What is the penalty for failure to pay alimony: penalties and fines

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First of all, the “alimony holder” who is shirking his duties must be prepared for regular visits and written warnings from bailiffs. It is possible that the recipient of alimony may appear at the defaulter’s place of residence with bailiffs - the law gives him the right to initiate and participate in the process of collecting alimony. What threatens alimony defaulter in Russia? What awaits him?

1. One of the simplest and most effective measures to influence debtors is deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle. The law allowing the deprivation of a driver’s license for non-payment of alimony in an amount over 10,000 rubles came into force on January 15, 2020. Moreover, the bailiff has the right to make a corresponding decision without going to court - only a court decision to impose alimony obligations and the fact of alimony debt will be sufficient. Within 5 days after the decision is made, you must hand over your driver's license to the bailiff. They can be returned only after full payment of the debt and provision of a receipt.
2. Not long ago, a law appeared prohibiting non-payers from traveling abroad . This restriction applies to debtors until the debt is fully repaid. Many airports have already installed special terminals through which you can pay the debt amount. True, even in this way it is not always possible to solve the problem, because the transfer of funds does not occur instantly. It is better to take care of the absence of debts in advance.
3. For each day of delay in alimony payments, a penalty . This means that if alimony is not paid on time, the total amount of debt increases.
4. A fine of up to 100 minimum wages is the punishment that threatens for non-payment of alimony if the payer hid his income.
5. Corrective labor (up to 12 months) or community service (from 20 to 180 hours) are very effective punishments for persistent non-payers of alimony
6. One of the most severe penalties is arrest (up to 3 months) and imprisonment (from 1 to 3 years);
7. Deprivation of parental rights.

Expert opinion

Semyon Frolov

Lawyer. 7 years of experience. Specialization: family, inheritance, housing law.

Speaking about criminal liability, it should be remembered that it applies only to persons guilty of malicious evasion of alimony payments. A willful defaulter does not pay alimony for more than 4 months, changes his place of residence or hides from the recipient of alimony and bailiffs, hides or minimizes his income, ignores a court decision to collect alimony and debt, and has an impressive alimony debt. You can read more about criminal liability for non-payment of alimony in the article “Are people jailed for non-payment of alimony?”

several types of punishments can be imposed on a negligent “alimony worker” . For example, in addition to the principal amount of the debt, he will pay a penalty (for each day of delay in alimony payments), a fine - if he hid his income by providing false information about his place of work and salary. He may be banned from leaving the country, and his bank accounts and property may be seized. In some cases, he may be charged with a criminal offense - malicious evasion of child support.

When is there no risk for failure to pay child support?

Although the law allows the recipient of alimony and the bailiff to initiate the process of bringing the alimony debtor to justice (including criminal liability), in certain circumstances this is not allowed, for example, if...

• the alimony payer lost his job, but registered with the Employment Center and is conscientiously looking for a new job;
• the alimony payer was ill and therefore incurred significant material expenses;
• the alimony payer has made minimal alimony payments over the past 4 months;
• the reason for non-payment of alimony is late wages at work;
• the bank (accounting department) did not transfer the amount of money or did so untimely;

If the defaulter proves that he is not guilty of non-payment of alimony, the court will exempt him from paying alimony and penalties for the specified period.

Obligation to pay alimony

The Family Code regulates the relations of spouses, children and parents. According to Art. 80 of the RF IC, parents are obliged to support minor children. It does not matter whether the parent is employed, is on disability or has limited parental rights.

The obligation to pay child support is assigned to the parent who leaves the family and leaves the child in the care of the second parent. Based on judicial practice, the child most often remains with the mother, so the father is the payer of alimony.

When a child lives with his father, he also has the right to file for child support. In this case, the mother will be required to pay a certain amount for child support.

If you do not pay alimony, make payments irregularly, less than the amount determined by the court or agreement, or hide your income, the alimony provider will be held accountable under the law.

Legal assistance

Penalties for non-payment of alimony can affect any payer. Sometimes, a person fulfills his duties, but a mistake with the transfer of funds puts him in the category of debtors, and sometimes even malicious defaulters. Not all people can understand the situation and understand how to act next. Especially if your driver's license is confiscated or your bank accounts are seized. What to do in a difficult situation?

A free consultation with our portal’s lawyers will come to your aid. Experts are well aware of the measures to be taken against debtors. If you are required to pay alimony, charged high penalties and threatened with imprisonment, this is a clear reason to contact us. There is no need to put things off for a long time. The lawyer will competently solve the situation and tell you how to prove the fact of payments, what to show to the bailiffs, who to complain about if alimony is delayed at work, how to get your driver’s license back, etc. By contacting us, you will receive detailed advice and will definitely understand your problem.

What threatens

The most frequently asked question is: “What happens if you don’t pay child support?” The answer to this question may vary depending on various factors. An exact answer can only be given after a specific case has been considered, but there is a certain list of methods of influencing the defaulter.

