Is it possible to bring a non-payer of alimony to criminal liability - how to do this?
Grounds for a criminal case
Criminal liability may be brought in case of repeated deliberate disregard of a court decision or an agreement certified by a notary, as well as instructions of a bailiff within the framework of enforcement proceedings for the forced withholding of alimony.
The basis for a criminal case is considered to be a person’s deliberate failure to fulfill his alimony obligations while he was previously subjected to administrative punishment for the same actions (precisely during the period of its validity).
In criminal law, a crime occurs when its elements are present. In this case, proof comes down to establishing the fact of maliciousness and repetition.
Signs of a crime are:
- presence of a court decision or a notarized agreement,
- lack of payments for several months in a row,
- established fact of imposition of administrative punishment previously for similar actions.
Who is liable for failure to pay child support?
The categories of alimony payers are established by the Family Code of the Russian Federation. The main ones are:
- Parents provide financial support for their children who have not reached the age of majority, as well as those who have reached adulthood, but are unable to work, for example, the disabled.
- Adult children to support their disabled parents.
There are quite a few types of obligations for material support, but criminal prosecution is possible only in relation to the two categories of payers listed above.
How to attract?
The procedure for bringing to criminal liability for failure to pay amounts for material support:
- Receiving a court verdict on withholding alimony or approval of a settlement agreement certified by a notary.
- Transfer of enforcement documentation to the bailiff service for enforcement.
If the debtor does not make payments, despite the administrative punishment incurred for the same actions, and all attempts by the bailiffs aimed at reducing the amount of the debt turn out to be futile, the issue of initiating a criminal case can be raised. A statement in this regard is drawn up in free form.
You can download the application form to initiate a case here.
Application – how to fill out and where to send?
In a situation where the payer’s actions clearly show signs of deliberate repeated evasion of payment , the bailiff has the right to raise the issue of initiating a criminal case against this person .
If guilt in committing a crime is proven, the obligation to liquidate all debt from the convicted citizen will still not be removed.
However, the bailiff may not use these powers.
The claimant has the right to take the initiative into his own hands and file an application to initiate a criminal case: directly to the territorial police department, to the bailiff service.
The application is drawn up in free form, however, it must contain certain information :
- Details of the body to which it is submitted.
- Details of the applicant, including last name, first name, patronymic, passport details, postal address.
- Details of the debtor, including last name, first name, patronymic, postal address, employer information (if information is known).
Brief summary of the facts of the case:
- whether there is a court decision or notarial agreement,
- in what amount and in what way alimony should be paid,
- How are they actually paid?
- actual amount of debt on the day of application,
- information about the imposition of administrative punishment on the debtor for similar acts,
- as well as the requirement to bring the debtor to criminal liability.
Who initiates the criminal case?
The following may seek to initiate a criminal case for repeated intentional evasion of alimony payments: the debt collector and the bailiff independently.
To resolve the issue of whether there are grounds for bringing a person to criminal liability, the bailiff carries out a set of measures aimed at establishing the real reasons for non-payment of alimony, whether the debtor has property, place of work (or whether he is registered at the employment center as unemployed), and the desire to pay off the existing debt. .
Property discovered by the bailiff while monitoring the financial situation of the debtor is certainly seized, confiscated and sold at auction in order to minimize or completely eliminate the amount of debt.
If, after the sale of property, a debt remains, and the debtor does not take any measures to repay it, the bailiff issues him an official warning about the likelihood of criminal proceedings being initiated against him.
After completing all the necessary procedural actions, if necessary, the bailiff petitions his superiors to initiate the procedure for initiating a criminal case, as a result of which a decision is made to commit a crime .
This document, with the verification materials attached to it, is sent to the territorial police department , where a preliminary investigation is carried out, upon completion of which the case is transferred to the court for consideration on the merits.
In court, the case is heard with the participation of all parties, who are given the right to argue their position and support it with available evidence.
Having considered the defendant's guilt proven, the judge announces a guilty verdict . Attempts by the defendant to delay or disrupt the process by failing to appear at a court hearing without compelling reasons will yield nothing except an order from the judge to forcibly bring him to court by the bailiff service.
Before the judge retires to the deliberation room, reconciliation between the defendant and the victim is possible in the event of compensation for the damage caused, that is, full repayment of the alimony debt .
In this case, the hearing of the criminal case is terminated without a verdict being passed, and the person brought to criminal liability is considered not to have been convicted.
