Is it possible to register an apartment, house, share, or give away other property as alimony?

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Being obligated to support his minor children, the parent who left the family (most often the father) does not always have enough funds to pay child support regularly and in full.

The Family Code allows for the establishment of various types of voluntary payment of alimony by agreement, including the transfer of expensive property against future alimony payments. Most often, such property becomes real estate, less often - a vehicle. This method of fulfilling one’s obligations to a child is relevant only for voluntary payment of alimony; it is not used in court.

When can alimony be paid with property?

The RF IC has provided two options for resolving the issue of alimony: in court and voluntarily. In both cases, parents can reach mutual agreement by concluding a settlement or alimony agreement (in court or with a notary).

If the parties fail to reach an agreement peacefully, then the format of alimony payments is determined by the court. The following options are provided:

1. as a share of earnings (Article 81 of the RF IC);
2. in solid form (Article 83 of the RF IC).

This means that in court it is impossible to get rid of the need to pay alimony by transferring your own property to the child. The exception is when parents enter into a settlement agreement based on the outcome.

Is it possible to repay the debt with an apartment or house?

You can give away an apartment or house not only to pay for future alimony, “in advance,” but also as debt compensation. The procedure for waiving alimony and transferring property does not change.

Transfer of real estate shares

The Family Code allows for the transfer of a share of an apartment or house as alimony. The child’s parents can resolve this issue peacefully by writing down all the nuances of their chosen solution in the agreement.

Important

The transfer of real estate to a minor child or his mother, owned by the person obligated for alimony, does not legally relieve him of the need to pay further alimony if the mother of the child collects it in court.

Example : the couple divorced. The parents verbally agreed that the child’s father would draw up a deed of gift in favor of the mother for his share of the apartment. The mother, in turn, promised not to file for child support in this case. As a result, after a while, the father receives a summons to appear in court. The mother, having lost her job, could not support the child and thus decided to find a means of subsistence. The court fully upheld the claim, since the transfer of the apartment was formalized in the form of a donation, and not in the form of an agreement to waive alimony from a notary.

Is it legal to pay alimony with property?

Chapter 16 of the RF IC is devoted to the alimony agreement. Yes, Art. 100 indicates the need for it to be in writing and notarized. Moreover, a correctly drawn up document has the same legal force as a writ of execution.

In paragraph 2 of Art. 104 of the RF IC lists possible ways to determine the amount of alimony. In addition to the traditional ones (as a percentage of salary and in fixed form), parents can use others, in particular, by lump sum providing property to the child. Other methods are not prohibited if they do not infringe on the rights of a minor.

What happens in practice?

The RF IC gives parents the freedom to choose the form of alimony when concluding an agreement. However, in reality, many notaries refuse to certify such a transaction, arguing that, in fact, it will not be legal. At the same time, they refer to the fact that any parent has obligations to support their child (Article 80 of the RF IC).

The transfer of property cannot be called maintenance, because the minor does not receive financial support until the property is sold.

There is also another point of view. In Art. 120 of the RF IC provides cases when a parent may no longer be obligated to pay child support. When concluding an agreement between the parties, this can happen on the basis set out in the document itself. For example, parents can indicate in the text a different payment format and clarify that the parent will be exempt from alimony if property is transferred to the child.

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation also does not prevent such an outcome. According to Article 409, the property will act as compensation. After re-registration of documents, the obligation to pay alimony will cease.

However, in Russian practice there are cases when alimony agreements on the payment of alimony in the form of transfer of property were recognized as illegal. To avoid such litigation, lawyers recommend going to court and, during the hearing, concluding a settlement agreement on this method of payment. Then it will no longer be possible to challenge it.

Can alimony be awarded after the transfer of property?

The transfer of property in accordance with the alimony agreement relieves the parent of the need to make monthly payments. However, there are situations where, even after such a transaction, the child’s mother sought through the court the assignment of regular alimony payments. This happens especially often if the parties did not enter into an agreement through a notary, but the woman wrote a waiver of alimony after the transfer of property. This document has no legal force at all.

But even if an alimony or settlement agreement is concluded, there remains some likelihood that the woman will go to court for financial assistance from her father.

Art. 86 of the RF IC provides for such a possibility in the event of exceptional circumstances. Moreover, their complete list can be adjusted. For example, a woman who has received serious injuries or disabilities, as a result of which she can no longer work and support a child, has the right, even in the event of a transfer of property, to request financial support from her ex-spouse.