If there is a debt related to the payment of alimony, the defaulter cannot leave the country , and in some cases cannot leave the city in which he lives. Also, banks will not satisfy any loan application . Banking organizations will not want to get involved with a person who already has certain debts.

The above measures rarely give the desired result, therefore, if the case concerns a willful defaulter, then at some point bailiffs will become involved in repaying the debt, who can seize property in favor of the alimony recipient.

In some situations imprisonment , but in order to put the defaulter in prison, it is necessary to prove failure to comply with a court decision or clauses of the alimony agreement. Usually the court tries to resolve such conflicts peacefully.

Oddly enough, the most effective way to force debtors to make alimony payments is to prohibit them from driving . This amendment to the legislation was adopted quite recently, but it has had a great positive effect.

Types of liability of the defaulter are divided into two types:

• Administrative;
• Criminal.

Let's take a closer look at each of them.

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Administrative responsibility

Since the payment of alimony is mainly entrusted to the father of the child, certain administrative measures are applied to him, which include:

• Suspension of driver's license. This measure is applied if the amount of debt exceeds 10 thousand rubles. This change came into force only recently and few people are familiar with it. Termination of a driver's license occurs without a court order. In order to apply this measure, it is enough for the bailiff to submit documents confirming the existence of the debt and paper confirming the need to pay alimony by court decision;
• Inability to leave the country. This measure is the least effective and this is due to the fact that most people do not leave the territory of the Russian Federation;
• Imposition of a fine in the amount of 100 minimum wages. Penalties are applied if the father of the children deliberately concealed the sources of profit. The debtor may also be required to perform community service. The deadline for their implementation is no more than 180 days. If we are talking about a persistent offender, then this period can be increased to one year;
• Seizure of bank accounts . This method is a forced collection of money from the defaulter and the transfer of funds to the family where the child lives. Bailiffs can also give the employer a writ of execution in which the court decision will be written. In this case, the employee will receive only part of the salary, and the rest of the money will be sent to the account of the child or his mother;
• Seizure and seizure of the debtor's property. This method is used when the debtor does not have any source of income, and the person himself does not want to join the labor exchange.
• Deprivation of parental rights. This measure is applied if the father of the child does not want to take any part in the life of his child and refuses to pay child support.

Criminal liability

There are criminal penalties. They are used when it comes to a willful defaulter. This includes people who have not made required payments for 4 months. Also, a person who has a large amount of debt and does not want to find a job can be recognized as a willful defaulter.

To bring the debtor to criminal liability, the bailiff must send an application to the court demanding that a criminal case be opened. This action is necessary when there are no other ways to collect money. The recoverer of funds can independently file an application to initiate a criminal case.

People are interested in the question of how long they can be imprisoned if they do not pay child support.

Info

The court may oblige the debtor to perform community service for up to one year. An arrest may also be made for a period of 3 months to 1 year.

Video

Watch the video, when and who faces criminal liability for non-payment of alimony?
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Author of the article

Irina Garmash

Family law consultant.

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Stages of resolving the issue if the father does not pay child support

The Family Code provides for the possibility of involving negligent parents in the responsibilities of paying alimony, which is regulated by Art.
80 part 2. The beginning of the process will require the preparation of an appropriate application for the collection of alimony in favor of minors. In accordance with Article 124 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, this document must contain:

• information about the person submitting the application (full name);
• information about the person from whom alimony will be collected, about his exact place of residence;
• the essence of the requirements, evidence;
• a list of documents confirming the legal grounds for collection and papers attached to the main application.

Submission of the prepared document is carried out to the magistrate's court independently or with the help of a representative (based on a power of attorney certified by a notary) at the place of residence of the person collecting alimony. Review of the document will take place within 5 working days. When the court issues an appropriate order in a case, a copy is sent directly to the debtor.

The debtor is given 10 days to submit objections to the collection of funds. If there is no response on his part, the order is sent to the bailiffs to open enforcement proceedings.

If the debtor sends his reasoned disagreement to the judge in writing, it may be reviewed and even cancelled. Then the main claimant must appeal again to the magistrate, but with a statement of claim, and not with demands.

Administrative responsibility

This method of influence provides for more stringent sanctions. If the evader accumulates debt, and civil pressure measures have not had the desired effect, then the bailiff has the right to apply a more serious punishment. The reasons for this are: ignoring the requirements of an official; concealment of information about place of employment, study, residence; giving false information about benefits.

Administrative measures include:

• fine from 1 to 2.5 thousand rubles;
• arrest of accounts in credit institutions;
• seizure of goods and their sale to pay off obligations;
• ban on crossing the border.
• a fine in the amount of two previously established fines;
• administrative arrest for 15 days;
• compulsory work.

Civil penalty

This type of liability provides for the collection of penalties and interest from the debtor. Their size may be determined by the agreement on the payment of alimony. If alimony was awarded by court decision, then the amount of the penalty is 0.5% of the amount of the debt.

The penalty is calculated daily until the debt is repaid. Bailiffs will conduct explanatory conversations with the defaulter, insisting on repayment of the resulting alimony debt.

