Debt for child support after the child reaches adulthood. Child support debt after the child comes of age Child support debt after 18 reviews

​Many people know that payment of funds for child support obligations ends immediately after the child reaches the age of majority. But what to do if these obligations have not been fulfilled for a long time and impressive debts have accumulated? Is the amount of debt really written off from the irresponsible parent when the child becomes an adult? How can you collect alimony obligations for the past period? Let's take a closer look.

What is child support debt when a child turns 18?

According to Article 120 of the Family Code, in the event of a divorce, one of the parents must pay child support until the child reaches adulthood. After which it is no longer obliged to allocate funds for its maintenance.

But if a child support debt arises, the child’s father is obliged to pay this amount even after the child turns 18 years old. If one parent evades payment, the other has the right to file a lawsuit against him. In this case, by a court decision, the alimony debt will be forcibly collected by the bailiffs in accordance with the writ of execution.

Today, there are two main rules for collecting alimony debt:

1. Alimony debt is considered to be amounts that the debtor was obliged to transfer to the account of the child or his mother, based on:

• a court decision that has entered into legal force;
• an agreement concluded on a voluntary basis between former spouses.

In order to collect arrears of alimony, there must be a basis. If the obligations were not fulfilled due to the absence of a writ of execution or a drawn up agreement, then there is no reason for recovery.

2. The limitation period for the entire period of collection of arrears of alimony when the child reaches 18 years of age.

It is possible to collect only the amount of alimony that the debtor did not transfer to the account of the mother of his child in the last three years before the day the writ of execution was submitted to the bailiffs. In this case, the statute of limitations rule applies. After three years, that is, after the child turns 21, it will no longer be possible to collect the debt incurred during the payment of alimony.

How to collect alimony debt when a child reaches the age of majority with the help of bailiffs?

As you know, alimony arrears can only arise on the basis of a writ of execution: a court decision or a general agreement. If one of these papers is in hand, the child’s mother must contact the bailiff so that he can calculate the amount of the debt and take all necessary measures to collect it.

When receiving an application, bailiffs are obliged to:

• issue a conclusion and open a case for debt collection in accordance with the writ of execution;
• calculate the amount of debt;
• begin collection work.

First, the bailiff sends the debtor a notice of opening a case, in which he indicates the amount of the debt and offers to make the payment voluntarily. At the same time, he collects data about his work, income, existing bank accounts and other property that belongs to the defaulter.

If the debtor does not respond to the notification sent and does not try to pay the debt of his own free will, the bailiff begins to carry out work to collect funds forcibly, namely:

• requires the amount of debt to be withheld from wages at the place of official employment;
• will freeze all existing bank accounts;
• describes the property and seizes it.

Moreover, the bailiff personally controls the procedure for forced collection of alimony debt.

In addition to the amount of the main debt, the child’s mother can also recover a penalty from her ex-husband for not paying child support on time. As a rule, its size is determined by the amount of debt and is at least 0.5-0.6% for each day of delay.

In the event that the debtor does not respond to the measures taken and continues to evade payment of the alimony debt, the inquiry service has the right to initiate a criminal case in accordance with Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which clearly states that in case of malicious evasion of payment of alimony obligations, such penalties may be applied to the debtor penalties such as correctional labor for a period of up to 1 year, arrest for a maximum period of 3 months or imprisonment for up to 12 months.

How to collect debt on child support obligations when a child reaches the age of majority?

The mother of the child should file a claim in court if:

1. Former spouses cannot resolve the issue of the amount of arrears for alimony obligations on their own.
2. There is a possibility that the child’s father will evade payment of the debt.
3. Bailiffs “sit on their hands”, not carrying out any enforcement actions.

During the trial, the exact amount of alimony debt will be determined, and the necessary measures to repay it will be indicated directly in the writ of execution. It could be:

• Seizure of existing accounts and write off part or all of the debt amount from them.
• Inventory, and subsequently seizure of property, and then its sale at auction in order to pay off the debt.
• Transfer of the described property to the child to pay off the alimony debt.

