Parents can demand child support. What you need to know

Far from all families there is an idyll and mutual understanding – often the relationship between parents and already adult children is rather strained. But even in such cases, they have mutual rights and obligations – children need help until the age of majority, and parents after the loss of legal capacity. Therefore, alimony here works both ways, and even if contact is lost with mom and dad, you will have to part with the money – but under certain conditions. Which ones – “Secret” understood.

Relations between children and parents in Russia are regulated by the Family Code. It is in it that the obligations of adult children to support their parents are spelled out. The key is to provide for disabled mom and dad and take care of them.

At the same time, not every parent can take and demand child support. To do this, several conditions must be met at once. One of the main ones is to file an appropriate application with the district or world court. As with “ordinary” alimony, this issue is resolved through Themis.

We will analyze who can qualify for such assistance and what may prevent you from receiving it.

Who is entitled to alimony

The law refers to disabled parents, that is, people who can no longer (or may not) work. As Maria Lavrentyeva, lawyer of the Chamber of Lawyers of the Kamchatka Territory, explained, these include:

• people who have entered the social pension (60 years for women and 65 years for men);
• invalids of I, II or III groups.

At the same time, only needy parents can apply for alimony. This means that the money they have is not enough for a decent existence. To determine whether there is a need or not, the court will compare the parent’s income with his “needs of life.”

The necessities of life are understood as the acquisition of the necessary food, clothing, medicines, the cost of outside care, payment for housing and utilities, etc.

The court will certainly compare the parent’s income with his actual expenses, and also analyze his medical records: does he have chronic diseases, does he need to take medication all the time, and has he faced expensive operations, noted Yulia Ostapenko and Angelina Romashina, senior lawyers at Tomashevskaya & Partners.

Important: the court will need specific evidence, that is, checks and other proof of payments. But this does not always work: some more “friendly” judges to the parents will have enough explanation about just one incident of unforeseen expenses.

In addition, there is one more rule – the children themselves must be of age, that is, over 18 years old, and able-bodied. Age is a must. Even if a child before the age of 18 got a job, he will not be assigned alimony for his parents.

What will prevent parents from ripping off child support

Even if the parents retired or applied for a disability, and also proved a lack of money, they can still be denied alimony in court. As noted by the partner of the Moscow law office Shcheglov and Partners, mediator Katerina Skoptsova, children can be exempted from the obligation to pay them if:

• the parent was deprived of parental rights;
• the parent did not fulfill his parental responsibilities;
• the parent committed an intentional crime against the child (this is proved by a guilty verdict or a court order).

The court will not take the word of children who accuse their parents of neglect or misbehavior. Evidence will be needed, in particular, testimonies of people who are familiar with the family, documents on debts for “children’s” alimony, the opinions of doctors or psychologists.

Also, a parent who is not included in the child’s birth certificate cannot claim alimony. This applies to fathers who were not married to the mothers of the child and for one reason or another did not begin to enter their name in the document. Even if they stayed in the family and raised the child, the court may have a logical question: why did they not become official fathers then?

How do parties negotiate child support?

The ideal option: the parents themselves agree with the children on alimony in the rim of the court. Although in a situation where children have not previously voluntarily helped their mother and father with a penny, this is not always possible. But in terms of practicality, this is the best option.

It is better not to bring the issue of receiving maintenance from children by the parent to the court and, if possible, resolve it in a contractual manner, which will allow the parties to save significant costs (time, money, psychological health) that are inevitable in the judicial way of resolving the conflict. In addition, as experience shows, a peaceful way of resolving issues allows you to maintain normal human relations between loved ones.

If an agreement cannot be reached, parents can try to contact an intermediary, for example, a mediator. He is an out-of-court dispute resolution specialist who helps clients overcome disagreements and eventually come to a joint solution.

Suppose the parties nevertheless agreed, but do not want to let the situation take its course and prefer to put it on paper. Then it will be necessary to draw up a special agreement on the payment of alimony for disabled and needy parents. It must be certified by a notary. Otherwise, the document will not have legal force.

