If alimony is below the subsistence level: what to do in 2020

Author of the article: Roman Gavrilov Last modified: January 2020 1600

According to paragraph 2 of Art. 117 of the RF IC, the amount of alimony must be a multiple of the subsistence minimum for a certain socio-demographic category of the population in the regions. The amount of material support may be a fraction of the subsistence level. The final amount of alimony awarded must be indicated in the operative part of the court decision. The court, as an interim measure, has the right to make a decision on the collection of alimony even before the final decision is made, if it determines that the child has been in need of financial support for a long time and the parent has ignored the obligation to pay. What to do if alimony is below the subsistence level - the problem must be resolved through negotiations with the payer or in court.

Article 117 of the RF IC - Indexation of alimony

The indexation of alimony collected by a court decision in a fixed sum of money is carried out by the organization or other person to whom the writ of execution (a copy of the writ of execution) was sent in the cases established by Part 1 of Article 9 and Clause 8 of Part 1 of Article 47 of the Federal Law of October 2, 2007 N 229-FZ “On Enforcement Proceedings”, or a bailiff within the framework of enforcement proceedings in proportion to the increase in the cost of living for the relevant socio-demographic group of the population established in the relevant subject of the Russian Federation at the place of residence of the person receiving alimony, and in the absence of subject of the Russian Federation of the specified value is proportional to the increase in the cost of living for the corresponding socio-demographic group of the population, established for the Russian Federation as a whole.
The amount of alimony collected by a court decision in a fixed sum of money, for the purpose of indexation, is established by the court as a multiple of the subsistence level determined in accordance with the rules of paragraph 1 of this article, including the amount of alimony can be established as a fraction of the subsistence level.

Can alimony be below the subsistence level?

So, can alimony, according to the law, be less than the accepted standard of living? They can be small, below the subsistence level, but only if payments are based on a percentage of income.

According to recent changes in legislation, a child is required to receive alimony for his maintenance in minimum digital terms, namely:

1491 ruble per child;
1988 if there are two children;
2982 rubles for three or more children.

Note! The lowest threshold for alimony can only be calculated when child support is paid as a share of the minimum salary.

The standard of living “basket” for a minor has been increased in 2020, but its size will still depend entirely on the region of residence of the payer. Experts should calculate the minimum “basket” for a child based on the following factors:

price for child food;
the price of education for a minor;
cost for children's treatment;
child's transportation expenses.

Depending on the price of the above expenses, you can calculate the child's living wage. At the same time, you need to understand that the quality and comfort of life are not taken into account: we are only talking strictly about the level of “making ends meet” and acquiring basic necessities.

Therefore, the employer does not have the right to pay a salary to the alimony worker less than that established by law. Accordingly, the minimum amount of alimony money is calculated as a percentage of the minimum wage figure adopted in Russia.

Note! In 2020, the minimum wage was 9,489 rubles (at full employment).

Collection of alimony in the amount of the subsistence level is possible only when the alimony holder is unemployed. For a working payer, the amount of alimony is determined by a salary certificate and, at the same time, the money for the child cannot be less than the minimum wage.

Required documents

When deciding how to increase the amount of alimony to the subsistence level, a well-written application must include:

The applicant's civil passport.
Marriage papers – registration and dissolution.
Official metrics for children.
The decision to assign maintenance payments.
Certificate of complete family composition.
2-NDFL for the last six months, issued to the plaintiff.
Receipt for payment of state duty.
Papers confirming the importance of increasing deductions.

Based on the information specified in the listed papers, the judge makes a decision on payment and determines the amount.

What to do if alimony is below the subsistence level?

According to Article No. 100 of the RF IC, clause 2 , parents have the right to establish any convenient procedure for accruing children's money in terms of amounts and frequency, but provided that this does not violate the legal rights of the minor.

25% - if there is one child.
33.33% - for two children.
50% half of the income - if there are three or more children.

If the amount of the child’s recovery, calculated on the basis of the above percentage ratio, which is directly dependent on the number of minors (when divided by all children), turns out to be too low, then the parent must go to court with a new statement of claim to recover the children’s money, expressed in a fixed monetary figure.

To help increase the amount of monetary recovery, the recipient parent will need to provide documentary evidence to the court of the needs of their child(ren).

