payments are subject to deduction from income received, for example, wages.

It should be noted that the legislator approved a list of income from which they must be withheld for the purpose of providing financial support for minor children.

It is given in the decree of the government of the Russian Federation, which was issued on July 18, 1996, number 841.

What it is

Alimony obligations are classified as family legal obligations, the failure of which results in family legal liability.

If there is a malicious evasion of the defendant from paying alimony, then he will be brought to criminal liability.

Alimony can be established:

If the issue is resolved peacefully, the parent transfers child support personally to the other parent or transfers it to a bank account.

Otherwise, the applicant for their receipt files a statement of claim with a request to recover alimony.

They are subject to deduction by the employer from wages from the time of entry in the journal of incoming information, which is maintained by the office of the judicial authority.

Legislative acts establish the type of income from which alimony payments are not withheld. The norm is established in accordance with Article 101 of the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”.

According to the instructions of the government decree, in addition to wages, alimony payments are withheld from other types of income.

These include income that is given to the employee in the form of:

Issues regarding the collection of alimony are regulated by the Family Code of the Russian Federation. The guidelines of Article 90 of the RF IC explain the rules for conducting the procedure.

It notes that a parent who evades child support must be forced to pay them through legal proceedings.

According to the instructions of the legislative acts in force in the Federation, a parent obligated to pay alimony may be released from his obligations on the grounds provided for by family law.

Who does it apply to?

It is not uncommon for a child to be raised by his father. He has the right to demand payment of alimony from his wife through an appeal to a judicial authority if she does not voluntarily help her ex-spouse support the child, having sufficient funds.

As for the father of the child, he must provide for his children in accordance with the instructions of the Family Code on a voluntary basis.

Otherwise, the ex-spouse may file a claim with a court. It must express a request to collect alimony payments from the ex-husband for the maintenance of children.

The following persons have the right to claim alimony in accordance with family law standards:

It should be noted that alimony payers are found among different segments of the population with different social status.

Where to go

According to generally accepted rules, alimony is withheld by the enterprise’s accounting department, which then transfers it to its destination.

Withholding of alimony is carried out on the basis of a writ of execution, issued in accordance with a court decision.

The applicant for their receipt is given the right to file a claim with the judicial authority so that it collects alimony.

Based on the results of the consideration of the collection case, the court issues a court order or makes a decision, which is handed over to the plaintiff.

He must contact the regional office of bailiffs involved in the direct execution of the court order.

Based on the court order, a writ of execution is issued, in accordance with which the employer withholds alimony payments.

Communication with a child

When divorcing, spouses do not often compromise and do not agree in advance with whom the child will live. Judicial practice shows that in most cases (90 percent) the judge leaves the child with the mother if the parents were unable to reach an agreement with each other.

Over the past 20 years, this has already become an unspoken legal custom. However, fathers who want their children to live with them, with due diligence, always achieve their goal.

If the baby remains with the mother, then she is obliged to provide the ex-husband with opportunities to communicate with the child. These are the rights of a father paying child support.

During a divorce, the court reserves the right of the father to see and communicate with the child who remains to live with his ex-wife. Fathers do not always fulfill their parenting responsibilities after divorce. This is due not only to negligence in relation to children, but also to the mother’s desire to protect the child from communicating with the person who caused moral harm to her. This right is also guaranteed by the Family Code.

Can a mother prohibit a father from seeing her child? Yes, it can, but there must be good reasons for this:

1. The father behaves immorally;
2. The father is registered in a psychoneurological or drug dispensary;
3. Experts have judicially recognized its negative impact on the child.

1. An oral agreement is the optimal solution for those parents who have maintained normal relationships, that is, they are aware of joint responsibility for their common child. If you think that conflicts should not arise on this basis, then you can verbally discuss the order and time of meetings with your spouse.
2. However, if there are suspicions that the child’s father will begin to abuse his right or begin to raise him “in his own way”, without discussing such issues with you, a formal written agreement should be concluded. According to Article 66, this agreement may also contain general rules for the upbringing and activities of the child with the other parent, that is, it covers an area broader than the formal time and place of meeting. In case of non-compliance with this agreement, it can be presented to the court as evidence for further legal resolution of the conflict.