After receiving the document on the court decision, the plaintiff is required to hand it over to the bailiffs so that they can take all the specified measures in accordance with the procedure established by law.

How can you get your child support debt written off after your child turns 18?

Despite the fact that the debtor does not pay alimony, he can also go to court and ask to at least partially relieve him of the debt. But this is possible only when the debt arose for a good reason related to a complex illness, difficult financial situation, etc.

If during the trial the court finds the stated reason for non-payment of alimony to be valid and the evidence is justified, then it may meet the defaulter halfway. In this case, the debt will be partially written off, and the bailiffs will have to recalculate the amount that is subject to forcible collection.

It often happens that mom and dad cannot be together and get divorced. As practice shows, most often the child remains with the mother. Then the husband is assigned alimony obligations. Unfortunately, fathers do not always fulfill them. What can you do to collect child support debt for an adult child?

If child support payments are not made as the child grows up, debt will form over time. The law allows for the collection of unpaid funds even after the child reaches adulthood.

If the conditions specified in the law are met, adults also have the right to receive alimony from their parents. Such circumstances are considered to be the disability and need of the latter. These include:

a) Deviations in health with a serious disorder in the functioning of the body caused by diseases, injuries or defects (for example, coma).

b) A person’s inability to fully or partially care for himself, to remain alone, to move without assistance, to be a full-fledged member of society, to study or to work.

c) The need for additional methods of social protection, including rehabilitation.

Debt under obligations for an adult capable child may be recovered if:

• there is a court order to collect previously unpaid amounts;
• There is a notarized alimony agreement.

This document determines the procedure for paying alimony, conditions and amount, and is concluded between the recipient of alimony and the payer. If one of the parties is declared incompetent, the agreement is concluded by a legal representative.

IMPORTANT! This agreement is in written form; the document must be certified by a notary, otherwise it will not have legal force.

If there is no agreement on how alimony will be paid, then payment of the debt can be collected in court. The RF IC states that the recipient of alimony can restore the violated right through the court by filing a claim indicating the corresponding requirement. Then alimony will be collected no more than 3 years before going to court if it is established that attempts to collect the debt were made even before going to court, but the funds were still not received.

In alimony disputes, the court makes a decision to collect the debt even before the court decision enters into legal force. To collect alimony debt, you must provide one of the following documents:

• A notarized alimony agreement (the Federal Law on Enforcement Proceedings states that such an agreement has the force of a writ of execution).
• A court order on the basis of which enforcement proceedings will be carried out.
• A court-approved settlement agreement between the child’s parents, which sets out the payment procedure.

An eighteen-year-old must independently demand repayment of alimony debt. To do this, there must be a document confirming the grounds for receiving unpaid alimony.

Algorithm and methods of collection

The alimony agreement determines the procedure for making payments. If debts are collected based on this document or a court decision, the payer’s employer must withhold the amount due under the obligations from his salary (or other income).

The alimony debt will be collected in the amount established by the agreement or court decision from the income of the obligated person. If these funds are insufficient, deduction occurs from bank accounts transferred funds to commercial and non-profit organizations under agreements.

If this is not enough, the penalty is applied to the property of the obligor. In judicial practice, disputes often arise regarding the determination of the amount of debt. When determining it, the courts take into account:

• All sources of income that the alimony payer has, the debt will be withheld from them.
• The amount of average monthly earnings in the country, if the debtor has no sources of income; the situation of the parties (both family and financial).
• The reasons why the debt arose, whether the alimony payer is at fault.
• The time frame within which they contacted the judicial authorities and the bailiff with a writ of execution.

The debt is collected from the following funds:

Who acts as a plaintiff when the child reaches the age of majority?

After the child turns eighteen, he independently acts as a plaintiff. The exception is those cases when he is declared incompetent, then the guardian represents his legal interests.

IMPORTANT! If the legal representative of a legally capable adult applies for debt collection, his demands will not be satisfied.

Statement of claim for non-payment of alimony

Below you can familiarize yourself with the correct drafting of a statement of claim for the collection of alimony debt after 18 years.

