Drawing up and filing a claim to reduce the amount of alimony

Reducing the amount of alimony is an issue of concern to many. Our alimony lawyer in Yekaterinburg will help you draw up and submit an application for a reduction in alimony , whose practice includes not only alimony obligations, but also protection on all family issues, be it divorce, division of marital property or disputes about children.

ATTENTION: our family lawyer will tell you how to reduce the burden of alimony in the event of the birth of another child or a change in the significant circumstances of the payer’s life.

Grounds for reducing alimony

1. The appearance in the family of the alimony payer of a person whom he, on the basis of the law, must support (disabled relatives, children from another marriage and other dependents, a reduction in alimony at the birth of a second child). In our opinion, this is the most common case of going to court with the issue under consideration, because the birth of a child in a new marriage entails a number of expenses and the need to support one more, and maybe more than one, child. The amount assigned by the court or the established percentage of income will not be automatically revised without filing a corresponding application. It is important to initially establish alimony in a similar manner by order, agreement or court decision. Parents living together and having a registered marriage will not affect this in any way. Alimony can also be established during marriage. Only then go to court. Otherwise, the claim will be rejected.
2. A decrease in the income of the alimony payer, as a rule, refers to situations where alimony obligations are not tied to wages, since a decrease in wages already reduces the alimony burden, because with a constant and regular income, a percentage is assigned, which is calculated from the payment.
3. The payer of alimony is disabled in groups 1-2 or became disabled after alimony payments were assigned (the basis for reducing alimony is an increase in expenses for one’s own maintenance and treatment, which increases due to the acquisition of disability). In the trial itself, it is necessary to additionally emphasize that as a result of illness, the list of positions for which it is possible to find employment is limited for you. Moreover, this narrow range of jobs is low-paid.
4. Often the child himself, for whom alimony payments are established, is able to provide for himself no worse than the alimony payer himself, so a reduction in the amount of alimony can occur when the child reaches the age of 16 years, he is employed, when he begins to receive a stable income, which is enough for his maintenance and education.
5. The emergence of property (inheritance) for the recipient of alimony, which began to generate considerable income, increasing the level of security and well-being.
6. The list is not closed; you can learn more about the reasons for starting to act towards reducing alimony obligations during a consultation with our lawyer who deals with these issues. Indeed, in the case of alimony, the court must assess the property status of both parents, including the recipient of alimony. Yes, the law defines the obligation to pay alimony, however, its amount is not clearly defined. There are only some frameworks (conventions). Therefore, everything will be decided in a private adversarial trial.

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT: We are ready to try to resolve your family conflict on the issue of reducing the amount of child support peacefully; this area of ​​​​the lawyer’s activity is called mediation, within the framework of which an agreement is reached between the parties that suits the conditions of all participants. If it is not possible to resolve a dispute about reducing child support amicably between the payer of alimony and the recipient, then you have to go to court with an application and resolve this problem in court.

Grounds for which the amount of alimony payments cannot be reduced:

• when the alimony payer refers to a significant increase in the income of the parent, the new family in which the child lives.
• the acquisition of property by the recipient of alimony, which should generate income, but is not used to obtain it, and, therefore, does not provide additional opportunities for its owner to improve their well-being.

Trial in court

The claim package will be accepted by the court for consideration, provided that the document is drawn up correctly and the attachments are sufficient.

The meeting is scheduled no earlier than 1 month after filing the claim. If the parties fail to appear, the hearing will still take place if there are enough documents to support the adoption of an objective decision, and there is also a request for consideration in the absence of the plaintiff.

As a result, the judge will issue one of the following decisions:

• satisfies the request, reducing the amount of alimony payment;
• will reject the claim and leave the monthly payment unchanged;
• will release the plaintiff-payer from the alimony obligation.

When resolving disputes about reducing the amount of alimony, most decisions are made taking into account the protection of the interests of the child.

If the child’s situation does not worsen in any way due to a reduction in the alimony payment, but the payer risks finding himself in dire need, then the court will cooperate.

