Child support from a non-working father: collection, size, amount

The current family legislation determines the procedure, order and features of collecting alimony for minor children and the resulting arrears in alimony payments, including from non-working parents . Now the relevance of this issue in Russia is associated with high levels of unemployment and unofficial employment.

Let us recall that the main legal acts regulating alimony legal relations are the Family Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law (FL) “On Enforcement Proceedings”. The state’s protection of the rights and interests of children, including their material support from parents, is the reason for enshrining in legislation a number of basic principles on which the entire child support system is based.

One of the basic principles of family law is the obligation to make alimony payments, regardless of the social status of the parent . This means that even unemployed (non-working) parents are required to support their child.

Do you need to pay alimony if you don’t work?

One of the key questions that unscrupulous parents who do not have a regular source of income ask themselves is whether unemployed people who have no official income pay child support?

The Family Code of the Russian Federation does not establish any exceptions for persons without a certain occupation, directly declaring the obligation of each parent to bear the burden of financial support for their children.

Important! Contrary to the misconception, the lack of official earnings does not exempt you from the obligation to pay alimony and is not even a mitigating circumstance for reducing the amount of payments. If a person does not work and is not registered as unemployed, this is his and only his problem.

Calculation example

It is easier to understand how alimony is calculated using specific examples:

Example 1

Anatoly L. pays child support for his only child in the amount of a quarter (1/4) of his monthly earnings. Then he loses his job and registers with the Central Employment Center, where he is assigned financial assistance of 6,000 rubles.

Let's do a simple calculation: 6000: 4 = 1500.

That is, Anatoly needs to pay 1,500 rubles monthly to support the child.

Example 2

The court ruled that Alexander V. is obliged to pay alimony for two children in a fixed amount - 9,000 rubles. Alexander is registered with the Central Tax Service and receives 4,000 rubles monthly.

The calculations look like this: 4000 x 70% = 2800

70% of income is the maximum amount possible for deduction if you have debt.

Therefore, 2800 rubles is the amount that is legally allowed to be deducted from the benefit on a monthly basis. But since the court ordered alimony in the amount of 9,000 rubles, the debt is automatically accrued:

9000 — 2800 = 6200.

In total, Alexander is accrued an alimony debt in the amount of 6,200 rubles every month.

Minimum payment of alimony from a non-working person

The minimum amount of alimony from a non-working father will be the amount of deductions from official unemployment benefits. In this case, alimony should be assigned as a share of all types of earnings.

The amount of unemployment benefits, depending on the amount of wages in the last place and the period of registration with the Employment Employment Center, ranges from 850 to 4900 rubles for 2021.

Calculation example:

• With a minimum unemployment benefit of 850 rubles, the amount of alimony assigned to one child in the form of ¼ (25%) of the share of all types of earnings will be: 850 * 25% = 212.5 rubles per month.
• With a maximum benefit of 4900 rubles, the amount of alimony with the same initial data will be: 4900 * 25% = 1225 rubles per month.

The indicated amounts are the minimum amount of alimony for a non-working person, but only on the condition that he is registered with the Employment Center.

Replacing a shared recovery in the form of a portion of earnings is possible with a fixed amount only if there are clear signs that the payer has additional income.

Important! If you are dismissed due to staff reduction, unemployment benefits for the first 4 months are paid by the former employer, taking into account the amount of wages, and during this period the minimum amount of alimony can be significantly higher.

Minimum amount of alimony payments

In fact, the minimum amount of child support that a working person must pay to support one child is one fourth (25%) of his salary. Experts, knowing that there is no documented minimum amount, recommend that parents resolve this issue peacefully, consciously signing documents that will record the obligatory amount for payments, with which both the father and mother of the child will agree.

The minimum amount that an unemployed person must pay is determined by the court. Its determination is carried out on the basis of an analysis of his financial and marital status. If the parent agrees to pay child support, the court will set the minimum that he will be required to pay.

Also, the father can contact the employment service (the so-called “labor exchange” - SZN, TsZN) and receive official unemployed status , after which the state will assign unemployment benefits, from which government decree allows for the forced collection of alimony. When calculating the amount of benefits, the amount of wages from the last place of work will be taken into account, as well as the elapsed period of time after dismissal.

