What is the process of applying for alimony?
What is the process of applying for alimony?
The issue of alimony and how to apply for it is regulated by the family and guardianship code. This process should begin with filing a claim for alimony with the court. What should such a claim contain? The claim must be accompanied by a copy of the birth certificate of the child for whom maintenance is to be provided. You should also add a copy of the marriage certificate and a copy of the divorce or separation judgment, if any of these took place.
The next basic elements that should be attached to the application toDo the claim for alimony is to attach a certificate of the amount of earnings of the parent applying for alimony on behalf of the child (or a certificate of unemployment or the fact of receiving benefits/benefits of any kind).The claim must also include the other party’s income.
You can also not forget to include a cost estimate of expenses for the child, related to school or food, clothing and footwear, as well as a cost estimate for possible tutoring or additional classes. If the child has any medical conditions requiring treatment, therapy or rehabilitation, the party applying for alimony should attach a certificate from the doctor.
In addition, the application must be accompanied by bills for household fees (bills for the house where the child lives), e.g. gas, energy, water, etc.; as well as any bills for things that were purchased for consolation.
It is important to submit all the above documents in two copies – for the Court of the court and for the other party (defendant/defendant).
What does the amount of alimony depend on?
There are no rules governing a specific, universal amount of alimony. So what are the factors that determine their height?
Here it is necessary to indicate three main indicators – the needs of the child (providing him with Worthy and appropriate conditions for development), the earnings and property of the parent, as well as the degree of involvement of the defendant in the upbringing of the child.
What to do if the other party evades the obligation to pay?
Unfortunately, this situation is not uncommon – many clients of our Poznań law firm have faced a similar problem. Thanks to changes introduced only a few years ago, the number of maintenance debtors is decreasing, but this is still an extremely common problem. What can be done in such a situation? First of all, you should know that since 2017, Polish law treats evasion from the obligation to pay alimony as a crime. This means that in case of non-payment of alimony, the debtor may face a penalty of restriction or even imprisonment.
Moreover, the door of the debtor sooner or later comes knocking bailiff to lead to the repayment of debts, along with accrued interest. It is worth remembering that the maintenance debt arises only at the moment when the enforcement of the debt does not take place for (at least) 2 months.
If the debtor evades paying maintenance for more than 6 months, the municipality responsible for his / her place of residence may apply for the debtor’s registration with the Economic Information Bureau, which collects data on unreliable debtors. This is fraught with many difficulties – a person entered into the above-mentioned register may lose contractors or harm the opinion of his company.
In particular, the maintenance creditor may apply to the municipality for the right to collect benefits from the Maintenance Fund. After adequate proof of the fact that the debtor has avoided paying maintenance, the party may receive a maintenance benefit if it meets the criteria set out in the legislation.
It is worth going for legal advice to the law firm to learn more about this process.
The lawyers from our divorce law firm in Poznań are very pleased that you are interested in this article. We hope you will also read our other articles on divorce and family law.
We also invite you to contact the law firm: Joanna Jędrzejewska divorce lawyer in Poznań (Mickiewicza 18A/3 Poznań)
+48 504 126 688
joanna.jedrzejewska@prawnikpoznanski.pl