Attach to the application:

• a copy of the statement of claim;
• copies of the applicant’s identity document;
• documents substantiating the claims for debt collection.

IMPORTANT! Copies of documents must be provided in 3 copies: for each party to the dispute and for the court.

Statute of limitations

The statute of limitations does not apply to alimony debt after 18 years. Alimony is usually awarded from the moment the claim is filed in court. But they are collected within the three years that preceded the application if the following facts are established:

• The plaintiff (applicant) took measures to collect the debt (for example, he attempted to find the alimony provider or come to an agreement on this issue).
• The obligated person deliberately evaded payment (for example, hid his income, refused to enter into an agreement, unreasonably delayed it).

When a court decision is made to satisfy the applicant’s claims, he will be given one of the following documents:

• performance list;
• a copy of the court decision;
• extract from the court order.

One of these documents is transferred to the SSP at the payer’s place of residence or place of work. With the latter option, payments will be made by the company's accounting department.

Agreements to pay alimony are executed voluntarily. If a person obligated to pay alimony does not fulfill his obligations due to unjustifiable circumstances, there is no need to go to court for justice, because this document has the force of a writ of execution. Then it is enough to provide the agreement to the employer of the alimony payer or to the bailiff in the SSP.

If this document is handed over to the employer, then the debt will be collected from the salary. If the document is handed over to the bailiff, then he initiates enforcement proceedings.

IMPORTANT! If such a document is transferred in violation of the rules of territorial affiliation established between the structural divisions of the SSP, the bailiff may return it. The same will happen if a copy is provided instead of the original document.

If the document is accepted for execution, the bailiff initiates proceedings.

Is it possible to write off debt?

To be completely exempt from paying (or at least reducing the amount of debt to pay) alimony, the following conditions must be met:

• The alimony payer is ill (or there are other reasons that the court recognized as valid). These include a long business trip, serious illness or death of a close relative.
• A difficult financial situation when there is no way to pay off the debt that has arisen (if, after deducting the amount, there is not at least a subsistence minimum left not only for the debtor, but also for his family members, for example).
• The presence of conditions that make it impossible to pay the resulting debt (the birth of a child, for example, or if a disabled dependent has appeared in the family).

The listed circumstances must be specified in the judicial act on exemption from payment (reduction of the amount) of the debt. Also, during the proceedings, the parties can enter into a settlement agreement if it does not violate the rights and interests of the recipient and does not contradict the law.

Therefore, if the child support debt remains and the child is 18 years old, it is possible to collect the debt. To do this, you just need to obtain a writ of execution. An adult must obtain the document independently. To do this, you can go to court. A notarized agreement on the payment of alimony also has the same legal force. Payment of arrears on alimony obligations after 18 years is carried out through the SSP. The document must be executed immediately.

The second part of Article 120 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation states that child support must be paid until they reach the age of majority or until emancipation - they acquire full legal capacity before turning eighteen years old. Provided that these children can financially support themselves independently.

That is, in almost all cases, after reaching the age of majority, child support payments stop. The same cannot be said about alimony debt after 18 years.

An adult able-bodied child does not have the right to demand monthly alimony, but has the right to collect arrears of alimony. An adult disabled recipient has the right to both monthly alimony payments and the alimony debt that has accumulated at that time.

Alimony debt by agreement and by court

Do you know that

Debt recalculation is carried out as follows: if alimony payments are assigned in a fixed amount, the calculation is made using indicators of the cost of living in a given region. If alimony is a share of earnings, then the amount is determined taking into account income data; if there is none, then the average salary in Russia will be taken as a basis.

If child support was collected according to, then the termination of payments occurs in accordance with the points specified in it. Often, parents do not limit the payment of alimony to the child turning eighteen years old, because at this age he is still studying and will not be able to provide for himself financially.

The payment of alimony debt is also stipulated by the parents in a voluntary agreement on terms that suit both parties. Example: if a child support debt arises, it is paid in double amount or with the accrual of the established amount of the penalty, or is completely forgiven if the child is already an adult.