Concepts

Debt is the amount of material support that was established legislatively in the format of an Agreement or in court, but was not paid by a person due to evasion of obligations without good reason.

In turn, a penalty for late payment of alimony is a type of penalty for failure to fulfill established obligations.

They can be contractual and legal, depending on the format in which the parties agreed.

Let's differentiate these concepts. Debt is the fact of non-payment. Penalty - payment as a percentage of the amount of unpaid funds for the fact of violation of agreements.

Simply put, a penalty is a sanction for identified violations of the alimony payer, addressed to him. Penalties are accrued for each day of delay and continue until the day the debt is fully repaid.

Child support debt: what should the payer do?

If a child support debt arises, the payer is recommended to take a number of measures as soon as possible, because failure to pay funds for the child threatens various kinds of unpleasant sanctions. The debtor may:

1. Personally visit the bailiff, find out the amount of the debt, explain the reasons for its occurrence and name the approximate repayment terms - in this case, the government employee will understand that the payer is not evading his responsibilities.
2. Challenge illegal decisions, for example, on the calculation of debt, if there is an error in it.
3. If there are good reasons, go to court and demand a reduction in the debt or even its cancellation.

This is important to know: How to remove alimony debt from bailiffs

If the debt was caused by the payer , then he should repay the debt as soon as possible.

Criminal penalty

This type of liability may arise if the bailiff proves that a willful defaulter has evaded the execution of civil and administrative penalties. The criminal liability of the alimony debtor is determined by Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It provides for several types of punishment, including imprisonment.

The following reasons may be grounds for opening criminal proceedings against an alimony defaulter:

1. Lack of financial support for a minor for more than 4 months. If there are no alimony payments for six months, then the measure of responsibility does not change. Only the amount of debt for alimony and penalties increases.
2. The debtor does not contact the bailiffs and does not comply with their previously issued demands to eliminate the debt.
3. Does not inform bailiffs about changes in place of work, residence, or registration of pension payments.
4. Concealing information about income, property, work.
5. A large amount of debt on alimony payments.

The presence of several of the above factors and systematic evasion of obligations will give rise to criminal proceedings. It can be initiated by a bailiff. The application of criminal liability measures to the defaulter is determined only by the court.

The court may impose the following types of punishment:

• from 120 to 180 hours of mandatory work for the benefit of the municipality;
• up to 1 year of corrective labor;
• arrest of the defaulter for 90 days;
• imprisonment for up to 1 year.

If arrest or imprisonment is applied to a persistent defaulter, then problems will arise in his life in the future. People with a criminal record are denied reinstatement at work, and it is very difficult for the unemployed to find a job.

Other measures

In addition to the indicated measures, others may be applied to the debtor. This also complicates life and speeds up the process of fulfilling obligations.

Revocation of driver's license

This punishment appeared relatively recently. The executive branch vested the designated powers with bailiffs in 2020. Initially, the alimony recipient faces a temporary restriction on the use of a car, which is established when a debt accumulates in an amount exceeding 10 thousand rubles. The parent must be notified of the decision. The paper is sent by email or by means of a summons (notice).

The procedure for deprivation of rights includes several stages. So, at the first stage the defaulter is informed about the chosen preventive measure. Next, the State Traffic Inspectorate is notified about the deprivation of the citizen’s driver’s license. The traffic police suspends the validity period of the document.

Important! If the driver continues to use the vehicle, then when the inspector stops him for the first time, he is warned about the possible consequences (compulsory work, deprivation of his license for a long period). It is worth noting that such punishment does not apply to those persons who carry out professional driving activities, and the designated source of income is their only one.

Deprivation of rights in relation to a child

Restrictions on parental rights do not entail the abolition of retention in favor of a minor. Alimony must be paid in accordance with the decision made by the court. Debt accumulated over a long period of time must also be repaid.

The reason for this impact is absolute indifference to the fate of the baby. After the decision comes into force, the person is deprived of any legal ties with the child, with the exception of the obligation to support him. The son or daughter, in turn, will not have to help the father upon reaching adulthood.

How to collect a large alimony debt

The formation of large amounts of debt, unfortunately, is not uncommon. Defaulters accumulate debts of one hundred or five hundred thousand, and sometimes the amount of debt reaches a million rubles.

Collection of alimony debts is the task of the bailiff. However, bailiffs conduct a large number of enforcement proceedings at the same time, as a result of which they are not always able to show the necessary initiative in a timely manner. Since the recipient of alimony has the right to participate in the process of debt collection , he can apply to the SSP with various types of petitions: to hold the debtor accountable, to ban travel abroad, and so on.

If the bailiffs cannot influence the debtor, the recipient of the funds can file a lawsuit to collect the alimony debt and penalties:

The collector should keep in mind that the child support debt is not written off after the child turns 18: he continues to be registered as the debtor. The amount can be recovered even if the payer dies: the obligation to pay the alimony debt passes to his heirs.