A sharply deteriorated health condition of the payer, depriving him of the opportunity to work and receive income, but requiring considerable funds to care for him, may even serve as a reason for exemption from alimony.

The defendant in a lawsuit has the right to object to the petition. It justifies the impossibility of reducing the alimony payment with written arguments attached.

In addition to the claim, the judge is obliged to examine this objection.

Procedure for reducing alimony

Let us remind you that a reduction in alimony payments is possible by filing a claim in court, based on the above. But during the process you will have to answer questions regarding the reduction of alimony. In addition, you need to prove to the court that the reduction in alimony will not in any way affect the maintenance of the child in whose favor it is paid. In addition, it is difficult to calculate the state fee when filing this application. That is why more and more people are turning to us to have our specialists solve the issue under consideration.

Execution of a court decision

In a month, if the ex-wife does not appeal the court decision, you will receive it in your hands, as well as a writ of execution, which should be taken to the bailiffs. Now the current spouse can withdraw her court order from the execution of the bailiffs.

Important! It may also happen that the magistrate, despite the fact that the current spouse does not indicate the presence of other children in the application for a court order, will return the application for a court order to the applicant, considering a “dispute about the right.” This can happen if, for example, the same judge previously collected alimony from you for your first child.

In this case, she will have to file a claim to collect alimony for the maintenance of your common child. There is nothing wrong with this - the process will just take a little longer. In the claim, she will have to immediately ask to recover 1/6 of your income for child support. And you will subsequently file a claim for a reduction in alimony only against your ex-wife. The sample presented above is suitable for such a case.

How to file a claim for alimony reduction?

A claim for reduction of alimony is drawn up according to the general rules established by procedural legislation and must contain:

1. the name of the court where the claim will be filed;
2. information about the plaintiff who is filing a claim in court, namely, full name, residence address, telephone number, email. mail if available;
3. information about the defendant, also full name, address of residence, if the telephone number is known;
4. indication of the price of the claim, i.e. the amount of alimony to which the plaintiff asks to reduce it;
5. after indicating the above information, name your procedural document “statement of claim”;
6. in the text of the claim, state the circumstances that served as the basis for going to court, namely, when and in connection with what alimony was collected from you, on the basis of what judicial act, what has changed in your life circumstances, because of which you are going to court for reduction of alimony, for example, marital or financial situation. It is also advisable to refer to legal norms regarding issues of reducing alimony;
7. In the pleading part of the claim, clearly indicate your requirements, i.e. what you are asking, namely, to reduce alimony to a certain amount or amount;
8. when justifying your claims, you will refer to certain circumstances, confirmed by relevant documents, copies of which must be attached to the claim and listed in the appendix of the claim, i.e. After the stated requirements, it is necessary to indicate a list of copies of documents that are attached to the claim. Do not forget to attach the original receipt of payment of the state fee;
9. At the end of the application there is a date, the plaintiff’s signature and a transcript of the signature.

The claim, with the attached documents, must be filed with the court according to the number of persons indicated in it, i.e. if the plaintiff and defendant are indicated, then in 2 copies. Don't forget to make one copy for yourself.

ATTENTION: if the form of the claim is not followed, it will be left without movement, giving the plaintiff a period to eliminate the comments. If the deficiencies are not eliminated on time, the claim will be returned to the plaintiff, watch the video with additional tips

How to prepare a claim

The claim is made in writing and signed by the applicant. There are points that must be contained in an application to the court to reduce the amount of alimony.

1. The exact name of the judicial authority (where the claim is addressed).
2. Personal data and contacts of the payer-plaintiff.
3. Information about the identity and contact details of the recipient-respondent.
4. The circumstances of the appointment of alimony payments with reference to a court order or marital agreement.
5. Grounds for reducing the amount of alimony paid by the plaintiff.
6. Statement of the demands made by the plaintiff-alimony payer.
7. An indication of the result of pre-trial negotiations with the alimony recipient (if any).
8. Indication of the alimony amount to be paid and what, in the opinion of the payer, will be fair.
9. Link to legal norms.
10. List of documents attached to the application.
11. Date and signature of the plaintiff.

