How to file a claim to reduce the amount of alimony

Home / Alimony / Find out where to apply to reduce the amount of alimony

When deciding where to apply to reduce the amount of alimony, it is necessary to analyze the prospects of the case. It is better to entrust this task to a legal specialist - a family lawyer. It takes into account the norms of current legislation, its current changes, as well as law enforcement practice.

It is one thing when articles of the Family Code of the Russian Federation are interpreted by non-specialists in the field of law, and another thing when these norms are considered by judges. But once in such a situation, the plaintiff needs to understand some of the features of such disputes.

How are payments determined?

Funds for child support are collected by court decision or paid by voluntary agreement between the parents.

The amount of monthly payments is fixed in the Family Code of the Russian Federation (Article 81):

1. For one child - at least 25% (one fourth) of total income.
2. For two children – at least 33% (third part).
3. For three or more children – 50% (half) of all income.

This method of collection is suitable only in cases where the payer has official income. If an unscrupulous parent understates his official income, the court assigns a fixed amount for child support.

Controversial issues

There is a list of controversial issues on the basis of which the court has the right to make a decision in both directions. These include:

1. The need to support elderly parents. On the one hand, this is a constitutional obligation, on the other hand, if the monetary allowance is not significant (half of a quarter of income), then the court can refuse the older generation in favor of the children.
2. High level of father's income. Since the law does not stipulate the maximum possible amount of alimony, the claim is considered individually. In some cases, a decision is made on a fixed payment amounting to a quarter of the mother's income. The principle is equal provision for the child by both parties.
3. Improving the financial situation of mother and child. It all depends on what caused the increase in income; if we are talking about a successful second marriage or career growth, then there is no reason to reduce alimony. In cases where the child himself has acquired a permanent income, the father has the right to count on a reduction in payments.

All controversial issues are considered in court proceedings. Often the court does not take the side of a particular person and considers the case from the perspective of the interests of everyone.

All alimony payers legally have the right to reduce the amount of transferred funds, subject to the presence of objective circumstances. The most common practice is the appearance of a second or subsequent children from another woman. In fact, the rules of law are aimed at protecting the interests of not only the ex-wife and first-born child, but also the man himself and his new family.

Grounds for reducing the amount of alimony

Current legislation does not define a strict list of circumstances that guarantee a reduction in the amount of alimony. Depending on the financial situation of the parties, the amount of mandatory payments may be changed by the court (RF IC, Article 119).

The most common grounds for filing a claim are:

• the appearance of a new dependent (the birth of a child or the loss of ability to work by an adult family member);
• deterioration of the payer’s health (establishment of disability group I or II);
• the child receives property, the income from which exceeds the amount of alimony;
• decreased standard of living (for example, job loss due to business closure);
• a significant increase in the payer’s income;
• transfer of a child to state support (for example, to a boarding school or an orphanage);
• early legal capacity of a minor (for example, upon marriage).

The decision to reduce the amount of payments is made by the court, taking into account specific circumstances. At the same time, the high income of the parent with whom the children live, or the child’s receipt of social benefits, are not reasons for reducing child support.

Changes in financial and marital status are also not considered an absolute basis for reducing payments.

Required documents for the claim

In order for alimony to be reduced and the court to accept the application for consideration, the following list of documents must be attached to it:

• Completed claim application.
• Documents proving the validity of the requirements: certificates from medical institutions, certificates of large families, the birth of a second child, a court decision to place a minor in a state institution, etc.
• Certificates of registration and divorce.
• Children's birth certificates.
• Receipt for payment of state duty.
• Notarized power of attorney, if interests are represented by a trusted person.
• Salary certificates.
• Detailed calculation of alimony. Even if a citizen is unemployed, payments are assigned in accordance with the minimum wage, but not below the subsistence level.

Where and how to file a claim

Disputes regarding the reduction of alimony payments are considered in courts of general jurisdiction. Previously, cases related to the collection of alimony were dealt with by magistrates. From October 1, 2021, the rules of jurisdiction have changed (Federal Law No. 451-FZ of November 28, 2018).

A claim to reduce the amount of alimony is filed only at the defendant’s residential address (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 28). In relation to claims for the collection of alimony, it is possible to present claims at the place of residence of both the defendant and the plaintiff (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Article 29, paragraph 3).

There are several ways to file a claim:

1. Hand over in person to the court reception.
2. Send by mail.
3. Submit documents electronically through a special section on the court’s website.