If one of the parties to the agreement is declared incompetent, it can be concluded between legal representatives, said Maria Spiridonova, managing partner of Leges Bureau, member of the Russian Bar Association. And persons with limited legal capacity must obtain consent from the representative to issue such a document.

There is no legally fixed form of the agreement – it is drawn up arbitrarily. The agreement usually states:

• data of the parties;
• place and date of conclusion of the document;
• term and procedure for payments;
• the amount of alimony;
• rights and obligations of the parties;
• validity period of the document;
• penalties;
• signatures.

A sample agreement can be found on the Internet or consult with a notary.

Another important point is that alimony must be indexed, which can also be specified in the agreement. This happens either in accordance with the documents, or according to the current rules – in proportion to the growth of the subsistence minimum.

The agreement will be equated to a writ of execution. This means that in case of non-payment, parents will be able to apply to bailiffs with a request to collect money from their children forcibly.

Another option is to contact the one who pays the child money, for example, his employer or the university where he receives a scholarship, said Yevgenia Ryzhkova, a lawyer for the Samara branch of the Yakovlev and Partners legal group.

An agreement can only be changed or canceled if both parties agree. To do this, you will also have to draw up a document and certify it with a notary. Nothing can be done unilaterally.

If no agreement is reached

It happens that voluntarily children refuse to pay at all. The parents can then sue for child support. To do this, they need to prepare a statement of claim. As Andrei Misarov noted, it should reflect:

• the name of the court to which the application is submitted (world or district court at the place of residence);
• plaintiff’s data (full name, date and place of birth, place of residence or stay, identity document or identifier (passport, SNILS, TIN);
• similar data of the defendant;
• whether someone is supported by children;
• whether the parents have other able-bodied adult children, whether they provide assistance to them and in what amount;
• all types of income of the parties and their property (including bank deposits);
• what is the violation on the part of the defendant;
• the circumstances on which the claims are based and their evidence;
• the value of the claim, if it is subject to assessment, and the calculation of the amounts recovered;
• the fact that the plaintiff tried to resolve the issue without a trial;
• list of attached documents.

“The application may contain telephone numbers, email addresses of the plaintiff, his representative, the defendant, other information relevant to the consideration and resolution of the case, as well as the petitions of the plaintiff,” Andrey Misarov added.

The claim must be accompanied by:

• documents that confirm an attempt to resolve the dispute without a trial (for example, a pre-trial claim);
• documents that prove the validity of the requirements (for example, a certificate of disability);
• birth certificates of children;
• calculation of the recoverable amount signed by the plaintiff;
• a notice of delivery or other papers that confirm that the plaintiff sent a copy of the application to other participants in the case;
• documents that will confirm an attempt at reconciliation (if any).

If some documents from the list are not in the hands of the parents or some data is unknown to them, it is important to state this in the claim – the court will later request the necessary information. To do this, you will need to file a separate petition for the reclamation of evidence.

An action must be filed in the district court at the place of residence of the defendant or plaintiff. You can choose both paper and electronic media.

The plaintiff will not have to pay the state fee – the money will be demanded from the payer, that is, the child.

By the way, if a parent sues only one child, and he has several of them, then the court can attract other children as co-respondents.

Parents can also go to court if they are not satisfied with the amount of alimony prescribed in a previously concluded agreement. To do this, they will additionally need to demand to terminate the agreement or recognize the document as invalid.

How is child support determined?

The court will determine the amount of alimony individually for each specific case – based on the financial and marital status of both parties. All types of income (wages, pensions, benefits, etc.) and all property belonging to the parties, including securities and deposits, will be taken into account.

The amount of alimony will also be affected by how many people an adult child is obliged to support. The possible disability of the child and the restoration of the parent’s ability to work will also be taken into account.

As Katerina Skoptsova clarified, usually the courts are guided by the actual size of the subsistence minimum for pensioners in the region where the case is being considered.

As for the courts of general jurisdiction, although the norm is rarely taken into account by the courts, one can state an imbalance in favor of children and a significant underestimation of the amount of alimony – in one of the cases, the court ordered two children of a pensioner to pay him 1/10 of the subsistence minimum established in …