For example, if more than a year has passed since the dismissal, the minimum wage in the region will be taken as the basis for determining the amount of maintenance. For example, in Moscow, the minimum wage is equal to the regional subsistence minimum established for the working population, and from November 1, 2018 it is 18,781 rubles (Resolution No. 1114-PP dated September 19, 2018).

This means that alimony payments can be calculated as follows:

• for 1 child (25%): 18,781 rub. / 4 = 4695.25 rub.;
• for 2 children (33%): 18781 / 3 = 6260.33 rubles;
• for 3 or more (50%): 18781 / 2 = 9390.5 rub.

What is the size and amount of child support for a non-working father in 2021?

It is impossible to give a definite answer to the question about the amount of alimony from an unemployed person. Due to many factors influencing the amount of child support to be paid.

A lot depends on the status of the unemployed and a number of other factors.

If you have official unemployed status

If you are registered with the Employment Center as an unemployed person, child support will be deducted from the unemployment benefit received by the father.

In this case, the payer will have the right to demand that the method of collecting alimony be replaced with a shared one, if alimony was previously established in a fixed amount.

In the shared method of collecting alimony, the approximate amount of alimony from an officially unemployed father receiving a maximum benefit of 4,900 rubles will be:

If you don’t work and don’t contact the employment center

In cases where the child’s father does not work and does not apply to the Employment Center for employment, the method of collection and, accordingly, their amount will depend on the stage and procedure of collection:

• if at the time of collection of alimony the father was working and the alimony was collected as a share of all his income, then the bailiff, while working on the collection, will calculate the alimony based on the average earnings in the region;
• If at the time of filing the claim in court the father was unemployed, alimony is collected in the form of a fixed amount of money.

Specific amounts of alimony in any of the two situations cannot be named, however, the amount of alimony established in a fixed amount is, in practice, calculated within the limits of the subsistence level per child in the region.

If the father is disabled or retired

Retirement or incapacity to work does not cancel the father’s responsibility to provide for his children.

According to the list of types of income from which alimony can be withheld, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated July 18, 1996 No. 841, both old-age and disability pensions fall under the income from which alimony can be withheld (clause A, clause 2 document).

The amount of alimony in cases where the father is a pensioner or disabled will most often be set in proportion to all types of income. How much pensioners and disabled people pay is determined individually.

If you are not officially employed, but have an income

It is extremely difficult to prove the existence of “gray” income and, on this basis, to seek an increase in alimony, especially without the help of a competent lawyer.

A father who does not have official employment, is not registered with the Central Employment Service, but works unofficially or has other unconfirmed income, is subject to the same rules and conditions for collecting alimony as when collecting from an ordinary non-working citizen.

Options:

• at the stage of collection in court, alimony will be established in a fixed amount;
• when collecting maintenance in the amount of a share of income, bailiffs will make calculations based on the average salary in the region.

Important! Since it is not so easy to achieve the establishment of alimony in a fixed amount, the applicant will have to devote all his efforts to confirm the high level of financial support of the payer. Requests to banks about the movement of funds in the account and deposits, information about property, indirect evidence in the form of witness testimony - everything that is permitted by law can be used.

Can the child's mother claim child support?

Russian legislation provides for situations where not only children under 18 years of age, but also other persons can apply for alimony, including from the unemployed.

These include adult children who are unable to work and in need of care, as well as a wife, including an ex-wife. This rule also applies to husbands, but, as a rule, the weaker sex is more likely to need financial assistance.

Alimony in marriage

A woman can count on alimony from her husband during the marriage relationship, regardless of whether he is unemployed or not, when:

• there is legal registration of marriage;
• the wife became pregnant;
• the spouse has a son or daughter together with her husband, whose age is from 0 to 3 years;
• a woman is caring for a common child recognized as a group I disabled person who has not reached the age of majority, and there is a need to provide him with financial support.

Alimony in divorce

Based on Art. 90 of the RF IC, it is possible to demand alimony for a wife from a husband, including one who is unemployed, even in a state of divorce, but only if he has the means for it. The content applicant may be:

1. An ex-wife who is pregnant and raising a child together for a three-year period starting on the day of his birth.
2. A woman with whom she shares a common imperfect child with a disability from Group I childhood.
3. A former spouse who became disabled before the divorce or within a year from the date of its registration in the registry office. At the same time, she needs to prove her existing financial difficulties.
4. A needy “former” who has retired due to age, if she has reached 55 years of age no later than 5 years after the date of dissolution of the marriage relationship, if the family union was long-term.