However, in this case, the court will necessarily involve the guardianship and trusteeship authorities. Based on their observations, a decision will be made that may introduce unwanted adjustments. For example, indicate the possibility of meetings only in the presence of the mother. If the guardianship authorities do not reveal any violations, then the court will satisfy the father’s request without adjustments in the form in which the father requested.

Nuances of the situation

The standards of the Family Code provide for various grounds according to which the court can cancel its previously adopted decision to establish alimony payments.

They are given in the standards of Article 120 of the Family Code, exceptions to the rules are certain special cases. They are considered on an individual basis, taking into account the legitimate interests of the child.

The duties of the guardianship and trusteeship body include direct participation in resolving the conflict situation.

He must ensure the protection of the interests of a minor child at the request of one of the parents.

One of the parents has the right to declare their rights in the manner established by civil procedural legislation.

The judicial authority must invite the guardianship and trusteeship authority to take part in the judicial process.

He has the right to establish the procedure for the execution of parental rights before his decision enters into legal force. A measure of punishment is applied to the guilty parent if he does not comply with the decision of the judicial authority.

The norm is provided for both by the Family Code and civil law. The basis is the admission of an administrative offense in relation to enforcement proceedings.

If the mother does not comply with the decision of the court, the father may demand that the child be transferred to him for further upbringing.

As a rule, when making a decision, the judicial authority proceeds from its legitimate interest. If a child is 10 years old, he has the right to express his opinion regarding the person with whom he wants to live together.

Spouses, when dividing jointly acquired property, can take into account the interests of the child by allocating him a certain share of it as alimony payments.

For example, the share of property owned by the second spouse out of the common shared ownership of an apartment.

Should a parent who has been deprived of their rights pay child support?

A mother who is sure that her ex-husband is dangerous for their common children or is not fulfilling his obligations can seek help from the court with a request to deprive her husband of parental rights. But the court will also take into account the rights of the alimony provider, and if he regularly participates in the maintenance of dependents, the woman may be denied the claim.

The circumstances under which parental rights may be taken away from a child support payer are:

• cruelty towards minors;
• immoral behavior;
• systematic use of alcoholic beverages or drugs;
• avoidance of one's obligations to raise children;
• criminal acts against former family members;
• failure to fulfill obligations to provide for minors.

Expert opinion

Kurtov Mikhail Sergeevich

Practitioner lawyer with 15 years of experience. Specializes in civil and family law. Author of dozens of articles on legal topics.

When the necessary amounts for the dependent minors are not received into the recipient’s account, a decision is made in the interests of the plaintiff. However, the alimony payer still has obligations to support the children.

As Article 71 of the RF IC states, a father who does not have rights to a child is not exempt from the obligation to pay alimony. It is unlikely that under any circumstances (other than exceptional ones) the court will cancel the need for the payer to transfer certain funds to the recipient.

In addition, the Civil Code provides for the liability of a parent deprived of his rights for harm caused to his children. A father who does not have parental rights is released from other obligations to a minor, except material ones.

The ex-wife should be aware of what she can count on after a divorce from her husband, whose paternity is no longer documented. The law provides for financial obligations for such parents as well.

If the father is deprived of parental rights, the mother has new opportunities, namely:

• she has the right to travel abroad with children without asking the consent of the other parent;
• concluding transactions with the participation of a minor no longer requires the permission of the father;
• Change of documents for children is carried out at the request of the mother only;
• the procedure for adoption of children by a woman’s new spouse is simplified;
• the ex-wife can prevent the children from visiting their father based on the law;
• the father is deprived of the right to support from the children if he loses his ability to work.

If the reason for deprivation of paternity was evasion of child support obligations, the money will be collected from the payer, taking into account fines, and in the future he will be obliged to transfer a fixed amount to provide for minors.

How to deprive parental rights if he pays child support?

In this case, the opinion of the child himself will be of great importance. The judge will talk to him to find out how involved his father is in his life. You need to prove that there is no help from your father other than alimony. A big plus will be the presence of an additional basis provided for by the sixty-ninth article of the UK. For example, one of the ones below.

Deprivation of the rights to raise a child is always an exceptional measure, which becomes possible only in situations defined by law, namely, if the parents:

1) They withdraw themselves from the child’s life and also do not participate in its maintenance.