The last option is suitable if the defendant lives in another region. In the “Electronic Justice” section, the user can track the progress of his claim and find out the result of the consideration in a timely manner.

To submit an application electronically, you will need to register on the State Services portal. In addition, it is necessary to translate in advance into electronic format (scan) the statement of claim and all documents confirming the plaintiff’s claims.

In what cases is alimony reduced?

Alimony may be subject to reduction. Payers are in favor of such a turn of events, while recipients are against it (after all, then, accordingly, the level of financial assistance in raising children decreases). The interested party in such cases must collect and prepare all the necessary documents proving the need to reduce alimony. The application must be submitted to the court at the place of residence of the plaintiff or defendant.

Applications for alimony reduction are regulated by such legal acts as the Family Code of the Russian Federation and the Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”.

Let's consider situations where filing an application may be appropriate and positively approved by the judicial system:

• The alimony payer has received the first or second degree of disability, which means the impossibility of independent self-care and the need for additional expenses for their own maintenance and treatment;
• The child in whose favor alimony is paid has reached the age of 16 and has begun to engage in entrepreneurial activity that fully or at least partially covers his expenses and expenses for basic needs. The presence of property that generates regular income (for example, an apartment that is rented) is also taken into account;
• The payer has dependents in his care (for example, an incapacitated close relative who requires care and financial support) or the birth of a child in a new marriage;
• Extremely high income of the child support payer, a quarter of which becomes too large to meet the needs of the child;
• Deterioration in material well-being over a long period of time without the ability to find a permanent source of income.

How to make an application

The claim is submitted to the court in writing. The general requirements for the form and content of the petition are set forth in Article 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

The application form includes the following information:

• full name and address of the court to which the claim is being sent;
• personal data of the plaintiff (last name, first name, patronymic, postal address, contact phone number);
• information about the defendant (last name, first name, patronymic, residential address, contact phone number);
• circumstances of the appointment of alimony (indicating the details of the judicial act or
• size of payments (percentage of income or fixed amount);
• facts that, in the defendant’s opinion, serve as grounds for reducing alimony;
• desired payment amount;
• reference to legal norms (RF IC, Article 119);
• list of documents attached to the application.

The claim is signed by the plaintiff or his authorized representative (the authority of the representative to sign the claim and go to court must be certified by a notary). The statement of claim is drawn up in two copies: for the court and for sending to the defendant.

Sample statement of claim to the court to reduce the amount of alimony

What documents should be attached to the claim?

The facts specified in the statement of claim require documentary evidence.

The standard list of applications includes:

• a copy of the divorce document;
• a copy of the certificate of paternity (if the parents were not married);
• copies of children's birth documents;
• a copy of the judicial act on the assignment of alimony or a copy of the notarial agreement;
• a copy of the second marriage registration certificate;
• certificate of family composition;
• information about the plaintiff’s monthly income;
• other documents confirming the applicant’s monthly expenses (for example, receipts for utility bills, copies of loan agreements);
• calculation of the disputed amount;
• receipt of payment of the mandatory duty.

Each situation is unique, so the package of supporting documents must be compiled in accordance with the specific circumstances.

How to calculate the state duty

Before going to court, you must pay the state fee. Claims to reduce alimony payments fall into the category of property disputes. Therefore, the state duty is calculated according to the rules of Article 333.19 (clause 1, subclause 1).

The calculation is carried out as a percentage of the amount by which the alimony payment for the year is reduced compared to the previous amount of payments. The interest rate varies depending on the value of the claim. If the amount of claims does not exceed 20,000 rubles, the state duty is 4%. If the price of the claim is in the range from 20,000 to 100,000 rubles, the amount of the duty is determined by the formula: 3% + 800 rubles.

Let's look at how to calculate the duty using the following example. For the first child, alimony is paid in the amount of 1/4 of the salary (6,000 rubles per month, 72,000 rubles per year). In connection with the birth of a second child, the percentage of income due to older children is reduced to 1/6 of the salary (4,000 rubles per month, 48,000 rubles per year).

In this situation, the cost of the claim is 24,000 rubles (72,000 – 48,000). The state duty is determined by the formula (4,000 * 3%) + 800 = 920 rubles.

The rules for calculating state duty are given in the table.

What documents are needed

As noted above, to adjust the amount of alimony assistance you will need two categories of documents. The first type is a statement of claim drawn up by an individual interested in revising the amount of payments, and the second is documentation that serves as written evidence that the plaintiff’s actions are authorized and based on certain facts.

