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Collecting arrears of alimony is not a simple matter. Many people are concerned about how to collect alimony debt.

The court, bailiffs, and a lawyer come to the rescue, whose competence includes extremely important family issues - the collection of alimony for minor children. Our debt collection lawyer will help you achieve alimony in the fight against the debtor.

Procedure for collecting alimony debt

The reasons for the formation of alimony debt in most cases are:

evasion of payments with intent;
the debtor's inability to make timely payments;
accounting error in the process of deduction from monthly earnings;
the recipient of alimony does not report his location or refuses transfers.

Debt, in this case, is understood as the amount of alimony obligations that should have been paid by agreement, court decision or court order. As a general rule, debt is subject to collection by the SSP service for 3 years preceding the application. After the initiation of proceedings, the SSP official calculates the debt.

Collection of alimony debt if there are no valid reasons for non-payment: what is worth knowing?

If the defaulter does not have valid reasons, he may face collection of alimony debt. Therefore, he is recommended to immediately take measures to pay off the debt on his own. There are also several recommendations that should be followed:

You cannot hide from collectors or representatives of the bailiff service. If the debtor begins to hide, he may be recorded in the category of malicious defaulters - such citizens are subject to criminal liability;
If enforcement proceedings have been initiated against a citizen to collect alimony debt, the optimal solution would be to independently contact a representative of the FSSP service, and, if possible, explain the circumstances of non-payment;
It would also be a good idea to get an exact estimate from the bailiff about the debt that needs to be repaid. If the debtor does not agree with the amount of money offered, he has the legal right to challenge it.

Collecting alimony debt is not an easy procedure, even if you have a writ of execution in hand. That is why, according to statistical data, several million arrears have been accumulated in our country for alimentary obligations.

Claim for collection of arrears of alimony

An application for collection of alimony arrears (in case of disagreement with the amount of arrears) must contain information about what circumstances were not taken into account by the SSP official when making the decision, as well as provide the correct calculation. The application itself is considered by a magistrate, according to territoriality.

If the dispute is not related to the amount of debt, you can go to court in accordance with the administrative procedure provided for by the CAS of the Russian Federation.

The statement of claim must contain the following information:

The court where the application is filed;
Full name, address of the plaintiff;
Full name, address of the defendant;
Amount of claims;
Information about the reasons, period of debt formation, previously issued judicial acts, decisions of the BSC, concluded agreements, etc.
Calculation of what you think is the correct debt;
In the pleading part - ask to collect the debt;
Appendix – documents on which you base your requirements (in accordance with Article 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

The specified application is not subject to state duty, in accordance with subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of Art. 333.36 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

IMPORTANT : the application can be submitted either electronically or on paper.

If you file an administrative application, send it to the district court. The period for filing an appeal is 10 days from the moment you learn that your rights have been violated (if you appeal the actions of the SSP employee). The application form is similar to the application submitted under the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

If the defendant is the SSP, then in the petition part it is necessary to indicate: “I ask that the decision of the SSP No., date be declared illegal, and that the violations be eliminated by recalculating the amount of the debt.

The list of documents attached to the application is provided for in Part 1 of Article 126, Part 3 of Article 220 of the CAS of the Russian Federation. The claim itself is sent to the court at the location of the defendant and can be filed either electronically or on paper.

USEFUL: more tips on filing a claim in court - watch the VIDEO

Going to court

If all the measures taken do not help, then the recipient has the right to defend his interests in court. The appeal can be aimed at the following results:

In relation to the payer - collection of a penalty.
In relation to officials – appeal against actions/inactions.

The law does not provide for addressing these issues in one statement of claim. Moreover, even an appeal against the actions of officials is filed against each defendant individually.

Collection of penalties

Penalty means payment within the framework of civil liability. It consists of calculating interest on the amount of debt in the event of debt formation.

The law provides for a penalty for alimony in the amount of 0.1% of the amount of debt for each day the debt is formed. If the accrual of a penalty is provided for by a notarial agreement, then the amount can be changed by agreement of the parties.

To collect a penalty it is necessary:

Collect documentation.
File a claim.
Send to court.
Get a court decision.
Submit the writ of execution to the FSSP.

Evidence base:

passport;
a copy of the writ of execution;
a copy of the resolution to initiate enforcement proceedings;
certificate of the amount of debt;
resolution on debt settlement.