Keep in mind! The amount of children's penalties awarded by the court always depends on the cost of living in the region where the claim is filed. But, at the same time, the judge is obliged to take into account the general financial condition of the payer from whom money is collected for the maintenance of the minor, the amount of his monthly income.

Arbitrage practice

Judicial practice on the appointment and modification of alimony is wide and diverse.
Every day, dozens of cases are considered in which the plaintiff demands an increase in the amount of payments. Such claims are often satisfied, but not always fully. The court examines the financial situation of the parties and the needs of the child. The body strives to preserve the child’s standard of living that was before the parents’ divorce, but at the same time the current situation is also analyzed.

Most often, a fixed payment is assigned to the unemployed and entrepreneurs, since their incomes are the least stable. In rare cases, claims for an increase in alimony are satisfied, where the payment for a child exceeds half the subsistence level, and there is no evidence of the payer having other income.

Alimony is not tied to the cost of living. This indicator is needed to determine the amount of government benefits. The recipient can resort to this option if the transfers for the child are very small. However, there is no guarantee that the court will set the payment at half the subsistence level, since the financial capabilities of the payer will be assessed first.

Read also: Benefits for combatants in Afghanistan

What is the minimum alimony payment?

The answer to this question, in fact, does not exist if you expect an answer in exact numbers.

The fact is that money for child support is calculated exclusively as a percentage of direct dependence on the official income (salary) of the parent paying child support.

Important! By going to court, one of the parents can achieve alimony recovery equal to the standard of living of each individual region of the Russian Federation, provided that he files a claim for payments in hard cash terms.

How to increase the amount of alimony to the subsistence level?

This is a pressing issue of the present time. When answering this question, it should be taken into account that the standard of living indicator is an amount that is set by each region separately. It is used to determine the amount of children's penalties.

In order to legally increase children's money to the cost of living level, the following is necessary:

Conclude or amend the alimony agreement. The fact is that this agreement specifies the amount of alimony equal to the subsistence standard of living. Then, when the payment figure indicated in the agreement is less than the established standard of living, the mother and father of the baby have the right to change and increase it.
Go to court by filing a claim for the collection of money for child support, for a review of the amount and for the recovery of money in a fixed figure.

Important! The amount of alimony cannot be lower than that which the court would order under the given circumstances.

In this case, the court will be able to determine the amount of alimony payments in the ratio of: the number of children, the amount of income of the parents and their marital status. In this claim, the alimony amount is indicated by the recipient independently. It may be equal to the required minimum.

Important! If, according to a previous court decision, the recipient is not satisfied with the amount of alimony, then he has the opportunity to file a new claim, but this time to increase the child support or to keep it at a fixed figure.

Consequences of an alimony check

As discussed above, before you single-handedly start fighting the enterprise where the alimony payer is employed, you need to weigh everything.

It’s good if the check you initiated brings a positive result and the second parent’s official salary increases (including if they stop paying him a “gray salary” in an envelope altogether).
However, the employer may behave differently - get angry after a tax audit and, for example, ask the employee who made the fuss to resign “of his own free will” - in this case, you won’t have to wait for alimony for some time at all due to the ex-husband’s lack of income (child's father).

In any case, if there are at least some levers of influence on negligent alimony payers, it is necessary and possible to try to use them - especially when it comes to protecting the rights and interests of your own child.

Grounds for increasing alimony to the subsistence level

In order to demand an increase in child support to the standard of living, you must go to court.

But in order to sue, you must have legal grounds for this, which must be proven in court:

If the financial situation of the recipient has sharply deteriorated (job lost, salary reduced, health condition worsened, a dependent has appeared).
If the financial condition of the payer (ex-husband) suddenly improved qualitatively (wages became higher; obligations towards another person ended).

To collect child support in a fixed amount, the following conditions must be met:

the income of the alimony worker is unstable and changes frequently;
the payer is given a salary in kind or in foreign currency;
the payer does not have an official source of income;
It is not possible to calculate child support in the form of an income share;
collecting maintenance in the form of a percentage of the payer’s salary is unprofitable for a minor.

How to collect alimony in the amount of the subsistence minimum?

First of all, for this you need to write an application to the court. When applying there, keep in mind that to open a lawsuit on a claim, you will need the following documents:

state tax receipt with payment;
statement of claim (make a copy);
information from the house register regarding family composition;
passport and birth certificate of the baby (make a copy);
background information about the place of residence of the alimony worker;
two certificates: on marriage and divorce;
calculation of alimony money (amount) for which the plaintiff has claims;
arguments in favor of justifying the expenditure required to support the child.