The alimony debt for payments established by a court decision is collected according to the general rules - with a penalty added to the accumulated amount and in full, regardless of the time of its collection.

Who collects the debt

When a court decision to collect alimony payments already exists, there is no deadline for claiming and paying off the debt. It is required to be paid at any time and in full. Only the recipient will no longer be the second parent, but the adult child himself.

If there is no court decision (or voluntary agreement) on the payment of alimony, but an adult citizen decided to collect it for his maintenance from the parent with whom he lived separately (usually the father), then you need to go to court and obtain a special document - a court order or writ of execution . Or enter into a voluntary child support agreement with this parent. This can be done by the adult child himself, and not by the parent with whom he lived together (usually the mother). In this case, the concept of limitation applies, and this child will be able to collect alimony only for the last three years preceding his or her eighteenth birthday.

The debt will not disappear, but it can be forgiven

No matter how old a citizen is who received alimony for his maintenance from a parent, he has the right to payment from his father (or mother) of the accumulated alimony debt in full and at any time. The debt for child support after 18 years will not disappear on its own and will remain on the shoulders of the debtor until it is paid in full.

The payer can only be relieved of the obligation to pay the debt by the death of himself or the recipient of alimony. And even then, the burden of paying the alimony debt after the death of the debtor can fall on the shoulders of his heirs, if the recipient so desires.

Only the adult recipient of alimony can forgive the alimony debt to his parent. You must inform the bailiff who is conducting the enforcement proceedings about your decision. After the recipient writes a corresponding statement of refusal to collect the debt, the enforcement proceedings will be terminated. To do this, you do not need to seek consent from the second parent, who received alimony before the child reached the age of majority for his maintenance. The recipient, who has reached the age of majority, has the right to decide whether he will collect the child support debt from the negligent parent. A prerequisite is that the recipient must be legally capable.

If you still have questions about how alimony debt is collected after adulthood, then ask them in the comments

This article will talk about what happens if it remains. It will also talk about situations in which debt does not accumulate if the individual who is obligated to pay alimony does not provide it to the recipient. In addition, individuals will learn what actions and in what order they need to take in order to withhold debts from relatives who are among the unscrupulous payers.

Russian legislation has introduced a number of situations in the event of which alimony relations existing between certain individuals can automatically be considered terminated. However, it may also happen that the payer is no longer required by law to transfer funds to the recipient, but at the same time has not paid the debt accumulated over the previous period. For example, this happens when a child turns eighteen. According to all the rules of family law, the parent no longer has to provide child support payments for his daughter or son, however, if he has delayed the payment of funds, then this debt will still need to be repaid.

It should be noted that in some situations individuals have the right after the age of eighteen. We are talking about pregnant spouses and spouses on maternity leave, parents in need of financial support, as well as children who have been diagnosed as disabled people of the first group.

In what cases does debt not accumulate?

If alimony relationships, in which wives/husbands or fathers/mothers who are in financial need are recipients, are terminated not at their request, but automatically, then alimony arrears are not accrued to the payers. The cases in which this happens are described in Article 120, located in the Family Code of Russia. The legislation states that the obligation to provide/receive alimony is canceled by default if:

• Someone died or the document expired. If the recipient and the payer have fixed alimony relations between themselves in a document such as a notarial agreement, then in the event of the death of one of the parties they will automatically be severed. The same thing will happen in the situation when the contract expires. In addition, if individuals have included some additional grounds in the agreement that are grounds for canceling the procedure for transferring alimony, then these should also be taken into account.
• If children have reached adulthood. From the moment the payer’s daughter or son turns eighteen years old, he is no longer obliged to transfer funds for alimony. Also, if a child is considered fully capable for some reason, but is still a minor, then his privilege to calculate alimony expires by default.
• If the child is adopted or adopted. In addition, there may be situations when a child receives alimony, withheld from the earnings of one of his parents, and the second parent formalizes an official relationship with an outside individual who expresses a desire to take custody of him. Once the adoption procedure is fully completed, payments from the biological father's income will no longer be withheld.
• If the recipient regains ability to work. Most individuals collect alimony payments from the income of their relatives due to their own incapacity for work and the resulting material need. However, if the reason for receiving monetary compensation is no longer relevant, that is, the recipient becomes able-bodied and/or wealthy, then his alimony relationship with the payer is immediately terminated.
• If the recipient gets married. If alimony benefits are due for a spouse based on the fact of incapacity for work, as well as the need for financial support, but this individual enters into a new marital relationship, then his receipt of alimony is automatically canceled. This will be exactly the same in situations where a minor child who is the recipient of alimony compensation gets married.