If alimony is collected under an agreement and both parties wanted to reduce its amount just like that, without having any grounds for it, then this procedure is permitted. To implement it, you need to come to a notary and declare the corresponding mutual desire. After this, the notary will draw up a new agreement, and the recipient and the alimony payer will simply need to sign.

Claim requirements

For clarity, we will talk about an application submitted by alimony payers in order to reduce the amount of these compensations for a minor child from a first marriage in the event of the collection of funds from the same individual for a second child, but from a different family.

In order for the judge to listen to the plaintiff, it is necessary to draw up a statement in accordance with all the relevant standards listed in Article 131 of the Civil Procedure Code of Russia. In addition, the claim that needs to be drawn up in the situation under consideration must include the following information:

• Details of the first court decision. An individual who is a payer must state that such and such a court on such and such a date decided to begin collecting a certain amount of money from him to provide for a minor child. After this, the serial number of the document on the basis of which this occurs is indicated.
• Details of the second court decision. Then you will need to inform the judge that, starting from a certain date, additional alimony began to be collected from the plaintiff for another of his children, but from a different family, who is under eighteen years old. After this, all the necessary details of the document according to which this procedure is carried out are also written down.
• Grounds for reducing the benefit amount. When information about both court decisions is provided in the claim, you can begin to indicate the reasons why the payer changes the amount of compensation downward. In this case, the father of two children is currently withheld 1/4 for the maintenance of the first child and exactly the same amount for the provision of the second, and according to the law, only one third in total can be recovered from him (1/6 for each individual) . This is evidenced by the first paragraph of Article 81 of the Family Code.
• Final request. As a result, the plaintiff must ask for the child support amount to be reduced by a certain amount. In this request, the applicant must once again briefly summarize all of the above, indicating all the details and necessary data. At the very bottom of the claim, a list of documentation is displayed that will be attached to it and, accordingly, also sent for consideration to the court.

Additional Documentation

In order for the claim to be counted as a reliable document, copies or originals of some documents must be attached to it. First of all, these are court orders or copies of agreements, according to which the payer transfers alimony compensation for the first and second child.

A certificate about the amount of monthly earnings for the plaintiff is also required. It is on the basis of this document that the judge can be certified that the withholding limit has indeed been exceeded, and in this regard, the process of reducing the amount of alimony payments is extremely necessary for the applicant.

This is important to know: Alimony for the previous three years: judicial practice

Since the consideration of some legal claims is not a free service, the applicant must first pay a state fee before sending the relevant document for verification. In order to prove that they actually performed this action, a receipt of payment is attached to the application. And the last required type of document is a copy of the claim itself, which will be sent to the defendant for review.

It should be noted that applications without the signature of the plaintiff and the date of preparation will not be considered. The absence of a signature is tantamount to the fact that the individual does not confirm the accuracy of the information presented by him. In this regard, do not forget to put down this detail.

Consideration of the claim

The court accepts the claim for proceedings, provided that it is correctly drawn up and documented.

Grounds for refusal to accept a claim:

• when drawing up the claim, the requirements of Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation;
• the requirement to reduce the amount of alimony was considered earlier (the court decision on the dispute between the same participants entered into legal force);
• a third party files an application with the court;
• territorial jurisdiction is violated;
• the plaintiff was declared incompetent.

Also, documents will be returned if the claim is not signed by the applicant.

The timing and procedure for considering a claim are established by the provisions of Chapter 15 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. The legislation allocates a period of 2 months for the consideration of cases related to the reduction of alimony payments (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Article 154).

Appealing a court decision

The procedure for appealing a court decision depends on one factor - whether it has entered into legal force or not. If accepted, a cassation is filed, if not, an appeal is filed.

The other party may file an objection to the cassation or appeal. The cassation or appeal court has the right to cancel the decision in whole or in part, or issue a new decision, which comes into force immediately after adoption.

On appeal

The grounds for filing an appeal are misinterpretation, failure by the judge to apply the law, or other procedural violations. The complaint is submitted as follows:

1. The applicant draws up the document itself. It specifies the grounds for appeal and demands for cancellation of the initial decision with reference to the rules of law violated by the judge when making it.
2. The appeal is filed with the judicial authority that made the first decision. After the expiration of the procedural period, the document is sent to the appeal board - the district court. The case is heard there.
3. According to Art. 327.2, the appeal is considered for no more than 2 months.

