How to collect child support from a non-working debtor?

If the father doesn't work

There are a number of features that need to be observed in 2021 to avoid problems.

According to Russian laws, unemployed citizens must also pay alimony, just like those who are employed. There are several options on how to do this:

1. Agree peacefully and draw up a special agreement.
2. Go to court.

Example 1: Marina wants to receive child support from her ex-husband. But the problem is that he doesn’t officially work anywhere. In this case, the judge will set alimony in a fixed amount. The amount will be calculated based on the average salary in Russia or in the region.

Of course, a peaceful resolution to the conflict is much better. In such a situation, the parties will not need to waste time and effort on legal disputes. It will be enough for you to come to a common decision with your second spouse. It is necessary to provide for the amount of alimony, as well as the period within which it must be paid. Also in the agreement, indicate how payments will be made, for example, to a bank card or in cash.

If a peaceful resolution to this conflict is impossible, then the spouse with whom the child remains will have to go to court.

In 2021, alimony for a non-working father is established by the magistrate's court, usually in a fixed amount. In most cases, their size is 6000-8000 rubles per child. For two children: 9,000-12,000 rubles, for three children 14,000-18,000 rubles. If the child’s father is on the labor exchange, then alimony can be collected from unemployment benefits.

We are often asked whether something can be done in almost hopeless situations. These include:

• ex-husband unemployed;
• the ex-spouse has a very low official salary, often below the subsistence level.

What the law says

Because of all these difficulties, it becomes much more difficult to provide your child with normal conditions for development. It’s also not easy for mothers in this situation; they have to save on everything.

Let's figure out how to get out of this situation and start receiving alimony from an unemployed father.

According to Russian law, parents are required to support their children until they reach adulthood. There are practically no exceptions to this rule. If the child's father loses his job, this does not mean that he may not pay child support.

Example 1: Tatyana’s ex-husband has not paid child support for 5 months since he was fired. Tatyana decided that this could no longer continue and wrote an application to the court to establish alimony in a fixed amount. As a result, the court agreed with the claim and calculated alimony based on the average salary in the region. Now the ex-husband must pay 6,300 rubles monthly

If you lose your job, the court may reduce the amount of payments. In addition, the collection procedure will change. Now bailiffs will be able to make deductions from unemployment benefits.

Remember that the law protects all children, even those born outside of a formal marriage. They must also pay alimony.

How are they calculated?

Calculation of alimony from an unemployed spouse must be done very responsibly. First, go to court with a statement of claim. We advise you to help the court by collecting as much evidence as possible of the spouse’s possible income.

Sources of income can include any income, for example, from renting an apartment or a spouse's pension. In the vast majority of cases, even if the spouse does not have an official source of income, he works somewhere unofficially. Try to find out where he works, maybe you can talk to his director or employer.

In any case, after the writ of execution is issued, the bailiffs will also look for all possible sources of income.

The court may choose two options for payment:

1. Payment in a clearly fixed monetary amount. This option is most often used for unemployed spouses. The amount of alimony in this case is calculated from the cost of living in this region. In most cases, it will be 5,000-10,000 rubles per child. In this case, the court will also take into account the marital status of the mother and child.
2. The second option is to set a certain percentage of income. The sizes and calculations here differ depending on how many children you have. If one – then 25%, if two – 33.3%, if three or more, then 50%.

Remember also that alimony can also be collected from the mother if she is raising a child under three years old or a disabled child.

Payment amount

The Family Code establishes that the court can set the amount of alimony for a non-working parent in a fixed amount.

As a rule, the size is set based on the cost of living in that region.

In 2021, the cost of living is approximately 11,000 rubles, in Moscow about 15,000 rubles. Therefore, the judge divides this amount in half, since both parents must support the child equally. And he assigns alimony for 1 child about 5000-7000 rubles, for two 10000-14000 rubles, for three 15000-20000 rubles.

But the amount may vary depending on the parents’ other income, benefits, pensions.

If you have information that your husband works without official employment, you should also attach these documents to the case file.

