Statement of claim to change the amount of alimony (sample) 2021

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The law provides for the possibility of reducing or increasing alimony payments in court by filing an appropriate application. The payer or the recipient can file a claim to change the amount of alimony. The initiative to increase penalties comes, as a rule, from the recipient, and to reduce them from the payer.

The outcome of the appeal largely depends on the correctness of the drafting of the statement of claim for a reduction or increase in alimony; persuasiveness of arguments; reliability of the evidence base; the correctness of calculation of the state duty, which is obligatory for payment when applying to the magistrate’s court.

When is a claim to change the amount of alimony filed?

There are many situations that can serve as a reason for dissatisfaction with the current amount of alimony payments, both on the part of the alimony recipient and on the part of the payer.

Current legislation provides for the possibility of increasing or decreasing alimony payments in court. This issue can be resolved in two ways:

Voluntarily. The parties independently decide the issue of changing the amount of alimony payments, if they were initially fixed in the agreement.
Forcibly. The amount of payments to be paid in the future is determined by the court.

The amount of alimony can be either increased or decreased by the court. In this case, everything depends on the financial solvency of the debtor himself.

Thus, a reduction in the amount of alimony paid is possible under the following circumstances:

The payer’s income has dropped significantly and sharply, making it impossible to continue paying alimony in the current amount;
New persons appeared in the alimony payer's support, such as children from a second marriage, disabled parents, etc.;
The debtor has guardianship over a person with the first or second group of disability;
The payer received a disability group or lost legal capacity;
The debtor has adopted an additional dependent.

In addition, practice provides for enough cases when the recipient can also claim a change in the amount of alimony paid, for example:

Increasing the solvency of the person paying alimony payments;
Deterioration in the health of the person receiving alimony or his guardian, which reduces the child’s security and level of well-being;
The emergence of circumstances that caused additional expenses for the maintenance of the child (education, treatment, etc.)

There are no conditions that in 10% of cases will lead to a change in the amount of alimony. The court will try to objectively evaluate all the evidence presented in order to satisfy the stated requirements.

Example. Ivanov A. pays alimony in the amount of 10,000 rubles in a fixed amount. The child’s mother, his ex-wife Ivanova Z., filed a claim to increase the amount of alimony, indicating that she is currently not working and this has reduced the quality of provision for the child. The court rejected the claim because Ivanova did not provide any valid reasons for her lack of work, and the very fact of a decrease in the solvency of the other parent cannot lead to an automatic increase in the amount of alimony from the second parent.

What is a payment adjustment?

Alimony is a certain monetary payment for maintenance (how to calculate its amount?). At the same time, the Family Code of the Russian Federation provides not only for payments for children (both adults and not), but also for disabled parents in need, for spouses (in some cases established by law, even former ones), for brothers and sisters, grandparents, etc. d.

In any of these cases, the amount of alimony can be changed and this can be done by both the party receiving the payments and the party paying them.

Reference! In accordance with Art. 119 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the basis may be a change in the financial or marital status of either party.

How to file a claim

In almost every case, the reason for resolving a controversial issue in court is the lack of mutual understanding and compromise between the parties, each of which pursues its own interests. Changing the amount of child support is allowed only through a lawsuit and is initiated by filing a corresponding application.

A claim for revision of the amount of alimony must be filed in accordance with Art. Art. 131-132 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. Violation of these rules will result in the claim being abandoned or even returned. At the same time, nowhere in the law are special requirements specified specifically for claims to change the amount of alimony - the applicant will have to be guided by the general provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and established practice.

Form and content

A statement of claim, the subject of which is a change in the amount of alimony payments, must be structured in the following order:

Name of the court;
Personal information about the parties to the case, such as full name, place of registration or residence, as well as contact information;
The price of the claim, namely the calculated amount of money by which, in the plaintiff’s opinion, the amount of alimony payments should be increased or decreased;
Determination of the subject of the statement of claim;
A full statement of the circumstances that led to the need to adjust the amount of alimony payments. These circumstances should be described from the moment the debtor alimony obligations arise, ending with the data that served as the basis for believing that the current financial situation of the alimony payer is conducive to changes in the amount of alimony payments. The information provided must be supported by facts and relevant documents.
Reflection of the current amount of alimony, as well as the procedure for receiving such payments by the plaintiff.
The motivation part, which precisely sets out the claims, as well as the legal basis for such claims.
List of additional materials attached to the document;
Date of document preparation and signature of the applicant.