How to repay alimony debt

Alimony debt arises when the payer of funds violates the norms of the document that regulates this process, as well as the provisions of certain legislative acts. In most situations, mothers who have achieved the accrual of monetary support from the budget of fathers for their common minor children try to collect debts on alimony benefits. However, in family law there is such a possibility as the calculation of alimony compensation for an adult child. After the age of 18, only his disabled daughter/son (first group) has the right to financial assistance from a parent. If the father/mother owes a certain amount to an adult child, then the latter individual can defend his rights and seek justice on his own, without involving any representatives.

Attention! After reaching adulthood, except for children who are disabled, alimony compensation is awarded to students. If a child is not yet twenty-four years old and is a full-time student at an educational institution, then, according to the current legislation, he can obtain alimony payments from the income of his parents.

What should the recipient do?

In order to compensate for the money owed to an adult child by his parent or other relative, first of all, you need to make sure that the alimony relationship is still in effect. If this is the case, then the child needs to follow the following instructions:

1. Submit an application. First of all, the recipient of benefits will need to draw up a document containing a complaint against the defendant, which is drawn up in the form of a claim. In this statement, it should be noted which document norms regulating the procedure for paying alimony funds were violated. In addition, the date from which financial assistance ceased to be received by the payer is indicated, and the amount of the debt is also stated.
2. File a claim with a judicial authority. After this, the statement of claim must be submitted to the court for review. It is not worth sending one claim without any documentation that should be attached to it, as it will be considered unlawful. In order for the words written in the application to be recognized as reliable, they must be supported by relevant documents. First of all, a document on the basis of which the plaintiff and defendant are bound by alimony relations, as well as some other documents.

Who holds the debt

After the recipient has completed all of the above actions, he will need to wait until they issue instructions for the forced collection of the debt. As soon as an individual receives a document issued by a judge, he will need to draw up another application, only addressed not to the court, but to the service. In this document, you must indicate the details of the received writ of execution and ask the bailiff to forcibly collect the debt from the defendant.

In order for legal proceedings to begin, the original writ of execution must be attached to the statement of claim. After this, a certain bailiff will independently search for the debtor and force him to pay all the money required by law for the recipient. The plaintiff will only need to wait for the funds to arrive on his bank card.

Sometimes individuals do not pay alimony for valid reasons related to either their health or financial situation. If it is proven in court that the deferment of alimony is due to valid reasons, then it will not be accrued.

The general rule is that after reaching adulthood, “children’s benefits” are no longer paid on a general basis (the exception is the incapacity of the needy offspring). But alimony debt after 18 years can and should be claimed. This refers to funds not paid for the period when the child was entitled to them under the terms of an agreement or court order.

Note! The payer is not obliged to support an able-bodied child after the age of 18, even if the latter is studying at a hospital.

In practice, arrears incurred for alimony after 18 years are usually never repaid, since, according to Art. No. 120 SK and Art. No. 43 from Ch. 5 Federal Law No. 229-FZ, upon reaching the age of majority, enforcement proceedings are terminated, even if there are still debts on it.

The bailiff service often refers to these provisions, refusing to recover from the debtor under IL. The algorithm of actions in such a situation, which official sources to refer to and how to justify your demands will be discussed below.