When considering alimony cases, the court examines all available information and circumstances. After all, in addition to official work, a parent may have other sources of income. Often this can be income from rental property or apartment. According to the law, bailiffs will also have to make collections from this income.

Be sure to take care to include all of your child support expenses. It often happens that children suffer from serious illnesses, and in this case huge amounts of money are spent on medicines and doctors. Collect all documents that confirm your expenses and attach them to the statement of claim.

We have not established a minimum amount of alimony in our legislation, so everything will depend entirely on the court’s decision. Also remember that payments must be made even from unemployment benefits if the parent is registered with the employment service.

Currently, the payment for this benefit is at the level of 4,900 rubles. Of this amount, 25% must be paid per child, which is 1225 rubles.

Documents for court

If you decide to go to court, do not forget to prepare a package of documents that must be submitted along with the statement of claim:

1. Marriage certificate.
2. Child's birth certificate.
3. Copies of passports.
4. Documents about the place of residence of the spouses.
5. Documents confirming the spouse's income.
6. You can also collect and record in writing witness statements.

If the spouse does not pay the required alimony, it will be possible to go to court to collect the debt. Also in this case, you can add penalties and penalties. In some situations, he may be subject to criminal liability.

Sample claim for collection of child support from a non-working parent

Below we have placed a sample of filling out a statement of claim to make it easier for you to prepare the documents.

If the parent does not have a regular income or is unemployed, then the court will order alimony: in a fixed amount

clause 1 Article 83 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation

If the parent does not work anywhere, then the amount of alimony is calculated based on the average salary in Russia

Clause 3 Article 102 of the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”

If a parent receives a scholarship or unemployment benefit: he must pay child support from them

Clause 2 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 18, 1996 No. 841 “List of types of wages and other income from which alimony for minor children is withheld”

Should an unemployed person pay child support?

The position of Russian family legislation in this regard is clear. Of course you should! Article No. 80 of the RF IC directly states that, regardless of the labor status of the parents, the obligation to support the child lies with them.

That is, whether parents have a job or not does not change anything. Another thing is that the specific dimensions and method of maintenance are not specified. Parents have the right to decide this issue among themselves.

ATTENTION! Both mothers receiving alimony and fathers paying them must understand that the father’s lack of work is not a reason to refuse to pay alimony. If the difficulties are temporary, it is wiser to agree in person that all “underpayments” will be reimbursed when life returns to normal. When the father, in principle, does not want or cannot work, the amount and method of alimony payments are determined by the court. The mother should file a claim for this.

Remember the main thing:

1. Alimony from an unemployed father is established in a fixed amount.
2. The amount of alimony is established according to the bailiffs' method, based on the average salary in the region.
3. If the average salary in the region is 30 thousand rubles, then the court will set alimony for one child at 7,500 rubles.
4. Typically, a non-working father pays 6,000-8,000 rubles for one child, 9,000-12,000 rubles for two children and 14,000-18,000 rubles for three children.
5. If an unemployed father does not pay child support, he accumulates debt. Penalties for non-payment also accumulate.
6. If child support is not paid for several months in a row, then the father can be prosecuted and deprived of parental rights.

Measures to be taken against defaulters

Having received the court decision, the mother needs to contact the Federal Bailiff Service. Ruzanna Khanamiryan explains that after this, employees of a government agency take over the case, who go to the place of actual residence or registration of the debtor, and also search for accounts and property that may be subject to inventory, seizure and subsequent sale. Despite the fact that professionals are dealing with the problem, the lawyer strongly recommends that applicants not relax, personally monitor the process and demand the imposition of appropriate sanctions if the bailiffs do not do this themselves.

State enforcement agents have various methods of debt collection in their arsenal. Among the most effective coercive measures, Yuri Kapshtyk names the imposition of restrictions on travel outside the country. If the amount of debt exceeds 10 thousand rubles, the right to drive a vehicle is deprived.

“Probably, this measure is the most painful and effective for them (non-payers - FAN note), because many alimony workers who are considered unemployed drive expensive foreign cars registered in the name of relatives and dummies, and then the bailiff takes it and deprives them of the opportunity to use their own transport" ,” notes FAN’s interlocutor.