In all circumstances, except pregnancy and the presence of a common child under 3 years of age, it is necessary to prove in court the woman’s need for financial support.

How is alimony calculated if a person does not work?

The procedure for calculating and calculating alimony to be withheld from an unemployed father differs depending on the chosen method of collection.

As a share of income

If the court has collected alimony as a share of the total amount of all income, but the payer does not have a permanent place of work and is not registered with the Employment Center. The bailiff makes calculations using the average earnings in the region.

If the average earnings in the region were not determined by the territorial bodies of Rosstat in Russia, the average earnings in the country are used.

Example. The ex-husband is required to pay 1/3 of all income for two children. The payer does not work anywhere and is not a member of the Employment Center.

The average salary in the Russian Federation, according to Rosstat, at the beginning of 2020 was 37,900 rubles.

37900 rubles x 33% = 12507 rubles

This is the amount of alimony that a non-working father of two children will pay.

Important! In practice, such a mechanism for collecting funds is completely ineffective. A person who does not have a permanent source of income is mired in huge debts, calculated taking into account the average salary in the Russian Federation. Unable to pay them, he quickly joins the ranks of malicious defaulters and is subsequently brought first to administrative and then to criminal liability. The interests of the child remain unprotected.

In a fixed amount of money

Alimony in a fixed amount is awarded by the court in an amount that would ensure adequate financial support for children, comparable to the level of maintenance before the parents’ divorce.

It is impossible to calculate any specific amount in this case, but in practice the courts try to collect maintenance in favor of children in a fixed amount not less than a share of the regional subsistence level per child.

Important! The fixed amount of alimony is established only and exclusively by the court. If child support is collected on a shared basis, then both the payer and the recipient of alimony have the right to demand a change in the method of collecting alimony.

Otherwise, the amount of maintenance for minors in a fixed amount is established individually, taking into account all the circumstances of the case.

Among them, the following are subject to mandatory study:

• the level of financial support of the child before the parents’ divorce, if the father previously lived together;
• the child's needs;
• father's additional income;
• average cost of living in the region.

Execution of a court decision

The child's mother must independently take the writ of execution to the bailiff service. The bailiff is obliged, within 3 days from the date of registration of the document, to open enforcement proceedings and send the corresponding resolution to the payer.

To ensure compliance with the plaintiff’s demands, the bailiff has the right to:

1. Take measures to establish the debtor’s place of residence.
2. Send requests to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, tax authorities and insurance companies in order to determine additional sources of income for the debtor.
3. Establish the father’s property status by sending requests to the traffic police, BTI, credit and banking institutions.
4. Seize the debtor's movable and immovable property, as well as his bank accounts.

If the child's father refuses to comply with the bailiff's demands, civil, administrative or criminal liability may be applied to him.

The most severe punishment is criminal liability (provided for in Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

In order to bring a debtor to criminal liability, the following conditions must be present:

1. Availability of a court decision.
2. Alimony was not paid for a long period of time (generally more than 4 months). However, in this case, the important factor is the presence or absence of valid reasons.
3. The debtor is duly notified of criminal liability.

Important: lack of work or regular income is not a valid reason for non-payment of alimony.

Methods for collecting alimony from an unemployed person

According to established practice, child support is awarded:

• as a share of all types of earnings if at the time of collection of alimony the payer had a permanent source of income, was employed or was an individual entrepreneur;
• in the form of a fixed amount, if the payer did not have regular and confirmed income at the time of collection of alimony.

In the future, the method of collecting alimony may be changed by the court at the request of both the payer and the recipient of alimony.

How to obtain and collect alimony from a non-working father

The law provides two ways to recover funds for a child if the husband does not officially work:

• agreement;
• judicial compulsory order.

If both spouses are ready to cooperate on this issue and are jointly looking for a compromise solution, then it is possible to establish alimony obligations by concluding an agreement, which will determine both the amount of alimony and the timing of payments and their form. What amount will be determined by them does not matter, but it should not be less than what the child would receive if alimony was collected by law.