The collection of alimony arrears from the 18th birthday is discussed in information letter N 12/01-2961-AP dated March 13, 2009. It is explicitly stated that enforcement proceedings cannot be terminated if the payer still has debts for alimony. If the bailiffs do not want to act in accordance with this document, then experts advise choosing one of the options for further action:

• “fight” with the SSP to the bitter end, proving the illegality of termination of legal proceedings in the presence of alimony debt;
• just take a certificate about the amount of the debt and again file a claim for its collection along with the penalty.

In judicial practice, there have been cases when an adult himself sought to obtain alimony debts from a parent.

Conditions for claiming unpaid alimony

Collection of arrears of alimony after 18 years of age is permissible if it arose after the fact of a court decision or the conclusion of an alimony agreement. It will be necessary to prove that the payer deliberately entered into debt, knowing about his obligations, but evading them. Meanwhile, the second parent also did not remain idle, but tried in every possible way to collect the debt (it is advisable to submit letters of demand and other evidence to the court). The statute of limitations is not significant in such circumstances (see Article No. 113 of the Criminal Code). That is, after coming of age, a year, 5 – 10 years or more may pass (for example, in 2017 in Omsk, a 25-year-old plaintiff demanded a child support debt from her father).

Is it possible to win a claim without having a writ of execution?

Debt collection and receiving alimony money for the past period are diametrically different concepts.
If the applicant wants to withhold funds, but did not go to court and did not draw up a notarial agreement before the child’s 18th birthday, then it is unlikely that he will be able to receive the money. There is no official basis for holding the debt, as well as actually the debt itself. In any case, you can get the money for a maximum of 3 previous years and if there are good reasons. That is, when the offspring turns 21, it is no longer possible to claim “children’s” for the past period. The limitation period comes into force.

How is the trial going?

Theoretically, the plaintiff in such cases can be either the adult himself or the parent who supported him exclusively at his own expense without the help of a spouse. In practice, magistrates' courts (and this is the authority that should be contacted) require that the statement of claim be written on behalf of a child who has reached the age of 18.

When filing a claim, please include:

• name of the court;
• Full name, residential addresses of the applicant and respondent;
• information about marriage/divorce;
• information about common children and what payment was assigned to each of them;
• amount of debt;
• list of attachments (documentary and other evidence to the case).

Calculate the penalty yourself and do not forget to include a request to the court to recover the lost funds.
in 3 copies along with attachments.

During the trial, the financial situation of the parties, their family status, the reasons for the accumulation of debt (deliberate evasion or the influence of factors beyond the control of the defaulter), arguments and evidence received from the plaintiff and the recoveree will be studied and compared.
The court's decision depends on all of the above circumstances.

Options for trial outcomes

After the meeting, the judge will make a ruling in favor of one of the parties. Moreover, even if the plaintiff’s request to request alimony from the debtor is granted, the payment of the penalty may be canceled if the payer could not transfer the required amounts on time due to external circumstances, for example:

• salary delays,
• errors in transfers made by responsible organizations.

The document that will allow the debt to be withheld is a writ of execution (IL) with the amounts indicated therein and the procedure for receiving alimony. Usually it is handed over to the bailiffs, who take measures for forced collection. Among them:

• arrest of accounts,
• sale of property, real estate of the debtor at auction with the subsequent transfer of proceeds to the plaintiff,
• other civil, administrative and even criminal measures involving tax and other services.

If the person obligated for alimony voluntarily agrees to fulfill the conditions specified in the IL, there is no need to resort to the services of bailiffs.

Debt cancellation

The alimony debt is not subject to cancellation. With the death of the payer, it passes to the heirs along with the inheritance.
But the immediate recipient (an adult offspring) can himself submit an official refusal with a request to terminate the proceedings in the case.

Official documentation on the topic

1. Family Code, especially articles 120, 113, 107.
2. The above-mentioned Federal Law, Art. No. 43.
3. Information letter N 12/01-2961-AP dated March 13, 2009
4. Clause 25 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Russian Supreme Court No. 9 of October 25, 1996 (the legal basis for the cancellation of the penalty is set out here).