The claim is signed by the plaintiff himself or his authorized representative (with a copy of the power of attorney attached).

Where to apply for a reduction in alimony?

Since the alimony payer is filing a claim to reduce alimony, it is necessary to apply to the magistrate’s court at the place of residence of the alimony recipient, i.e. in this case the defendant.

How to calculate the state duty to reduce alimony?

If the plaintiff asks to reduce the amount to a certain amount, then the state duty is calculated based on the amount of this amount according to the rules of paragraph 1, paragraph 1 of Art. 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, i.e. the amount in which the plaintiff asks to collect alimony from him:

At the claim price (hereinafter – CI):

• up to 20,000 rub. state duty is paid in the amount of 4% CI, but not less than 400 rubles;
• from 20,001 rub. up to 100,000 rub. – 800 rub. + 3% of the amount that exceeds 20,000 rubles;
• from 100,001 rub. up to 200,000 rub. – 3,200 rub. + 2% of the amount that exceeds 100,000 rubles;
• from 200,001 rub. up to 1,000,000 rub. – 5,200 rub. + 1% of the amount that exceeds 200,000 rubles;
• over 1,000,000 rub. – 13,200 rub. + 0.5% of the amount exceeding RUR 1,000,000, but not more than RUR 60,000.

Where and how to file a claim

A claim to reduce the amount of alimony in almost 100 percent of cases is filed by the alimony payer. It is unlikely that the recipient of alimony will consider that he receives an excessive amount of it, and therefore will go for a reduction.

The payer defends his material well-being. Considering whether he has enough funds remaining after paying alimony to survive.

Claims to reduce alimony payments are considered by the courts that have made exacting decisions. Or the plaintiff-payer goes to the court at his place of residence.

Before filing a claim with the court, the applicant pays a fee to the state. Its size is proportional to the amount of the claim - this is the total amount of reduction in alimony payments for 1 year.

For example , the plaintiff wants to reduce alimony by 2,000 rubles per month. Then over the year they will be reduced by 24,000 rubles. This will be the cost of the claim. Depending on this, the state duty can range from 400 to 60 thousand rubles.

Objection to reduce alimony

The defendant in the case of reducing alimony, i.e. the legal representative of the minor for whose maintenance alimony was collected from the plaintiff, or another person for whose maintenance alimony was collected, has the right to submit a written response to the case, in which he sets out all his objections to the substance of the stated requirements. You can, of course, express your objections orally during the court hearing, but it is better to duplicate your objections in writing.

The defendant's objections depend on the grounds stated by the plaintiff for reducing alimony. If, for example, alimony is collected in a fixed amount of money, and the plaintiff refers to the fact that he cannot pay the appropriate amount of alimony, the defendant, in objecting, must also provide evidence, if possible, that the plaintiff, on the contrary, can pay alimony in one or another amount.

Everything is quite individual and depends on the grounds of the claim.

What to do if your request for alimony reduction is denied?

If the court refuses to satisfy the demands for alimony reduction, the plaintiff always has the right to appeal the relevant judicial act to a higher court within the established time frame, by filing an appeal through the court that made the decision.

Adviсe

According to our legislation, maintenance funds can be paid either by agreement of the parties or by court decision.

If there is a voluntary agreement

If an agreement on the payment of alimony was concluded between you and the second parent, then if one of the parties wants to change the amount of payments, you should again contact a notary, who will record the fact of the changes you have chosen and document them. According to Art. 101 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the agreement can be changed or terminated at any time, but only with the mutual consent of the parties .

If, despite the agreement you have, you cannot reach a consensus, then either party can file a claim to change or terminate it in court.

Attention! Unilateral refusal to execute an agreement or unilateral change in its terms is not allowed (Clause 3 of Article 101 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation).

It is important to remember that the terms of the agreement should not contradict current legislation . That is, it is impossible to set the amount of payments below the minimum amount established by law, even by mutual agreement of the parties. This is stated in Part 2 of Article 103 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation.