Important! Art. 100 of the RF IC states that notarization of this document is mandatory.

If an agreement is not reached, and the parents have different views regarding the amount of alimony for the maintenance of the child, they should contact the judicial authority for the collection of alimony through the court.

Procedure and process

If an agreement cannot be reached, alimony can only be recovered from an unemployed person through the court.

It is possible to recover alimony from an unemployed person only through a lawsuit, since a court order is issued only on undisputed demands, and in relation to alimony - if the income of the alimony payer is obvious.

The statement of claim must indicate:

• name of the court, address;
• Full names of the parties to the case, their addresses;
• circumstances of the dispute: date of conclusion and termination of the contract, information about the children;
• justification for the father’s evasion of child support;
• justification for the amount of alimony in a fixed amount;
• request for alimony;
• list of applications, signature, date.

Cases regarding the collection of alimony are under the jurisdiction of magistrate judges.

An application for alimony is submitted to the magistrate court at the place of residence of the defendant or plaintiff. The right to choose belongs to the plaintiff. But the plaintiff can sue the magistrates’ court at his place of residence only if he lives with the child.

Documentation

List of documents:

• a copy of the claim for the defendant;
• a copy of the divorce certificate;
• documents for children;
• evidence of justification for the amount of alimony: calculation of the children’s maintenance needs, confirmed regular expenses, etc.
• a copy of the applicant's passport.

All documents can be submitted in copies, but the originals must be taken with you to court.

Expenses

The amount of the state duty for filing a claim for the collection of alimony is set at 150 rubles, however, the plaintiff is exempt from paying them on the basis of clause 15 of clause 1 of Art. 333.36 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation as a person applying in the interests of minor children.

The amount of the state duty is subsequently subject to recovery from the defendant upon satisfaction of the claim.

How can a child support worker register with the Central Bank?

It’s not difficult to register with the Central Bank, the main thing is to meet certain conditions:

• age - more than 16 years;
• the unemployed person is ready to undergo retraining or training offered by the Central Committee;
• there is a firm decision to accept one of the offered vacancies.

Registration as an unemployed person takes place at the local employment center. It is important to go there prepared, with the following package of documentation:

• passport;
• diploma and any other documents confirming qualifications;
• work book, if available;
• certificate of income for the last three months at the previous place of work.

According to Law No. 1032-1 of April 19, 1991, the Employment Center has the right to refuse if:

• a Russian citizen is under 16 years old;
• the unemployed person refuses the jobs offered by the Central Workers;
• have a criminal record;
• provided false information about yourself during registration.

Arbitrage practice

Difficulties in practice arise only with determining the amount of alimony awarded in a fixed amount.

However, the courts, in general, are guided by the cost of living per child in the region, which is also recognized as correct by higher courts.

Example . In case No. 2a-118/2016 of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Primorsky Territory, the higher court upheld the decision of the magistrate dated August 11, 2016, by which the claim of plaintiff A. against defendant A. for the recovery of alimony in a fixed amount for the maintenance of one child was satisfied . The magistrate recovered from the defendant funds for the child in the amount of 7,537 rubles, which is equal to the subsistence minimum for one child in the region. The defendant, not agreeing with the decision, appealed it, but a higher authority recognized the decision as correct and upheld it.

How is the amount of alimony calculated?

The amount of alimony is determined by the court. The basis for the calculation is the cost of living established in the region where the child lives - a certain percentage of this amount will be paid as alimony.

The calculation takes into account the amount of mandatory expenses for the child - they should be indicated in the statement of claim. If a child requires regular, expensive treatment or additional education, the court may increase the amount of payment. In addition, the court takes into account the payer’s standard of living - the higher it is, the larger alimony will be awarded.

The cost of living is adjusted quarterly by regional authorities - the amount of alimony for the self-employed changes following it.

General provisions

After a divorce, spouses can agree on the procedure and amount of alimony payments on their own or leave the issue to the discretion of the court. In the first case, they enter into a notarized agreement. This document is similar to a writ of execution. If the payer violates the agreements, the recipient brings the agreement to the bailiffs, and they begin collecting money in accordance with it.