Elimination from a child’s life can manifest itself in the fact that parents do not raise the child, do not participate in his development, and do not care about the psychological and physical components of his developing personality. In order to confirm all this, you will need to bring to the court certificates from a kindergarten, school, clinic, and sometimes other institutions. To prove the lack of financial assistance to a child, you will need a certificate confirming the existence of alimony debt from the person obligated to pay it.

2) They left the child in a medical, educational, or social institution and refused to pick him up without giving proper reasons.

3) Significantly exceed the measures of possible behavior for parents.

This means that parents, despite legal and moral standards, allow themselves to attract and even force the child into vagrancy, prostitution and other activities unacceptable for a small child.

4) They treat children cruelly, mock them, and carry out psychological or physical violence.

When it comes to abuse, it is important to know that in this case we mean not only physical injuries or regular beatings, but also real psychological pressure, which can be dangerous for the child’s psyche and cause significant harm to him in the future.

5) Persistently addicted to alcohol or drugs.

Addiction to alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs is a very significant reason for depriving all rights to a child. But, since such an accusation is very serious, it can only be fully confirmed by an appropriate certificate from a medical institution.

6) Caused real physical harm to a spouse or child and received criminal punishment for this.

In order for this fact to be accepted by the court for consideration, the applicant must provide reliable confirmation of it, namely the court verdict in this case that has entered into force of law.

If the father pays alimony in good faith and regularly communicates with the child, but there is one of the grounds provided for in Article 69, the court will most likely first issue him a warning and give him a period for correction. And only upon repeated application can he deprive him of paternity.

Responsibilities of a father to pay financial assistance to his child

In general, child support is

a set of activities aimed at supporting children.
Article 80 of the RF IC regulates that fathers of minor citizens are obliged to take measures to support them. Child support in case of divorce
can be paid in the form of:

• purchases of valuables;
• transfer of cash or electronic funds;
• providing your child with an expensive education.

Important! Even if the father is deprived of parental rights, he is still obliged to pay financial assistance in the amount described in Article 81 of the RF IC.

If the alimony provider is declared incompetent, then the responsibility for maintaining the minor passes to his representatives. At the same time, drawing up an agreement between spouses in the event of incapacity of one of the parties is possible only with the consent of the legal representative.

Paying child support is an obligation, but communication with a child is a parent’s right.

Divorce and maiden name

– After a divorce, a woman was left alone with a child in her arms.
What is the best thing for her to do to provide for the needs of her son or daughter: go to court with a claim for alimony or try to come to an agreement with her ex-husband? – It’s always better to come to an agreement. The easiest option is to draw up a notarial agreement. In it, the parties can set out all the conditions for paying alimony and determine, among other things, the indexation procedure, additional expenses for maintaining the child, and liability for failure to fulfill the terms of the agreement. This is such a capacious document that suits both parties at once.

– This option is probably suitable if the alimony provider has a decent income. But if he gets pennies, what can you negotiate with him?

– You know, the debtor’s property situation can change very quickly. We have had cases where the parties agreed that the ex-husband should pay 20 thousand rubles a month for each child, and he signed these terms. And a year later, circumstances were such that he couldn’t afford even five thousand. There was a debt.

– In such cases, should the claimant go to court?

- Not necessary. You can agree on other conditions for maintaining children, cancel this notarial agreement and enter into a new one. Or go to court and set the amount of alimony in court. If the parties leave everything as it is, the bailiffs will take measures provided for by law against the debtor.

- Namely?

– He may be temporarily limited in the right to travel abroad and use a vehicle. He faces a ban on re-registration of real and movable property, collection of funds in bank accounts; seizure of property, etc.

– If the parties do not have contact or they simply do not want to sign a notarial agreement, alimony is calculated as a share of income or as a fixed sum of money. Only the court decides which payment procedure to choose? Or does the child’s mother also have the right to vote?