Based on the results, an appeal ruling is issued to cancel the decision of the first instance court.

In cassation

If the court decision has entered into legal force or the citizen does not agree with the appeal ruling, an appeal is made through the cassation procedure within 6 months. To do this, the complaint is submitted to the judicial collegium of the RF Armed Forces for civil cases according to subordination.

The step-by-step appeal looks like this:

1. A party dissatisfied with a court decision or appellate ruling shall file a cassation appeal, indicating the legislative grounds for the appeal and attaching documents.
2. Documents can be presented in person at the court reception or by mail.
3. After consideration of the materials, a court hearing is scheduled, and the parties are sent by mail a ruling to transfer the complaint to the cassation body for consideration.

After examining the case, the court issues a ruling to cancel the previous decision or appeal ruling.

Arbitrage practice

There is no single algorithm for resolving disputes regarding changes in the amount of alimony. In each case, the court's verdict depends on the specific circumstances of the case.

Example: Petrov petitioned the court to reduce alimony payments from 1/4 to 1/6 of his total earnings. The reason for filing the claim was the birth of a second child. The plaintiff did not provide evidence of a change in his financial situation. The court refused to reduce Petrov's alimony amount.

In the decision, the judge indicated that maintaining the previous amount for the support of the first child does not infringe on the rights of the other child, since the father’s income allows him to pay alimony in the amount previously established.

In another example, Borisov asked the court to reduce payments for children due to increased monthly expenses. At the court hearing, it turned out that the plaintiff took out a loan to improve housing conditions. The judge rejected the claim because when contacting the bank, Borisov had to take into account the existence of alimony obligations. An increase in loan repayment costs cannot be a reason for a decrease in child support payments.

In the following situation, the court sided with the plaintiff. Andreev asked to change the amount of alimony. The basis for satisfying the claim was the birth of a second child and the appearance of an additional dependent (the plaintiff’s mother received group 1 disability). Andreev confirmed all the requirements with documents. By court decision, child support for the first child was reduced to 1/6 of total earnings.

General provisions

Before you go to the institution where you are applying, there are several important points to consider:

• Courts are reluctant to reduce payments for minors and minors;
• There must be compelling reasons for claims to be granted;
• All grounds must be supported by documents.

Taking all this into account, one can subjectively assess the prospects of the case. But before drawing up and submitting an application, it is recommended to negotiate and convince the child’s guardian (usually his mother) that the payer is right. It is not necessary that the ex-spouses have bad relations that prevent them from finding a solution that will satisfy both parties.

Most often, a compromise is impossible if the payer intends to unjustifiably reduce the amount of alimony. In this case, the chances of winning in court are small, and the claims will be rejected. A positive court decision is possible if:

• There are two or more reasons for reducing the size;
• They are based on direct rules of law (for example, Article 81 of the RF IC);
• There are documentary justifications.

On the other hand, if you manage to convince your ex-wife with arguments, then you won’t have to apply anywhere for a reduction in alimony. You can change the amount of payments by agreement, which :

• Drawed up and signed by the child’s parents in free form;
• Makes changes to the current payment procedure and/or amount of alimony;
• Certified by a notary.

The statement is true if the payments were determined not by the court, but according to a previously drawn up and signed agreement. Otherwise you will have to go to court . However, here too the consent of the ex-wife plays a key role. If she is not against the proposed option, it is enough to submit an application and the court will issue an order within 5 working days on a new procedure and amount of payments.

If, during the consideration of the application, the judge comes to the conclusion that the interests of the child are being violated, and the stated requirements need to be studied thoroughly, the application will be returned with an indication of the reason. Then you will have to draw up a claim and send it for consideration in a full court hearing.

A special case is when alimony is paid voluntarily. On the one hand, the absence of an agreement or a court decision does not require any ceremony; the recipient of the money can be presented with a fait accompli.

But this can cause the following chain of negative consequences :

1. Dissatisfaction of the recipient of the money.
2. His filing a lawsuit demanding payment of alimony for the previous three years.
3. There is no evidence that the money was transferred and that these were payments for the financial support of the child.
4. Satisfaction of the claim.

In this situation, instead of asking where to apply for a reduction in alimony, the payer will be interested in how to get away with minimal financial losses. Therefore, he needs to behave even more delicately if the issue of payments has not previously been resolved either by agreement, order or court decision.