Issues related to the fulfillment by the parents of the obligation to support the child are regulated by Articles 180-197 of Chapter 15 of the Family Code of Ukraine, as amended in the territory of the DPR.
The law provides for two procedures maintenance payments by the one part to another one until the child turns 18 years of age:
1) voluntary (implies an agreement between the parents of the child);
2) compulsory.
The compulsory form of recovery of maintenance takes place in the event of a dispute regarding the provision of funds for maintenance. It lies in the appeal of one of the child’s parents to the court in the order of adversary proceeding through the filing a statement of claim. This method is used in situations where the parties have disagreements regarding the method, amount and contract for the payment of alimony.
Civil procedural legislation (Articles 109,110) provides for filing a claim in a court at the place of residence of the plaintiff or the residence of the defendant. In this case, the plaintiff is exempted from paying court fees (Clause 2 of Article 5 of the Law of the Donetsk People’s Republic “On court fees”).
Funds for the maintenance of a child (alimony) are adjudicated by a court decision in a share of the income of his mother, father and (or) in a fixed amount.
When determining the amount of alimony, the court takes into account:
– the state of health and financial situation of the child;
– the state of health and financial situation of the alimony payer;
– if the alimony payer has other children, a disabled husband, wife, parents, daughter, son;
– availability of ownership;
– other circumstances of significant importance.
The minimum amount of alimony for one child cannot be less than 30 per cent of the subsistence minimum for a child of the corresponding age.
The Family Code states that the share of the earnings (income) of the mother, father, which will be collected as alimony on the child, is determined by the court. If alimony is levied for two or more children, the court determines a single share of the earnings (income) of the mother, father for their maintenance, which will be collected until the older child reaches the age of majority.
At the same time, it should be noted that if, after the older child reaches the age of majority, none of the parents went to the court with the claim to determine the amount of alimony for other children, alimony is collected after deducting the equal share that was on the child who reached the age of majority.
If the payer of the alimony has an irregular income, as well as in the presence of other significant circumstances, the court, upon the application of the payer or the recipient, may determine the amount of alimony in a fixed amount.
Child maintenance is adjudicated by a court decision from the date of the claim. For the time, alimony can be adjudicated if the plaintiff presents evidence to the court that he took steps to obtain alimony from the defendant, but could not receive it due to the evasion of payment by the defendant. In this case, the court can adjudicate alimony for the time, but not more than for three years.
In addition, the Family Code also provides for a change in the amount of alimony, which can be subsequently reduced or increased by a court decision on the application of the payer or recipient of alimony in the event of a change in financial or marital status, deterioration or improvement in the health of one of them and in other cases provided for by law.
You can familiarize yourself with a sample statement of claim “On recovering alimony for the maintenance of a minor child” on the website of the DPR Supreme Court in the section “Sample statements”: https://supcourt-dpr.su/obrazec/iskovoe-zayavlenie-o-vzyskanii-alimentov-na-soderzhanie-nesovershennoletnego-rebenka