Through the court

If certain events occur that allow you to qualify for an increase or decrease in the amount of child support payments, but you and the other parent cannot reach an agreement, you will have to go to court.

In this case, you have the right to go to court, even if previously the payment relationship was regulated by agreement , but now you cannot agree on the issue of changing the amount of amounts paid.

The court may generally cancel the alimony payer’s obligation to pay money if it is determined that the recipient behaves unworthily or has committed an intentional crime against the person paying alimony (Part 2 of Article 119 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation).

The court may recognize any addiction of the plaintiff (alcohol, gaming, drug) as unworthy behavior if it harms the interests of the alimony payer or family.

Reference! An intentional crime means any crime committed against the person paying alimony (for example, against his life, health, sexual integrity).

Documents for reducing alimony

The following materials must be attached to the statement of claim for a reduction in alimony depending on the basis:

1. The document that serves as the basis for collecting alimony: a notarial agreement on alimony, an order or a court decision.
2. Confirmation of the presence of minor children: birth certificate.
3. Proof of child support: an agreement to pay child support, an order or a court decision.
4. Confirmation of the changed financial situation: personal income tax certificate 2 for the previous year; other mandatory expenses, for example, an increase in rent for rental housing - a corresponding agreement, etc.
5. Calculation of the amount of claims, which is the difference between alimony paid for the previous year in the available amount and alimony for the same period in a modified, reduced version.
6. Receipt for payment of state duty. The amount is determined based on the value of the claim using Section 333.19 of the current Internal Revenue Code.
7. A copy of the claim with all documents attached for all participants in the process.

Important: in the event of a reduction in child support due to the birth of another child, the mother (legal representative) of such a minor must be involved in the case.

What is a payment adjustment?

Alimony is a certain monetary payment for maintenance (how to calculate its amount?). At the same time, the Family Code of the Russian Federation provides not only for payments for children (both adults and not), but also for disabled parents in need, for spouses (in some cases established by law, even former ones), for brothers and sisters, grandparents, etc. d.

In any of these cases, the amount of alimony can be changed and this can be done by both the party receiving the payments and the party paying them.

Reference! In accordance with Art. 119 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the basis may be a change in the financial or marital status of either party.

Consequences of reducing alimony

It is important to understand what will be the “output” and what result to expect as a result of initiating the procedure for reducing alimony. The financial benefits are seen in a specific example.

Let’s say, with a conditional salary of 20,000 rubles. Child support for one child is established in the amount of 1/4 share.

• 20,000 / 4 = 5,000 rubles – monthly alimony amount.
• We are filing a claim to reduce alimony, the basis of which is the birth of a second child.
• Alimony for two children is 1/3, that is, 1/6 for each child. With a stipulated salary (20,000/6), monthly costs for alimony will be 3,333.33 rubles.

As a result, the minimum monthly savings will be 1,700 rubles.

Algorithm for the action of the alimony worker

1. Your second spouse writes to the magistrate of the judicial district serving the territory in which you are registered, an application for the issuance of a court order to collect alimony for the maintenance of your joint child in the amount of ¼ of the debtor’s income monthly, starting from the date of writing the application for the issuance of a court order and until a child of 18 years of age, and takes him to court.

The application can also be written by hand. The application is written and submitted in one copy. The following must be attached to the application:

• copies of the child's birth certificate,
• edit about family composition (preferably indicating mother, child),
• marriage registration certificate or divorce certificate,
• in some cases - certificates of paternity.

It will not be superfluous to attach account details (bank statement) to which funds in the form of alimony in the amount of 1/6 of income will be returned to your family budget.

Important! The application must indicate that the child’s father does not help, refuses financial assistance, there is no joint budget between the spouses, there is no common household with the debtor, the family is at the stage of breakdown and dissolution of the marriage. We do not write about the presence of other children to whom alimony is paid by court decision. Otherwise, the Court will return the application with a recommendation to file a lawsuit, which will require additional time.

You can easily find examples of such statements on the Internet and even at a stand in the lobby of the justices of the peace building.

