About child support

Determining the amount of child support is an important element of both divorce and child custody actions.

Every child has the right to a standard of living that ensures his/her adequate physical, intellectual, spiritual, moral and social development.

According to the Civil code, parents (natural, adoptive, divorced) shall maintain their underage children, as well as their adult children who are younger than 26 and continue their education.

The parent taking care of and educating the child provides mainly in kind (housing, food, clothing, education). Otherwise, the party that does not comply with this obligation is obliged by the court to the payment of child support.

The amount of child support depends on the agreement of the parties and courts shall only decide in lack of such an agreement between the parents.

When determining the amount of child support, the child’s needs, as well as the incomes and the material situation of the parent have to be taken into consideration.

The law establishes a presumption regarding the child’s need for support, i.e. the fact that the child needs support does not have to proven separately. This presumption can only be rebutted if a child is partly or completely able to provide for himself/herself given his/her personal living conditions and income situation.

Art. 529 of the Civil code establishes a maximum value in relation to the monthly net income of the parent obliged to pay child support. Thus, the child support shall not exceed ¼ ^th of the monthly net income in case of one child, 1/3 ^rd of the monthly net income in case of two children and ½ of the monthly net income in case of three or more children.

The sum of all support claims enforceable against debtors may not exceed 50% of their net income.

Incomes earned as salaries and other permanent benefits (seniority rights, unemployment rights etc.) form the basis of child support. Occasional incomes (delegation rights, allowance following a death etc.) or scholarships do not form the basis of child support.

In order to determine the amount of child support, the court takes into consideration the average income earned during the last year.

The amount of child support may be determined as a fixed amount (which follows inflation) or as a percentage and it may be paid in periodical instalments or by a single payment of a determined amount.

When concluding an agreement one should consider that incomes may change, therefore it is useful to establish a minimum amount per child besides determining a given proportion of the salary.

Child support claims may be enforced from the date of filing a lawsuit and for the future. Retroactive claims may only be enforced exceptionally if filing a lawsuit was hindered by the debtor and no omission may be imputed to the rightholder in enforcing his/her claim.

If the circumstances that served as a basis for determining the child support have significantly changed, the modification of the extent or termination of the child support may be requested in court.

A debtor who does not pay the established child support for 3 months, acting in bad faith, may be accused of committing the crime of family abandonment.