Is it possible to pay child support rather than to your ex-wife?

Often, alimony payers ask the question: “How to pay alimony to a child and not to a wife?” The usual feeling of greed may prompt them to such a question.

It is much sadder if they think about it, knowing that the child’s mother really spends money not on their common son or daughter, but on herself, while the child does not receive enough basic things: food, clothing, proper education, etc.

What to do in such a situation, is it possible to transfer alimony not to the ex-wife, but to the child’s account, and if so, how to do this?

What is the misuse of alimony?

Misuse of funds to provide for the needs of a minor is understood as spending the alimony received for other purposes that do not relate to the material or other support of the child. The most difficult thing in determining misappropriation is the fact of proving it, since the payer of funds does not have the authority and ability to fully control the expenditure of funds.

Inappropriate use may include:

• Repayment of any loans.
• Acquisition of personal belongings and property for the benefit of the custodial parent or other family members.
• Spending funds on another child who is not related to the payer of the funds.
• Acquisition of family property, to which the child will not be able to have access and use, etc.

The legislation does not establish any serious liability for the misuse of alimony, since in almost all situations it is possible to explain a particular purchase and acquisition for the benefit of a minor child. The payer of the funds has the right to control the expenditure of alimony.

Making a decision to control the spending of alimony allows you to avoid any difficulties with alimony obligations and expenses on them.

OOP Help

Before going to court, it is recommended to enlist the support of guardianship and trusteeship officials. You can skip this stage and go straight to court, but such a step risks turning into failure. As a rule, fathers who do not live with their former families are unable to objectively assess the standard of living of their children and collect sufficient evidence to confirm the misuse of funds.

This is exactly what the local police department will do for the man, who, based on the application , will initiate an inspection of the material and living conditions of the minor’s detention. This procedure includes analysis of the following components:

• the child is also fed;
• does he have enough toys, books and gadgets for normal development;
• whether the mother adheres to a socially approved lifestyle (does she work if possible, does she provide for the child, does she work with him, etc.);
• does the child have clothes and shoes that are appropriate for the season, age and size;
• Does the living space meet established sanitary standards, etc.

The application must be submitted to the department of the Public Education Department, which is located at the place of residence of the mother and minor child . On the paper, the father will need to indicate:

• full name of the recipient institution;
• your full name and residential address;
• the essence of the situation (description of the circumstances that prompted the man to seek help from authorized persons);
• petition (petition to check material and living conditions and, including, the expenditure of alimony);
• date of compilation and signature.

Sample application to the PLO

The applicant will not have to supplement the application with any other documents except a copy of his passport and a copy of the minor child’s birth certificate (it is replaced by a copy of the passport if the latter is already 14 years old). After 30 days, the man will receive a response describing the results of the check. If it turns out that the child is in need of basic necessities, representatives of the PLO will take the case to court.

An audit may show that the mother is unashamedly “parasitizing” on her child’s money, does not want to work, and in some cases, exposes the minor to a real threat. In this case, the man will have the right to initiate legal proceedings to change the child’s place of residence , and, possibly, to deprive the woman of parental rights. Then it will no longer be the father, to whom the minor will move, who will have to pay child support, but the mother.

Ways to control the spending of alimony

Persons obligated to pay alimony have the right to control the expenditure of funds to provide for a minor child or children, regardless of the type and method of collecting alimony.

In other words, payers who:

1. We entered into an agreement to establish the maintenance of minor children, which went through the official procedure of notarization of documents and does not contradict the current provisions of family law.
2. We received a corresponding court decision to collect from them a certain amount of alimony in favor of a minor child, including for the previous and current periods.

Alimony for a minor is certain payments from one or both parents of a child, which must be fully directed towards providing for his needs and needs, including the purchase of clothing, personal hygiene items, gadgets, medicines, tuition fees, tutors, classes and others. goals directly related to the life and needs of the minor.

Alimony to a child's current account - instructions for registration

The best way to control alimony funds is to change the order of payments and their size. According to Article 60 of the RF IC, the court has the right, at the request of the person paying alimony, to make a decision to transfer no more than 50% of the alimony amount to a bank account opened in the name of a minor .

If alimony is paid voluntarily, without a court decision or notarial agreement, then changing its amount and order will be easy. However, if alimony payments are made on the basis of an agreement or a judicial act, then they need to be changed only in court .

The procedure for collecting penalties for alimony - how to calculate the amount of the penalty?

This leads to two ways to resolve the issue of transferring funds to the child’s account:

1. Voluntary.
2. Judicial.

It will be possible to reduce the payment voluntarily if the spouses can agree . They will need to enter into an agreement, which will indicate the amount of alimony, the procedure and terms of payment.

If the parents do not come to a common opinion, then the dispute will be resolved in court .