Types of office work
Has your ex-husband stopped paying child support? What to do? The first stage is an appeal to the courts. It is worth paying attention to the fact that citizens may encounter 2 types of paperwork.
Namely:
- writ proceedings - carried out only in the presence of a judge, without the participation of the plaintiff and defendant, entails the assignment of alimony as a percentage of the alimony holder’s earnings;
- claim proceedings - a meeting is held during which the opinions of the parties to the dispute are studied, as well as the papers presented; the amount of alimony can be determined either as a percentage or as a fixed amount.
The first option is fast, but it is not suitable for everyone. Therefore, in practice, most often mothers go to court with a claim in the established form.
What does “intentional” evasion of child support mean?
Deliberate (malicious) evasion is recognized as the regular and deliberate deprivation of material support for a minor or disabled child, as well as parents who have lost their ability to work.
Typical indicators of deliberate avoidance include:
- Being wanted for non-payment of alimony.
- Hiding income.
- Resistance to the bailiff’s attempts to employ the debtor through the employment center.
- A move initiated by a person’s desire to hide from the alimony collector.
- Significant amount of alimony debt.
- Avoiding contact with bailiffs and ignoring official notices of impending criminal liability.
- Lack of child support payments for several months in a row.
Even in cases where all the signs of deliberate evasion of alimony payments are absolutely obvious, only the court can conclude that there is a crime in the debtor’s actions .
Bringing the offender to justice under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is possible only if a certain procedure is followed.
Types of punishment
A citizen found guilty by a court decision of deliberately repeatedly evading the payment of alimony may be subject to the following types of punishment :
- Correctional labor for a period of up to 12 months.
- Forced labor for a period of up to 12 months.
- Arrest for up to 3 months.
- Imprisonment for a period of up to 12 months.
The type of punishment is chosen by the judge taking into account information about the personality of the defendant.
Convicts who are not officially employed anywhere are usually sentenced to correctional labor . Municipal executive bodies find them work at their place of residence, and part of their earnings is transferred to state income. Punishment is calculated in days, months and years.
Forced labor is a relatively new type of punishment, providing for paid employment of the convicted person in a special correctional center .
Execution of punishment may not take place at the person’s place of residence, if there is no such special institution nearby or it is overcrowded. Punishment is calculated in days, months, years. Deductions must be made from the prisoner's salary to the state.
If attempts are made to ignore serving a sentence in the form of forced or correctional labor, by a court decision it can be replaced by arrest or actual imprisonment.
Deprivation of parental rights as punishment for a crime provided for in Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not apply. However, at the request of the alimony claimant, this issue can be considered separately within the framework of civil proceedings, taking into account the interests of the child and the opinion of the guardianship authorities.
The theory and practice of deprivation of parental rights - read in this article.
The consequence of a conviction against a person will be the presence of a criminal record, which significantly worsens his social status and deprives him of many opportunities.
If a person has already been convicted of deliberately evading the payment of alimony, and the criminal record has not yet been expunged, when the next sentence is issued, this circumstance will be regarded as a relapse, and this time the defendant will certainly end up behind bars .
Arbitrage practice
Russian criminal legislation does not contain clear criteria for the behavior of a person who maliciously evades payment of alimony. They are formed by many years of judicial practice and include:
- The debt has reached a significant size.
- The debtor's actions are aimed at deliberately concealing and minimizing real income.
- A person is wanted for non-payment of alimony.
- Lack of payments for six months without good reason.
- A move carried out to hide from the claimant.
- Refusal to follow the instructions of the bailiff after official notification of threatened criminal liability.
Maintenance by parents of minor children, as well as those who have reached the age of 18 but are disabled, and material support of disabled parents for their adult children is provided for by Russian legislation.
Failure to comply with laws inevitably leads to liability, including criminal liability . You will learn more about this from the video clip:
Alimony is...
First of all, let's try to understand whether the ex-spouse should pay at all. And what is alimony?
This is the name for payments for the maintenance of a needy relative (spouse, parent, child). Typically, funds are allocated monthly in varying amounts.
Should the ex-spouse pay? Article 80 of the RF IC states that:
Parents are required to support their minor children. The procedure and form for providing maintenance to minor children are determined by the parents independently.
Divorce does not affect parental obligations in any way. Even after divorce, the spouses remain the legal representatives of the minor.
If we talk about adult children, then the IC states:
Parents are obliged to support their disabled adult children who need help.
That is, you will have to pay for any disabled and needy child. Has your ex-husband stopped paying child support? What to do?