Sample claim to change the amount of alimony

To successfully consider a claim, it is better to entrust its preparation to experienced lawyers. If this is not possible, you can try to compose it yourself. An example of a claim for changing the amount of financial support using the example of reducing alimony is posted below.

IMPORTANT: Please consult with a lawyer before you begin drafting the document yourself. The help of an experienced specialist will help you avoid common mistakes and successfully submit documents to the court the first time without the risk of return.

Jurisdiction

A claim to change the amount of alimony can be filed both at the place of residence and registration of the defendant and the plaintiff.

IMPORTANT: A claim to reduce the amount of alimony can be filed at the plaintiff’s place of residence only if a minor child lives with the plaintiff. In other cases, claims at the initiative of the alimony payer are filed only at the place of residence of the defendant - the collector.

Also, it is worth noting that the category of claims related to alimony payments is considered in most cases by the magistrate, but there is an exception - a statement of claim, the subject of which is disputes related to the interests of children. Such claims are subject to review by a district judge.

Agreement

If the child’s parents have peacefully agreed on the payment of child support, they do not have to go to court to change the terms of the agreement. Of course, if they both agree to reduce alimony.

The procedure is quite simple:

The parties need to verbally discuss all the terms of the transaction.
Then contact the notary who executed the agreement.
He will prepare a new copy of the agreement.
The parties must sign the document.

The old agreement then loses its force, and alimony is paid according to the amended conditions. If the reduction in amount is a temporary measure, the document should indicate the appropriate time frame.

If one of the parties does not agree with the new terms (usually the recipient), then the dispute can be resolved in court. The procedure is quite standard - you need to file a claim, submit documents and wait for the appropriate decision to be made.

Download a sample statement of claim for termination of an agreement to pay alimony

Download a sample statement of claim to amend the alimony agreement

Submission order and stages

In order to implement this method, the interested party must go through the following steps:

Preparation of a statement of claim . This document must reflect exactly all the circumstances that served as the reason for filing the claim, indicating the reasons why the plaintiff considers it fair to change the procedure for paying alimony, while referring to the facts.
Payment of state duty . The state duty is calculated based on the size of the claim, namely the amount stated in the claim by which the amount of alimony paid should be reduced or increased.
Filing a claim in court . This stage is the last in the algorithm for filing a claim. For this purpose, the applicant must submit a statement of claim with all additional documents to the territorial court office.

After completing this procedure, the parties to the case will have to wait for the court’s decision to accept the submitted document for production and notification of the start of the hearing on the case, or to return the claim without consideration.

The judge has 5 days to consider the claim to determine whether it complies with the law. After their expiration, the document must be accepted for production or returned.

Objection

The defendant has the right to express his position regarding the claim not only orally, but also in writing. For this purpose, the law provides for an appropriate objection that can be filed at any stage of the trial (but only before a court decision is made).

Download a sample objection to a statement of claim

For example, the plaintiff wants to change the method of paying alimony from a percentage of income to a fixed sum of money. But his income is unstable, so the child’s guardian cannot count on receiving the required amount every month.

The objection is made in writing in accordance with the norms of civil law. In addition to information about the plaintiff and defendant, the reason for the objection must be indicated:

presence of other dependents;
difficulties with employment;
health problems (caregiver or child).

In other words, the defendant must prove that he does not have the ability to provide the minor with the financial support he needs if child support is reduced. It is imperative to document your position.