A parent who wishes to pay less child support will have to collect evidence and substantiate his claims in a statement of claim.

No one will reduce the payment amount without reason.

In case of voluntary maintenance of a minor

It is almost impossible to legally control the spending of alimony with voluntary participation in the material support of a child if the guardian parent prevents the establishment of actual expenses. This is due to the fact that with the voluntary maintenance of a minor, no contract is concluded, and the parents agree only in words, without supporting them with documents and the participation of a notary.

The paying parent has the right to demand various material evidence of expenses for minors, but the recipient of the funds may refuse to demonstrate and provide them due to his own convictions and it is almost impossible to force him.

Material evidence may include:

1. receipts for payment for various sections, additional education, meals in educational institutions of preschool and school type, and so on;
2. receipts for the purchase of goods or payment for any services that were purchased for a minor;
3. physical demonstration of purchased items, including gadgets and clothing;
4. statements from the minor’s account, if funds are transferred to a banking institution for subsequent storage, and so on.

It is impossible to oblige the recipient of funds to provide any evidence of embezzlement; the recipient only has the right to demand, but no more.

The paying parent has the opportunity to provide imperfectly not only with cash, but also through purchase or payment:

• clothes for a minor;
• textbooks for educational process or books;
• school or additional education;
• toys or educational devices;
• sections and circles for general development and so on.

A parent can provide alimony to a minor in kind, that is, by actually paying his expenses or purchasing any property for the benefit of the child.

When the agreement is valid

An agreement on the payment of alimony is a documentary act that establishes the rights and obligations of the payer and recipient of alimony funds. This regulatory document must undergo the notarization procedure, otherwise its validity does not begin.

The agreement allows you to control expenses for the child in full or in part, as it formally determines the direction of spending the alimony funds received by the custodial parent. The agreement can include a clause requiring the recipient to provide evidence of the actual waste of alimony in full after each month.

In the absence of such a clause in an already concluded agreement, each party may require changes to the document in order to establish mandatory reporting for the recipient of alimony. In this case, the recipient has the right to refuse to make any changes to the deed, so such a decision is best made before the actual signing of the agreement and its notarization.

If the agreement on establishing alimony obligations contains a clause on the mandatory provision of reporting on expenses made, but the recipient of the funds refuses to provide documents on expenses, then the payer has every right to appeal:

1. To the judicial authorities for the enforcement of obligations established by the agreement between the person obligated for alimony and the recipient of funds for the minor.
2. To the bailiff service , which has the right to demand execution of the agreement on payment of alimony in full, since this agreement is recognized as an executive document for each of the participating parties.

A child support agreement is a good way to control expenses for a minor child without involving the courts, but it must be drafted by a competent lawyer or lawyer to establish the most favorable terms for each of the parties.

How to make your ex-wife account for alimony

It will not be easy for the father to obtain reports on child support, because... in practice, the interests of mothers are protected and protected much more actively. Despite this, there are ways to control how you spend money, but they will vary depending on your specific situation.

When paying alimony voluntarily

The easiest way to obtain reports on the expenditure of funds is when normal relations are maintained between the former partners. If the mother and father verbally agreed on the amount and timing of alimony payments, the man can simply ask for checks, receipts and other payment documents. However, an attempt to peacefully resolve the situation does not always bear fruit, because the mother has the right to reject such a request even without objective reasons for this. A woman can either agree or disagree to the implementation of this measure, and it will not be possible to hold her accountable for refusal.

Then the man has the right to independently open a separate account for the child and begin to direct contributions there - for example, to accumulate them. It will be impossible to force him to do anything differently, because initially there was neither an agreement nor a court order to pay alimony. And the money itself in this case will be regarded as voluntary gifts from a father to his son or daughter.

When paying alimony under a written agreement

But if the payment of funds is regulated by a written and notarized agreement on child support, the father has much more rights and opportunities. So, he may express a desire to include an additional clause in the document, within the framework of which the ex-wife will be obliged to provide him with monthly reporting information on the money spent. Such a change can be entered into an already drawn up document at any time in the notary’s office, however, the consent of both parties will also be required here.

Regardless of the circumstances (if paying on a voluntary basis/under a notarial agreement/by court decision), the man will need to send his ex-wife a written request, drawn up in free form, and demand from her the same written response, which will contain either agreement with the proposal, or refusal from it. You will need to save the papers - they will be useful for further proceedings and will help prove that the father tried to resolve the situation peacefully and pre-trial.