– When submitting an application to the court, the plaintiff can communicate his wishes and justify them. The court, examining the case materials, including evidence presented by the ex-wife, will make a decision. The Family Code of the Russian Federation clearly states the requirement to take into account the property and marital status of the payer when assigning alimony. This is the most important condition. If he is not officially employed, changes jobs, has unstable or small earnings, receives income in kind or foreign currency, it is advisable to establish alimony in a fixed amount. And if the ex-spouse has a permanent job - relatively speaking, he has worked at an aircraft factory for 10 years, has an untarnished reputation and a decent salary - then alimony will most likely be established in shares. For one child, a fourth of the income will be collected, for two - a third, if there are three or more children - half of the income will be deducted. But it happens that the court establishes the payment of alimony in shares to a debtor with a changing or low-paid job. Let’s say his company pays him the minimum wage. Now the minimum wage is 6204 rubles. In this case, the child will receive only 1,551 rubles per month. So it would be better for the claimant to express her wishes in court - in such a situation it is much more profitable for her to receive alimony in a fixed amount of money, not tied to the income of the payer.

– When assigning alimony in a fixed amount, the court probably proceeds from the fact that its amount should be no less than the payment as a share of the average salary?

– The law does not contain such a requirement. But don't forget about indexing. The amount of alimony, established in shares, increases over time, since taking into account inflation, both wages and pensions grow. The same thing, in principle, happens with alimony in a fixed amount. Let’s say that in 2004 the court ordered three thousand rubles per month for child support, but ten years later this is no longer money. And the legislator, in order to maintain a balance of interests of children, provided for indexation of alimony payments, collected in a fixed amount. It will increase in proportion to the growth of inflation, the increase in the minimum wage and the cost of living.

– Is the minimum amount of alimony established?

– When I worked as a bailiff, I had a case where the debtor studied at a technical school and received a scholarship of 300 rubles. The accounting department kept 25% of this amount, and the money was transferred to the child’s mother for child support.

Today, the Family Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for any minimum amount of alimony. As I already said, what is taken into account, first of all, is the property and marital status of the debtor. Let's say he receives a disability pension and has dependent disabled parents. Then the court can set alimony in the amount of 0.5 of the subsistence minimum - after all, the child’s father himself still needs to survive on something. The approach here is very individual.

– Child support comes until he reaches adulthood. But if he entered a university, perhaps the claimant can demand an extension of payments until the end of his studies?

– No, alimony is paid only until the child reaches adulthood or reaches full legal capacity. And it occurs if he got married or started working before he turned 18 years old. The court may additionally recover money from the defendant if the child requires, for example, an expensive course of treatment. We have such decisions in progress. But I have never seen a Russian court decision obliging a father to pay alimony for the period of his son or daughter’s studies. There was a Ukrainian court. There, the legislation provides for the collection of alimony for these purposes. The minor lived in Irkutsk, studied at a technical school, brought certificates confirming that he was not expelled, he did not have passes - the father made payments. Here in a notarial agreement you can stipulate the obligation to help children get an education even abroad.

– Is there a statute of limitations for collecting alimony?

– The period for filing a claim is until the child reaches adulthood. For accrual of debt, the statute of limitations is three years preceding the presentation of the document. But if the payment was not made due to the fault of the person liable for alimony, he will have to pay from the moment when the ex-wife filed the claim. There are a lot of subtleties here.

– Can a wife apply for alimony without filing a divorce?

– To collect alimony, it is not necessary to dissolve the marriage. But in court it is necessary to prove that the spouse does not participate in the maintenance of the children. If he presents evidence, receipts confirming that he pays for clubs, kindergarten, transfers money to the child’s account, the court may take his position.

– If there are a lot of debt obligations - alimony, loans, fines, it is necessary to compensate for property or moral damage - how is the priority established?

– Alimony is first in line. If the debtor does not have enough funds to pay them, nothing will happen to other recipients until the child reaches adulthood. In the case of a large alimony debt, the claimant can claim 70% of the income of the second parent.

– What liability is provided by law for the alimony debtor?

– Administrative (fine), criminal (correctional or forced labor, imprisonment for up to one year) and civil, providing for the collection of a penalty from the debtor in the amount of 0.1% of the amount of delay for each day. You must go to court for payment and settlement. But collectors rarely use this right: if the debtor does not have money for alimony, then you will not receive a penalty.

– Compared to other countries, how strict is our legislation in relation to irresponsible parents?