If the spouses cannot agree on the amount of alimony, the court will decide the issue. You can file a claim at any time, even while you are married. There is no statute of limitations. The opportunity to file a claim is limited by the child coming of age or another event that terminates the right to alimony (death of the recipient, adoption of the child by the mother’s new husband, etc.). Deprivation of parental rights is not a basis for evading child support.

Expert commentary

Leonov Victor

Lawyer

Alimony is assigned not only to children, but also to needy disabled relatives and former spouses (Chapters 14 and 15 of the RF IC)

How can a child support payer reduce the amount of payments?

If it is not possible to pay alimony in full, and the debt is only increasing, then you can try to legally reduce the amount of payments.

To do this, the alimony payer should write an application to the magistrate's court with a request to reduce monetary obligations. The application must:

• Laconically describe the situation related to receiving benefits and the inability to pay in full.
• Ask for a temporary reduction in alimony due to disability.

Attach to the application:

• a copy of an identity document (passport);
• child's birth certificate;
• a certificate confirming dismissal from your previous job;
• court order on alimony and its amount;
• a certificate from the labor exchange indicating the monthly deduction from accruals.

Alimony from unemployment benefits

The amount of the benefit depends on the income at the previous place of work and the reasons for dismissal. Maximum 75% of average earnings for the last 3 months, but not more than 4900 rubles. Regional coefficients are added to this amount. If a person cannot find work for a long time, the benefit amount will gradually decrease. Alimony payments will be reduced in proportion to this. The organization’s accounting department holds them in accordance with the writ of execution or alimony agreement. It is provided by the unemployed person himself, the debt collector or bailiffs.

It may happen that at the time of job loss there is no writ of execution. For example, there was an oral agreement between the spouses on payments, and while the father was working, he regularly transferred the necessary funds. However, after losing my job, I stopped doing this. In this case, a claim for alimony is first filed with the court.

When alimony is assigned in a fixed amount, the total amount of deductions cannot exceed 70% of the payer's income. If this is not enough, debt accumulates on the unpaid portion. You will need to pay it off in any case. However, it is possible to avoid the accrual of fines and penalties, as well as the application of administrative measures. To do this, the payer will need to prove that the debt arose not through his fault and is not an attempt to evade fulfillment of his obligations.

Despite the fact that loss of work is not included in the list of reasons that clearly exempt from penalties, the judge, taking into account the circumstances of the case, may accommodate and cancel the accrual of penalties. However, in this situation, it is more advisable to immediately apply to the court with a request to change the amount of alimony due to the deteriorating financial situation.

Agreement on voluntary payments

If the debtor does not officially work, but the plaintiff has information about his financial ability to provide financial assistance to the children, the parties can enter into an agreement between themselves on the payment of alimony. This option is preferable if the former spouses managed to maintain a respectful relationship with each other, and the father realizes the importance of providing financial support to each of his children and is ready to fulfill such a duty on a voluntary basis.

Expert commentary

Gorchakov Vladimir

Lawyer

The amount of payments is determined by them independently and recorded in such a document. All agreements reached are drawn up in writing and certified by a notary, which guarantees the legality and validity of this agreement.

In its force, such a document is equivalent to a writ of execution, therefore, in case of delay in payments, the plaintiff can also contact the bailiff service to force the plaintiff to repay the debt and make current payments on alimony obligations on time.

From what income is alimony deducted?

Russian legislation provides for the possibility of receiving payments for children not only through wages. Thus, penalties may be imposed on the payer’s bank accounts, pension payments and dividends received by him from participation in commercial companies. In addition, alimony may be deducted from the following income:

• certain types of financial assistance;
• student scholarships or unemployment benefits;
• remuneration received by the payer under contracts for the provision of services (performance of work);
• income from the transfer of own property for rent, etc.

As you can see, the list of income from which alimony can be collected is quite wide. This increases the likelihood of receiving cash payments for children if their father is not employed.

Many women do not go to court for alimony, not knowing that the lack of permanent work does not relieve the father of the children from the responsibility for their material maintenance. Whereas all lawyers recommend obtaining an official court decision that alimony has been collected, even from a non-working father, and later, using modern legal possibilities and the broad powers of bailiffs, to execute this decision, achieving regular payments for the maintenance of children after a divorce.