It is better to supplement the existing sample with an additional requirement - I ask that the court order be sent for execution directly to the Federal Bailiff Service of the Russian Federation for the OSP of the district of your city, and the funds be transferred to such and such details. With such a requirement, the magistrate himself will send the court order to the bailiffs for execution.

The magistrate will issue a court order within 5 days from the date of receipt of the application without summoning the parties to court. If the court does not send the order to the bailiffs, then your wife will need to receive it and send it to the bailiffs for execution on her own.

1. Make sure that the court order has been received for execution by the bailiffs through the website of the Federal Bailiff Service of the Russian Federation (section “Data Bank of Enforcement Proceedings”).
2. You are waiting for the first write-off of funds as alimony from wages according to two writs of execution. As soon as the write-off has occurred, move on to the main thing, for which all this was intended - prepare to file a claim to reduce alimony to 1/6 for the first child.
3. Take a 2-NDFL certificate for the previous 12 calendar months from the accounting department at your place of work.
4. Get a certificate from the accounting department about the dates and amounts of alimony withheld for each writ of execution. The certificate is written in any form. The accounting department should know.
5. Take from the bailiffs copies of the enforcement documents certified by the bailiff - the first court order and the second court order.
6. When the documents are received, you can prepare a claim to reduce the amount of child support. The claim is prepared in printed form, in any easy-to-read font, on white A4 size paper in four original copies (for the court, for two defendants, for you) with attachments (copies of the attached documents) in triplicate (for the court and two defendants).
7. Preparing a claim begins with calculating the price of the claim and, as a result, calculating the state duty payable when filing a claim. Calculations can be included either in the text of the claim or drawn up as a separate document, attached to the claim. Personally, I include calculations in the text of the claim.

According to paragraphs. 6 Part 1 Article 91 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation for claims for a decrease or increase in payments and distributions, the price of the claim is determined based on the amount by which payments and distributions are reduced or increased, but not more than for a year.

In simple human language, we are interested in the difference between the established and the amount of alimony to be established for the future, which is 1/12 as a share of earnings (1/4 - 1/6 = 1/12) in monetary terms.

A) Look at your 2-NDFL certificates (usually there are two of them) and calculate your income for the 12 months preceding the filing of the claim, taking into account the personal income tax paid. Let's say you file a claim in November 2021. Then consider your income for the period from October 2021 to October 2018 inclusive. Let's say you get an amount of 400,000 rubles. B) Now look at the certificate from the accounting department and calculate how much alimony you paid in total for the previous 12 months, in the example under consideration - for the period from October 2021 to October 2018 inclusive. Based on logic, if you paid child support to your first child throughout the previous year, then, for example, with an income of 400,000 rubles, you should get an amount equal to ¼ of 400,000 rubles - 100,000 rubles. C) Calculate how much alimony you paid on average monthly, provided that you paid ¼ of your income. To do this, divide the total amount of alimony paid (item B) by 12 months. In our example, it will be 100,000/12=8,333 rubles. D) Now calculate how much total alimony you would have paid for your first child for the previous year if you paid alimony in the amount of 1/6 of your income. To do this, divide the total amount of income (point A) taking into account the personal income tax paid by 6. In our example, it will be 400,000/6= 66,667 rubles. E) Calculate how much alimony you would pay on average monthly, provided that you paid 1/6 of your income. To do this, divide the total amount of alimony expected to be paid (point D) by 12 months. In our example, it will be 66,667/12=5,556 rubles E) Now calculate how much monthly alimony payments are reduced if the amount previously established by the court decreases from ¼ to 1/6 of the debtor’s income. This is the difference between the amount specified in paragraph “B” and the amount specified in paragraph “D”. In our example, this amount is 8,333 – 5,556 = 2,777 rubles. So we have received the price of the claim, based on which the state duty is paid. I’ll tell you how to calculate it a little later.