“We can’t say that we strangled alimony debtors.” The law adopted last year restricting the right to drive vehicles in a number of countries, for example, has been in effect for ten years. Other restrictive measures are actively applied there - on entering into a new marriage, obtaining a driver's license. The central office of the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia has submitted a number of similar bills to the State Duma for consideration, but so far the legislator has not granted us such powers. So Russian legislation cannot be called tough, although over time it becomes tougher in relation to irresponsible parents. For example, the sanction of Article 157 of the Criminal Code has become stricter - four and a half years ago it did not provide for real imprisonment for alimony debtors.

– To whom can the claimant complain about the bailiff’s inaction?

– The head of the department, the chief bailiff of the region, can appeal the bailiff’s decision in court. We often encounter this situation: if the claimant does not receive money, it is usually the bailiff who is to blame.

Arithmetic for draft dodgers

Alimony is paid only until the child comes of age or reaches full legal capacity
- Many alimony providers try not to show their income. Apparently, they believe that they will not be able to collect alimony from someone who is not officially employed. Especially if they are assigned as a share of earnings.

– The legislator has provided a clear procedure for such draft dodgers: while the person is not working, his debt is calculated as a share of the average monthly salary in Russia. It now amounts to 35.5 thousand rubles. Thus, for one child it comes out to 8,750 rubles per month.

– It turns out that running away from alimony is unprofitable?

– If your real income is below 35.5 thousand, what’s the point of hiding it? The debt in such cases is huge: 105 thousand rubles per year. Many debtors do not take this arithmetic into account and have big problems.

– But there are objective reasons for non-fulfillment of monetary obligations. For example, a person went to prison, there is no work there.

– And even then, alimony is calculated based on the average monthly salary in Russia. In five years, the convict will be released from prison, and he has a child support debt of 500 thousand. There is not a single life issue that would exempt a parent from paying child support. He is undergoing treatment, long-term rehabilitation, serving a sentence, went abroad for several years - we count his alimony debt on a monthly basis. This is required by law. However, the debtor may apply to the court for release or reduction of the amount of alimony debt.

– People rarely delve into the situation of alimony workers. A father who abandons his own child is always a negative hero; he does not evoke sympathy. But situations are different. I was told, for example, about a man who separated from his wife without officially dissolving the marriage. So he was awarded alimony for the child, which his ex-wife, according to him, did not give birth to from him.

“That means he is written down by the father on the child’s birth certificate.” But in the future, the debtor can conduct a genetic examination, go to court with the expert’s conclusion and have the decision cancelled, according to which he is forced to pay alimony. There have been such cases in our practice.

“Once during a raid, I witnessed the following scene: a bailiff seized the property of a guy who refused to pay alimony. The debtor, as it turned out, broke up with the woman whose baby he had adopted. His ex-wife has already remarried, and now he has to support someone else’s offspring until he comes of age. He thinks it's unfair.

– I repeat: in the birth certificate, the adoptive parent is registered in the “father” column, which means that the rights and obligations to support the baby have passed to him. The key word here is responsibilities. The court collected alimony from him in accordance with the law. Now the debtor has to legally relieve himself of the obligation to support the child. Until he gets the court decision overturned, the bailiffs will enforce it.

– Sometimes men don’t want to pay alimony as a sign of protest: their ex-wives don’t even allow them to meet their own children, and they demand money for maintenance.

– There is no need to confuse different concepts. Paying child support is an obligation, and communication with a child is a parent’s right. If he believes that his right has been violated, he can go to court, which will establish the procedure for communicating with his son or daughter. We have a lot of such court decisions pending execution. This is a far-fetched excuse to avoid paying child support.

– Men often think that ex-wives spend money not on the child, but on themselves. Is it possible to control the spending of alimony payments?

– The competence of bailiffs does not include checking the intended use of alimony. Yes, we often hear from debtors: “She travels around the Maldives, buys fur coats for herself.” But the child is fed, clothed, and has everything he needs. Even if the mother used the alimony money for herself, it means she spent hers on supporting her son or daughter. Another thing: the father pays child support, but his child is hungry, does not go to school, and runs around the street in rags, like a street child. The guardianship authorities must be informed about this. Until the child reaches adulthood, his legal representative and, accordingly, the claimant of alimony is, as a rule, the mother. This means that she was appointed as the manager of the funds. We do, however, have a court decision according to which 50% of alimony goes to the bank account of the claimant, and the second half of the amount goes to the account of the minor himself. But if such a procedure is not prescribed in the court decision, all the money is transferred to the mother. But the court will not allow full alimony payments to be sent to a minor, because he himself will not be able to manage them.