If the payer does not have a permanent place of work, the question arises about imposing a penalty on the property. Calculating the penalty will significantly increase the amount payable. Although, as practice shows, the court independently adjusts the amount of the penalty. Therefore, too large an amount will definitely not be assigned.

Appeal against actions/inactions of officials

If the bailiff, his head and the prosecutor's office do not take appropriate measures, the applicant can go to court.

To do this you need:

Draw up an application to appeal the actions of each official separately.
Prepare an evidence base.
Send to court at the location of the structural unit.

To go to court, it is necessary that the writ of execution be submitted to the FSSP for execution. It is impossible to appeal the actions of third parties regarding the voluntary execution of a notarial agreement.

Sample statement of claim to hold officials accountable

Deadline for calculating alimony debt

If the debt arose for the first two reasons, i.e. due to the fault of the payer, the limitation period does not apply. It is possible to submit a statement of claim to the payer for the collection of arrears of alimony for the 3-year period before applying to the courts.

Debt can be calculated in several ways, which are chosen depending on the form of payments and the debtor’s willingness to contact the bailiffs. For example, if the payment of alimony is assigned as a share of the debtor’s monthly income, then information about the amount of salary and sources of income is taken as the basis for the calculation. If they are not presented, the calculation is carried out by bailiffs, taking into account the average wage in the country.

Collection of alimony debt: for what reason can arrears arise?

Before collecting alimony debt, it is not necessary to consider the reason for the debt. However, in some cases the reasons are taken into account in court:

If the debt arose through the fault of the defaulter, sooner or later he will need to pay the full amount of money, otherwise disciplinary measures will be taken against the debtor;
If the debt is not the fault of the citizen, he can avoid collecting the alimony debt. In this case, he will need to seek help from the magistrate's court with a request to reduce the amount of payment or to fully release him from the obligation.

It is important to understand: if a citizen does not want to be subject to collection of alimony debt, he will need to provide the court with evidence regarding good reasons. In this case, the decision can be appealed later if the reasons for non-payment have been eliminated.

Collection of penalties for alimony arrears

For late alimony payments, the Family Code of the Russian Federation in Art. 115 provides for a penalty, which is one tenth of one percent of the amount of unpaid alimony for each day of delay throughout the entire period of delay.

The size of the penalty greatly motivates defaulters to timely collect arrears of alimony, while the child must be fully provided with the necessary means for subsistence.

Liability that can be applied to a defaulter when collecting alimony debt

If the arrears on alimony obligations amount to more than two months, the defaulter may be subject to administrative penalties:

Penalties, the amount of which can reach 20 thousand rubles;
Execution of administrative work, a period of up to 150 hours may be assigned;
Arrest up to 15 days.

Administrative responsibility is assigned in accordance with the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. If the debtor is classified as a willful defaulter, a criminal case may be initiated against him in accordance with Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The bailiff can take similar measures if the defaulter avoids payments and hides from assigned duties. Also, initiating a criminal case is relevant if it is necessary to put the defaulter on the wanted list. In accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a citizen can receive up to a year in prison, up to 3 months of arrest, and up to a year of correctional labor.

Author of the article

Peaceful settlement of alimony debt

If, during a divorce, the parents entered into an agreement on voluntary financial participation in the life of the child, then the situation develops in brighter colors. But even here, difficulties may arise with the payment of alimony by one of the former spouses.

In this case, collection occurs on the basis of a drawn up agreement, but with the help of regulatory authorities. Most often, the settlement agreement on providing support to the heir is observed impeccably, because already at the stage of forming the document it was based on voluntary principles.

In the agreement itself, parents indicate the following information:

the amount of money to be transferred monthly to the child’s account (also find out how to collect child support after 18 by following the link);
terms of payment of alimony;
procedure for making monthly payments.

ATTENTION : watch our video on the issue of alimony and subscribe to the YouTube channel

Judicial procedure for collecting alimony debt

If amicable and peaceful agreements in the family are not reached, the procedure, terms and amount of payments are established by the court - the process begins on the issue of collecting arrears of alimony. Take into account:

financial status of both parents;
the presence of “burdens” in the form of guardianship of disabled people, the presence of other minor children, the incapacity of one of the spouses and caring for elderly incapacitated persons;
the lawyer checks the evidence presented by the second party, since the certificates provided about the amount of income may not correspond to reality and reduce the amount of arrears for alimony obligations;

To protect the interests of minors in court, interested parties resort to the help of professional lawyers.

ATTENTION: our lawyer is ready, guided by all legal means, to seek for you the collection of arrears of alimony in court.