After the divorce, the child continues to be on the material support of both parents - this is the law. But there are many nuances, because it is not always possible to determine exactly what contribution a father should make, that is, a child support payer. It depends on his work and salary, marital status, state of health, age. And many other factors can significantly affect. Is there a minimum amount of child support and how to determine the exact amount of payments depending on the situation?
Voluntary agreement between parents
Parents before or after a divorce do not need to go to court to determine child support. They may well agree on their own and determine the size of the payment. Usually this is a percentage of the salary defined by law, that is, a quarter of the salary for one child, a third for two, half for three or more. And below this mark the size of alimony cannot be.
If, for example, the payer is an individual entrepreneur, and the percentage of his income exceeds the household needs of the child, then a fixed amount can be determined at the discretion of the spouses. In any case, the agreement will have legal force if notarized. And in this case, it is necessary to provide a statement of income for at least the previous 3 months.
If the parent is unemployed
If the father does not have official employment, this does not exempt him from the obligation to support his child. In this case, it is more reasonable for the mother to go to court in order to avoid future disputes with her ex-spouse.
The minimum amount of alimony per child with a non-working father is equal to the subsistence level in the region. Its size is determined by the subject of the Russian Federation and is indexed every year. Accordingly, the amount of alimony is also changing. But if one day the father officially gets a job, then you can go to court, provide documents from the place of work confirming the salary, and review the amount of alimony, that is, pay them as a percentage of income.
If father’s salary is below the minimum
In our country, more precisely in each region, the minimum wage is set. And no company has the right to pay an employee less than this limit. Accordingly, if the father’s salary is equal to the minimum wage in the region, then child support is calculated according to the law as a percentage.
So, for example, if the minimum wage is 6,000 rubles, then the amount of child support for one child will be 1,500 rubles. This, of course, is not enough, and this money is hardly enough to support the baby. It turns out that the minimum amount of child support is only 25% of the minimum wage in the region? No, it can be even lower by law.
If father is disabled
Many believe that having a disability removes the obligation to pay child support, but this is not so. In this case, child support is deducted from benefits and disability pension. If the disability is in the third group, then the person is considered able-bodied, which means that payments will be made from him as if he were unemployed if he was not officially employed.
Persons with disabilities of the first and second groups are periodically forced to be examined in order to confirm their status. Then the amount of their benefits and income may vary, and the court may take into account this fact and appoint child support in a fixed amount of money. In this case, the minimum amount of alimony is determined only by the judge.
But a disabled father can petition the court to reduce the amount of payments if he needs medical care and expensive medications. Accordingly, the minimum amount of child support will become critically low. But in any case, not one court will be able to completely remove the obligation from the defendant.
Alimony from a prisoner
If the father is in prison, then he is also obliged to provide material support for his minor child. After all, prisoners work and earn money, respectively, from it, too, you can get interest. These issues are handled by bailiffs after a court decision.
If the convict does not work and does not receive income in places of deprivation of liberty, he is obliged to pay the full amount for the past period of serving in the colony after release. The amount of alimony will be calculated as a percentage of the average salary in the region at the time of release.
Is it possible to reduce the amount of child support legally?
So, it turned out that the minimum amount of child support is 25% of the minimum wage in the region for one child, 33% for the second and 50% for the third. This will be approximately a little less than 1600 rubles. This amount is negligible for the maintenance of the child and the satisfaction of his household needs. And this is not the limit.
Our country has a law: child support can be reduced in court if there are significant circumstances. For example, a father got married, and children, that is, dependents, appeared in his new family, or he lost his ability to work and needed expensive treatment, or retired. But these circumstances will have to be proved in court, otherwise the lawsuit will not be satisfied.
Current legislative changes
More recently, the State Duma discussed the issue of the minimum amount of alimony for the maintenance of minor children. But the decision was not made, because, according to the changes, the minimum amount will increase to 15,000 rubles by 2016, and this is only child support. The new law has not been adopted, so at the moment you can only be guided by the above points.
Actually, it’s rather difficult to describe each individual case, because each person’s situations are different. But we must remember that child support is not just debt obligations, this is not primarily money, but the provision of your child, whose interests must be taken into account. Therefore, do not save on your own children, if you can provide them with a happy childhood.