With the categorical refusal of the ex-wife

If a woman resolutely refuses to share information about how and where she sends incoming funds, there is only one way out of the situation - this is the collection of materials that can confirm the irrational spending of money. The easiest way to prove embezzlement is when the child shows outward signs of inadequacy:

1. Sick appearance – thinness, pallor, lethargy, anxiety, which indicates a lack of nutrition, vitamins, constant stress, etc.
2. Inappropriate clothing and/or shoes for age, size, season, weather. Wardrobe items may also be too worn, old or dirty. All this indicates that alimony intended for a minor does not actually reach him.
3. Lack of toys, books, gadgets and other educational items that a child needs for full development. If he does not attend sports clubs or creative clubs under the pretext of a lack of extra funds in the family, this is also a reason to think and sound the alarm.

In addition, it is advisable for the father to talk to his son or daughter and find out whether the mother is buying everything that is required or not. Of course, a woman can refuse to buy her child an overly expensive phone or tablet, but she is simply obliged to provide him with the basic necessities.

Often, during such conversations with minors, the truth is revealed that the mother is spending child support for other purposes. To this may be added the fact that she leads a socially dangerous lifestyle: she abuses alcohol or drugs, disappears for a long time, or, conversely, constantly arranges meetings in the house with her dysfunctional friends, etc. Additionally, all of the above facts will be confirmed by testimony from witnesses, recordings of conversations, photographs and videos indicating that the rights and interests of a minor are violated and infringed. It is important that the evidence base is material and documentary; unsubstantiated and subjective statements of the alimony payer will not be considered by the responsible authorities.

With these materials, the father will need to contact the OPP department at the minor’s place of residence, where he will ask the authorized employees:

1. Conduct a home and family check.
2. Make a conclusion about how safe coexistence with the mother is for the physical and mental state of the child.

The application submitted to the PLO must indicate:

1. Full name of the department.
2. Full name and address of the applicant.
3. The essence of the appeal (it is important to mention that the applicant is the minor’s natural father, and also talk about the reasons and circumstances that prompted the person to contact the supervisory authority).
4. A request to check the conditions of child support, which includes an analysis of the expenditure of child support payments.
5. Date and signature.

You will need to attach copies of existing supporting materials to the paper. A sample application form is provided below.

Already 30 (in exceptional cases - 60) days after receiving and registering the appeal, the PLO staff will notify the father of the results of the inspection. The case will proceed and will be forwarded to the court if, during an inspection of housing conditions, interviews with neighbors, as well as conversations with educators or teachers, the fact of improper performance by the mother of her parental responsibilities is confirmed.

You should go to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities when the life and health of a minor are at risk. If the only thing a man can bring against his ex-wife is waste of alimony, then in this case, you will need to skip the appeal to the PLO and immediately file a statement of claim in court.

When the court decides

The recipient of funds has the right to go to court to forcefully collect funds to support the minor if the payer in any way evades fulfilling its obligations. The court decision establishes the type and method of transferring alimony.

As a general rule, alimony is awarded in several types:

1. In a fixed payment , which most often depends on the subsistence level established in the region, and the actual funds necessary for the normal life of the child. A fixed amount is not established everywhere, but only in special cases established by law or in cases where the court understands the need to establish this type of alimony obligations.
2. As a percentage of income , which directly depends on the number of children the payer has. In this case, interest will be paid based on the official income of the person liable for alimony.

If a decision has been made against the payer to forcefully collect alimony, then he may require reporting on the expenditure of funds on a general basis. However, if the recipient refuses to provide reports and other supporting documents, then the person obligated for child support has the right to apply to the court to create a special bank account for the child. Judicial practice in such cases is not so extensive, but a large percentage of courts agree with the payers' arguments and make a decision to create an account.

50% of the alimony amount will be transferred monthly to the minor’s account until he reaches adulthood. Upon reaching eighteen years of age, the child has the right to use the funds at his own discretion and spend them on his needs.

How can a father combat the misuse of child support?

Before accusing his ex-wife of spending money not on the child, but on herself, he must show her strong evidence.

How to prove that the wife is not spending child support on the child?
To do this, you need to collect the following documents for the judge to accept his application:

• certificate of salary/income of the wife (ex-wife);
• an inspection report of the living conditions in which the child lives;
• certificate of listed alimony;
• report on the mother's expenses for maintaining the child.

In practice, it is very difficult to prove that the mother of a child is spending money for other purposes . After all, the problem is that most men do not live with their family, which means they cannot provide evidence that the money is being spent for other purposes.

What to do if the ex-wife does not spend child support on the child? Take action - go to court, but be sure to provide evidence that she is not spending this money on her son (daughter).

Evidence may include testimony of witnesses, photos or video recordings of how the ex-spouse spends money not on buying clothes or food for the child, but on herself, buying expensive things, having fun, etc.

But in fact, it will be very difficult to prove that the money is not being used for the intended purpose, even if the child really needs food, clothing, etc.