Documentation

The plaintiff must attach the following documents to the statement of claim:

Copies of identification documents of the debtor and the claimant;
Copies of documents indicating the fact of marriage and divorce;
If necessary, photocopies of the children's birth certificates are attached if alimony is paid to minors;
A document that obliges the debtor to pay alimony payments - a copy of the document. leaf. Court decisions. court order;
Documentary substantiation of the facts that the plaintiff refers to as substantiation of the claims.
Receipt for payment of state duty;
Copies of the claim for all parties to the case.

The vast majority of documents can be submitted in copies, but be sure to bring the originals with you to the court hearing. The court may request them for study or review during the hearing of the claim.

State duty

The state duty on claims to increase or reduce the amount of alimony is calculated in different ways.

When filing a claim to increase the amount of alimony, the applicant is exempt from paying the fee, since this claim is equivalent to a standard alimony claim. An amount of 150 rubles will be recovered from the defendant if the claim is satisfied. At the same time, a number of courts require the calculation of an increase in the amount of alimony as a benefit, but this is the wrong approach - after all, alimony is collected not in favor of the recipient, but for the child.

But if the amount of alimony is reduced, the plaintiff will have to calculate the amount of potential benefit and calculate the fee according to the rules of Art. 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for claims of a property nature. For more details, see a separate publication on the amount of state duty when reducing the amount of alimony.

Thus, the potential property benefit will be determined by the formula:

Amount by which child support is reduced * 12 months = potential benefit.

If the plaintiff asks to reduce alimony from 10,000 to 5,000 rubles. Then the potential benefit will be 60,000 rubles. It is from this that you will need to calculate the amount of the duty according to the rules for property claims.

How is child support distributed between children from different marriages?

The amount of assistance is determined as a percentage of the income of the alimony payer. For one minor, 25% is calculated, for two – 33.33%, and for three or more – 50%. For children from different marriages, alimony is distributed based on these percentage criteria. When calculating deductions, the total amount for all minors is calculated, after which it is divided by their number.

Examples of calculations for two children

If the payer has two children living in different families, then the parent is not obliged to pay 25% of the salary for each dependent. If this amount were withheld, the total amount of assistance in this case would be 50%. This is against the law, since two minors are entitled to a payment of 33.33%.

The distribution of child support between children is based on this amount. Therefore, 33.33%/2=16.66% will be withheld from everyone’s salary.

If the defendant has three children

The law defines the obligations of a parent who does not live with a minor to provide financial assistance for his maintenance in the amount of 25% of the income received. If a parent has three children, the withholding amount increases to 50%. This rule is relevant if they all live in the same family.

The distribution of alimony between children from different marriages is based on a maximum withholding percentage of 50%, divided by the number of minors. If a man is the father of three minors living in different families, then he is obliged to allocate 50%/3=16.66% for maintenance to each of them.

Judicial practice in cases of changing the amount of alimony

It is impossible to identify any single position of the courts on the issue of changing the amount of alimony. Each case is considered individually and each case has its own arguments and grounds.

The bulk of claims for changes in the amount of alimony concern cases of the birth of a child from a second marriage, which gives payers legal grounds to demand a reduction in alimony from ¼ per child. Collected initially, up to 1/6.

Several cases from different parts of the country can be cited as examples of other situations.

Case No. 2-544/2015 of the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of the Stavropol Territory.

The plaintiff filed an application to increase the amount of alimony due to the fact that the payer’s material well-being has improved significantly over the past couple of years. The payer previously paid 10,000 rubles in alimony for one child, but the plaintiff is currently demanding an increase in the payment to 20,000 rubles. The court rejected the claim, since the need for this amount was not justified, and information was not provided about the plaintiff’s fulfillment of her obligations to support the minor.

Case No. 2-577/2016 of the Belorechensky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory

The plaintiff filed a lawsuit to reduce the amount of alimony assigned in a fixed amount, indicating that he was obliged to pay 7,500 rubles monthly for one child. Due to the loss of his job, the onset of group 2 disability and deteriorating health, he is unable to pay this amount. He asks to reduce the payment amount to 5,000 rubles.

The court satisfied the request, recognizing the circumstances as valid and affecting the payer’s alimony obligations.