Advantages and disadvantages of paying alimony with property

When deciding whether to pay alimony with property, the parties must evaluate the pros and cons. Everyone will have their own:

What to do next with the agreement?

As noted above, this category of transactions is not subject to state registration - fulfillment of its terms depends solely on the good faith of the parties.

However, in some cases of transfer of property to account for the cost of alimony, such as an apartment, the spouses are required to fulfill certain conditions. Thus, after signing the said transaction, the parties need to carry out the necessary actions related to the transfer and registration of ownership of the transferred housing, namely:

• Sign the corresponding acceptance certificate;
• Conduct state registration of the specified property rights in the territorial office of Rosreestr in person or through the services of representatives;
• Obtain a Certificate of state registration of the transfer of rights to the transferred property.

If the parent who is obliged to transfer property to pay child support refuses the accepted obligations, the agreement can be presented as a writ of execution to the FSSP along with an application to initiate enforcement proceedings. Then, as part of enforcement proceedings, the bailiffs will forcibly seize the apartment.

The agreement comes into force from the moment it is notarized, and if one of the parents suddenly “changes their mind” about something, it can only be changed by concluding a new agreement, and this will be mutually recognized as no longer in force. There is no one way way back!

Confiscation of property to pay alimony

If the alimony payer incurs a debt, the bailiff has the right to seize him (Article 80 of Federal Law No. 229-FZ “On Enforcement Proceedings”). It can be implemented as follows:

1. sale by bailiffs;
2. sale by the owner (such a right is reserved to him by clause 1 of article 87 of Federal Law No. 229, but provided that the value of the property is above 30 thousand rubles and the parties have no disagreements regarding its value);
3. sale at auction (in accordance with clause 3 of Article 87 of Federal Law No. 229, applies to things with a value of over 500 thousand rubles, as well as to securities and items of historical value).

In the listed cases, there is no need to talk about the transfer of property to the alimony recipient. However, Art. 87.2 of Federal Law No. 229 provides for this possibility, even if the amount of debt is less than the price of the property. But then the claimant becomes obligated to transfer the difference to the payer.

If the value of the property does not cover the alimony debt, then it can be assessed and transferred to the claimant. The bailiff will further collect the remaining amount of the debt, including at the expense of the payer’s other property.

In the event of the sale of property by a bailiff and the balance of funds after payments to the claimant, the excess amount is transferred to the payer in full.

What kind of housing can be sold?

The presence of debt from the alimony payer gives the bailiffs the right to sell his property. For example, this may apply to a country house, apartment, car or other real estate. At the same time, in Art. 446 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation lists types of property that cannot be considered as a way to pay off debts. In particular, this applies to the following forms:

• the only place to live (that is, if a person has only one apartment, then it cannot be used to pay off debts);
• Vehicle provided that the payer himself or his relative who needs constant transportation has a disability;
• objects and things necessary for the debtor to conduct professional activities;
• household items and personal items not related to luxury goods;
• prizes, awards and memorials.

Forcible seizure

According to paragraph 4 of Art. 69 Federal Law No. 229, it is possible to arrest and transfer housing to children, but this can only be done under the patronage of a FSSP employee, and if the child’s father has become a habitual defaulter and has accumulated debt. To collect it, the bailiffs have a lot of legal levers of pressure, which are being improved every year. The more sophisticated men are in trying to hide from alimony payments, the more sharply the law reacts.

On the basis of enforcement proceedings, the transfer of the apartment to the child is forced, based on clause 4 of Art. 69. The debtor’s property is subject to seizure and foreclosure. The man is given a choice - pay his debts in cash or part with his home.

Features of the procedure for seizing the debtor's property

Important! The debtor must personally express his desire to sign over the apartment. It is impossible to seize housing without his consent (clauses 2-5 of Article 69). The amount of debts must correspond to the valuation of the apartment.

Payment is possible in the following ways:

• sale of an apartment (open auction), the proceeds are transferred to the account of the alimony recipient;
• the father himself sells the apartment and transfers the money to the child;
• housing is transferred “in kind”.

Fact! You cannot seize or voluntarily transfer an apartment in which the debtor father himself or other persons are registered. The housing must be “clean” and the alimony payer must have a corner in which he is registered.