“A friend of mine made a lot of money in gold mines and immediately gave his ex-wife a large amount that she demanded. She had enough money to buy an apartment in the capital. He no longer paid child support. How is this an option from a legal point of view?

– Your friend took a lot of risks. You need to understand: the debtor can pay more for the maintenance of the child than he currently owes, but the bailiffs will never count alimony towards future payments. Let me give you an example. Let's say his monthly payment is nine thousand rubles, but this month he decided to give 60 thousand because he is leaving for six months on a shift and it will be difficult to transfer money. The bailiff cannot spread this amount over six months in advance. Next month, the father will still have to pay child support in the amount of nine thousand.

– What if the ex-spouses agreed amicably?

– Such an agreement, first of all, is legally illegal, because in this case the mother violates the rights of the child. Alimony is monthly payments. A minor must receive the established amount regularly, every month. In practice, the following cases occur: the ex-spouse gives away an apartment, a large sum of money for alimony, the claimant withdraws the writ of execution - and everything seems to be in order. But imagine that the relationship between parents suddenly deteriorated. Mom files a lawsuit again and says: yes, he gave the apartment, but this was in addition to alimony, this was his will, and no one canceled the monthly payments for the child’s maintenance. And then dad runs around holding his head: he gave away the apartment, gave away his savings, and paid alimony for another ten years. A sensitive question. To take such a risk, you need to be absolutely sure that the ex-wife will not reconsider the “amicable” obligations unilaterally.

– Is it possible to pay off alimony debts, for example, with an apartment? We once came with a bailiff to the debtor’s home. And his old mother began to be indignant: her daughter-in-law, they say, promised to refuse alimony, since her son privatized the apartment for the child to pay off the debt.

– We have already said: the debtor must be vigilant in such cases. Now, if the child is already 18 years old, it makes sense to pay off the resulting debt with an apartment and call it a day. Or it may turn out this way: the claimant accepts the apartment as payment for arrears of alimony and declares that she has no claims against the child’s father. We record this fact and complete the production with actual execution. But the debtor is not insured against the fact that in the remaining years until the child reaches adulthood, she will not again present him with a claim for alimony. The legal relationship between the debtor and the claimant is important here. No matter how well the human relationship between the former spouses develops, the debtor should remember: there is no need to transfer money without a response document - a receipt or bank receipt. And these documents must be kept as evidence of actual payment of alimony. And the claimant is not obliged to prove anything.

– Receipts from stores for groceries and things also count towards the debt?

– Only if the claimant herself recognizes the amount spent as payment of arrears of alimony and gives a receipt. Or he will write in a statement to the bailiff: I ask for an amount of, say, 10,200 rubles to be counted towards alimony. Otherwise, all purchases will be considered simply financial assistance, gifts for the child, but not alimony.

– If the payer’s family and property situation has worsened, can he hope that the amount of payments will be reduced?

- Yes, sure. Example: a father paid a quarter of his earnings to support a child from a previous marriage, then started a new family, where two more heirs were born. His legal right to go to court to reduce the amount of alimony. Now he has three children, which means that the maintenance of each should account for 1/6 of his income. If he goes to court, the previous decision will be canceled, and the bailiffs will receive a new one, with a smaller amount of alimony. But if the debtor does not show such initiative, everything remains the same. We need to more actively defend our rights with the help of Themis. Let’s say the child support worker had an accident and lay in a coma for two years, then spent a long time recovering his health, during which time we calculated his debt. He has the right to take the bailiff's order on the calculation of the debt, go to court and petition either for complete exemption from payment or for a reduction in the amount of the debt. Poor property status, a large number of dependents, a serious and long-term illness, even being in prison for murder - in all these cases, the court, after examining the evidence, can exempt you from paying part of the debt. This right is enshrined in the Family Code of the Russian Federation.

