According to Cl. 180 of the Domestic Relations (Family) Code of Ukraine, parents, irrespective of being Ukrainian or foreign, are to support their child until his or her coming of age (18 years old). This obligation is not affected by the fact whether the parents live together as one family or are divorced. They define the ways of supporting the child financially by themselves, having reached an agreement in the spoken form or in the form of a written agreement approved by the notary. In case a dispute arises concerning the financial support of a child, one of the parents has a legal right to demand the payment of alimony from the other through the court of law.
It should be noted that the trial on the imposition of alimony where the defendant is a foreigner can take place in Ukraine and the ruling of the court executed in a foreign state (in case the corresponding agreement on providing mutual legal support between the states has been signed).
Submitting their legal claim to the court, the mother/father is to indicate the concrete size of the sum which she/he believes is necessary to recover for child support from the defendant. However, the final decision is up to the court, as, while determining the alimony size, the court takes into consideration the following circumstances:
- the state of health and the material situation of the child;
- the state of health and the material situation of the payer of alimony;
- the fact whether the payer of alimony has other children, a disabled husband/wife, daughter, son;
- other essential
Based on the court ruling the alimony for child support is imposed as the share of the defendant income or as a fixed sum.
Alimony is imposed as a fixed sum if:
– the alimony payer has an irregular, unstable income:
– part of the income is received in kind;
– there are other essential circumstances.
The minimal alimony size for one child cannot constitute less than 50 per cent of the subsistence level for a child of the corresponding age.
The alimony for child support is imposed from the day of filing the legal claim based on the decision of the court. Alimony can be imposed for the past period if the plaintiff presents the evidence of the fact that he/she took measures aimed at obtaining the alimony from the defendant but failed to receive it as the latter evaded this commitment. In this case the court of law can impose alimony for the past period but no more than for the period of three years.
According to Cl. 192 of the Domestic Relations (Family) Code of Ukraine, the alimony size determined by the court or agreement between the parents can be reduced or increased in the course of time through legal action based on the legal claim of the payer or the recipient of the alimony in case of the changes to the financial or marital state, deterioration or improvement of the state of health of one of them or other relevant cases.
The alimony size can be reduced if the child is supported by the state, a territorial community or legal entity based on the application by the parents, authorized territorial community, legal entity supporting the child and on approval of the guardianship and wardship authority.
The law firm “Zilver” has the relevant experience of the legal support in family cases, where one of the spouses is a foreigner (not Ukrainian). Our lawyers and attorneys-at-law are ready to provide consulting services, prepare and execute the legal acts, litigate in the courts of law of Ukraine. You can have an appointment with our lawyers in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk by dialing +380501409560 or by E-mail: info@zilver.com.ua