Note! In practice , only the plaintiff has the right to determine exactly where to submit the case for consideration: either at his place of residence or at the place of residence of the defendant. When filing a claim, this information is required.

To go to court, you must prepare a claim. It must contain information, documented and officially confirmed, regarding the defendant’s sources of income.

Where to contact

The completed documents must be submitted to the authorized judicial body at the place of residence of the applicant or the defendant - the choice of the judicial body in this case is made by the plaintiff. The transfer of documentation can be carried out remotely - by sending a letter, through an Internet resource, or by transferring it through a representative who has a power of attorney certified by a notary office, or by handing them over in person to the office of the judicial authority.

As a general rule, the judge will review the documents within 5 working days, after which he will make a decision - to accept for proceedings and initiate a civil case, or to refuse. Also, the application may be left without progress or transferred to another judicial authority.

If the claim is accepted for proceedings, a court staff member (court secretary) will call the parties to the trial, where the positions of both the plaintiff and the defendant (if he appears) will be considered, after which the judge will make a decision whether to satisfy the claims or not.

During the process, the parties also have the right to represent their interests both independently and through third parties - often a well-constructed line can help achieve the desired result, but even the participation of a lawyer cannot provide a 100% guarantee that claims will be satisfied.

How to calculate alimony from the subsistence level?

The fact is that the lowest threshold for the amount of alimony benefits has not been established.

Therefore, in the first case, if one of the parents chooses the option of receiving shares from the income (we presented it above), then the minimum will depend on the amount of income. And, in the second case, when a fixed amount of money is established, it must be determined by the court absolutely individually, and depending on many factors and nuances.

As a rule, the court may make a decision to recover money for the child, for example, in the amount of 0.5% or 1.5% of the established minimum standard of living. It should be taken into account that each region has the right to adopt its own standards at this level. To calculate the amount, you should take the value of the standard of living indicator in the region and multiply it by the part assigned by the court.

How to write an application correctly?

To achieve a positive result in the form of an increase in payments, you need to competently draw up an official request. There are certain rules for writing it that must be followed:

The amount of support and the option for transferring it are indicated;
The grounds that gave rise to the revision of deductions. The more detailed the reason is, the higher the likelihood of making a positive decision;
It is necessary to specify in what form the recalculation is required.
When writing down the last point, you need to take into account the fact that with “share” payments a certain share grows, with “hard” payments there is only a monetary expression.

When completing the request, it is important to indicate the desired amount of transfers, the name of the dependent person and the option for receiving the amount.

Indexation of alimony in accordance with the subsistence level

You should be aware that money for children is subject to annual indexation .

Accordingly, they can be increased (decreased) depending on changes in the value of the subsistence “basket” in each specific region of the country.

Starting from November 25, 2020, the procedure for indexing penalties for a child has changed, in accordance with Article 117 of the RF IC, Law No. 321 .

From this day on, the volume of payments for children should be indexed in accordance with the increase in the subsistence “basket” adopted in each region. This is carried out directly by the organization (or person) that is applying the writ of execution.

Note! Previously, indexation was entirely the responsibility of the bailiffs, and those organizations and persons to whom the writ of execution was handed over directly by the claimant.

The existing formalities associated with this greatly slowed down the indexing procedure, creating significant delays in the possibility of receiving the already recalculated money.

Now the bailiffs will monitor the indexation of child support and recalculate it, but only on the condition that the amount of the alimony payment is more than 25,000 rubles.

Summary

In 2020, low thresholds for cash payments have not been established, within the framework of which expenses for the maintenance of children could be subject to recovery. Therefore, at the moment, the amount of child deductions is always considered on an individual basis. Although a decision was made to establish a minimum amount of child support, unfortunately, it was rejected by the government.

Also, until now, the Alimony Fund, long conceived by the State Duma, has not been organized in this way, from which it was intended to pay the minimum maintenance for those children whose parents, the alimony providers, could not be found and brought to justice.
But the most important decision that was made in 2020 was a significant increase in the powers granted to the Bailiff Service. Now, having received complete freedom, they can detain defaulters, collect alimony debts from them and apply many legal sanctions to them: having, almost, law enforcement powers.