1. Determine jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction is the specific court in which a claim must be filed. Claims to reduce the amount of alimony previously established by the court are within the jurisdiction of magistrates and are filed at the place of registration of the Defendant. In the specific case under consideration, we have two Defendants - a former spouse and a current one, and, therefore, you have the right to choose which magistrate to file a claim - at the place of registration of the ex-wife or at the place of registration of the legal spouse.

To find out which magistrate to file a claim with and the address of the court district, go to the website of the state automated system of the Russian Federation GAS Justice” - https://sudrf.ru/. Go to the “Judges of the Peace” section, check the box “I’m looking for a magistrate’s precinct,” enter the region of residence, city, street of one of the defendants, click “find” - the system will display information about the court precinct at the entered address. Do the same for information about the second Defendant. Now you can choose which magistrate judge you will file your claim with.

Having chosen the court district closest to you geographically, go to the court’s website in the state duty calculator section.

The system will prompt you to fill out the form:

• “select a fee” – select “filing a claim” from the list;
• “select the type of claim” – select from the list of “property nature subject to assessment”;
• “enter the amount of the claim” – enter the amount of the claim; in our case, this is the amount calculated in paragraph 8, subparagraph “E”.

Click "calculate".

The system, in addition to counting, offers to generate a payment document - use this function. Enter your full name in the form and your registration address.

Important! The system does not prompt you to enter your TIN, but entering it is required, since the bank may not process the payment without specifying it. Enter your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) in the form where you indicate your address.

Click “generate receipt” and “print receipt”. Now you can print out a payment document and pay at any branch of Sberbank PJSC without any commission.

If you did not indicate the TIN on the receipt, do not forget to indicate it to the operator, since without it the operator may say that the payment will not go through. The payment will go through - the operator will just have to enter all the details manually, and this will take a long time. Therefore, in order to save your own and others’ time, please indicate your TIN number.

10.The hardest part is over. Now you are all ready to file a claim. The claim looks something like this.

The procedure for changing the amount of payments

Depending on the form of making changes, the new amount of alimony can be established either voluntarily or compulsorily:

1. In the first case, we are talking about drawing up an alimony agreement. This is a document that is drawn up when there is an agreement between the parties regarding the amount and frequency of payments. It is signed by the payer and the recipient.
2. If the parties do not reach a compromise, then the amount of payments is determined through the court. To challenge such a decision, you will have to file a second claim.

Regarding the previous two points, the amount of payments can be reviewed and changed in two ways:

1. If there is an alimony agreement, certain changes are made to this document. But this is only possible if there is an agreement between the parties. If there is no agreement, the document is canceled and the case is sent to court.
2. If the amount of payments was previously determined by the court, then, even with mutual consent of the parties, a subsequent change in the procedure for collecting alimony becomes possible only as a result of an appropriate court decision. To do this, it is necessary to file a statement of claim, which can be drawn up by both the payee and the payer.

Arbitrage practice

Experience shows that a correctly drafted statement of claim is accepted and considered. Most often they refuse to accept it for the following reasons:

• The appeal was submitted by a person who had nothing to do with the dispute and, in accordance with the procedure established by law, was not authorized to perform these actions;
• There are court decisions that have entered into force based on the results of consideration of the dispute between the same plaintiff and defendant, which concerned the same subject and on the same grounds.

Isolated cases have been recorded in which an application to the court for a reduction in alimony was unreasonably refused. For example, in the Sverdlovsk region, an appeal overturned the decision of the Asbestov City Court, which refused to accept a similar claim. The higher authority motivated the cancellation as follows:

1. The legal relations under consideration are of a long-term nature.
2. The previous claim is not identical to the one that was not accepted for consideration.
3. The plaintiff's grounds differ from those stated earlier.

It was about the defendant changing his place of work and concealing the true amount of total income.

In another case, a higher authority returned the claim to the magistrate on the grounds that there was no such basis for refusal as the absence of a dispute about the law. The appeal indicated that it was precisely during the trial that it was necessary to find out whether the applicant’s right had been violated. It is not possible to do this at the stage of considering the issue of accepting a claim.

You can familiarize yourself with judicial practice on reducing alimony by reading the following article.