Go into unconsciousness

It is not necessary to dissolve the marriage to collect alimony. But in court it is necessary to prove that the spouse does not participate in the maintenance of the children

– There are many cases when a woman abandons her child in the maternity hospital and does not know that she will have to pay child support. Why is this happening?

– When an abandoned baby ends up in an orphanage, he retains the right to receive child support. The child care institution goes to court to protect this right, which means collecting alimony from the mother - information about her accompanies the child from the moment of his birth. Perhaps they don’t explain this in maternity hospitals. Women actually come to the bailiffs with complaints: they say, I abandoned my son, what alimony! You gave up the right to communicate with your child, but no one removed the responsibility for his maintenance from you, you will have to compensate for the state’s expenses. A person deprived of parental rights will not be able to claim child support from grown-up children in the future, but must pay them until they reach adulthood.

– I was told a story about a woman in labor who abandoned her child because the doctors assured him that he was not a survivor. And suddenly, after a few years, the woman finds out that the child is alive, and she is owed child support.

– There was a similar case in my practice. The debtor, a young woman from a very wealthy family, almost fainted when she learned that she was a mother, and also a child support provider. “Did the child survive?” – she didn’t believe it. It turns out that she was told at the maternity hospital that her son had died. By the time the bailiff visited, the baby was already three years old. He was born with major complications of the central nervous system, mentally retarded, and was sent to a correctional institution. You just can’t convey the emotions of this woman! The pregnancy was planned, abnormalities in the development of the fetus could not be detected during pregnancy, and the family did not intend to give up the baby. No, the sick boy was not taken home; he needed treatment and special care, but his mother began to visit him and provide assistance. The child care institution revoked the writ of execution, since the family did not waive its obligations to support the child; no enforcement was required. I think such situations arise due to the legal illiteracy of health workers.

– Some debtors avoid meeting with the bailiff in order to avoid alimony...

– This definitely won’t help. The bailiff often does not see the alimony worker in person, but does his job: the debt is calculated, bank accounts are checked, the place of work is established, the property is searched for and collection is sought without the participation of the debtor. There are no advantages to the tactic of avoiding communication with the bailiff.

– Surely there are legal ways to avoid payments.

– Death of a debtor, for example. The Family Code lists all the grounds for termination of alimony obligations: the child’s coming of age or his full legal capacity before reaching the age of majority, adoption (in this case the accrual of alimony stops, but not the collection of accumulated debts), the death of the payer or the person for whose maintenance the funds were transferred.

– What do the statistics say: how many child support providers manage to evade their parental duties?

– Or rather, many are trying. Today we have a balance of 30 thousand proceedings for the forced collection of alimony. Every 11th debtor is wanted, every 19th is convicted under Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for malicious evasion of alimony obligations, every 29th has their property seized. There are 2.5 thousand officially unemployed debtors in the region. And here’s another figure: 251 parents fulfill their child support obligations monthly voluntarily and in full - only 0.8% of the total. The rest have problems: someone pays and their debt is reduced; and the other also pays, but so little that the debt continues to grow. So bailiffs are not sitting idle.

Amount of child support in case of divorce

1. The amount of mandatory monthly payments depends on the number of children. If there is one child, the child support provider must transfer a quarter of the income for his maintenance. If the father has two children, then the contribution amount will be 33%. Three or more children, according to the RF IC, need half the income of the alimony provider.
2. The amount of monthly deductions is subject to revision in any direction. The grounds for changing the amount may include: financial situation, standard of living of minors and other factors.

to contents

Minimum amount of alimony paid by the father of the child (children)

The amount of income received by the father of minor children is not lower than the minimum wage. In the Russian Federation in 2021, this amount is 5965 rubles. According to Article 81 of the RF IC, in the case when the father receives income equal to the minimum wage, his alimony amounts to:

• for one child – 1491 rubles;
• for two children – 1988 rubles;
• for three or more children – 2982 rubles.

Payments are made every month. When the father has two or more sources of income, the amount of alimony is calculated from the total income. The final amount of child support that the father must pay may be less if the court makes the necessary decision. The court takes into account many reasons, such as the father's inability to work or the presence of other dependents.