Maintaining family members and paying alimony is one of the key principles of family law. Parents have the primary responsibility for providing full living conditions for their children, who, when they reach the age of majority, will be obliged to maintain them in the same way if necessary. The spouses must provide for each other within the limits of their abilities and financial capabilities, and the legislation of Ukraine is based on the guarantee of protection of the rights of needy family members.
Unfortunately, it is quite common for family members not to fulfill their family obligations and avoid paying alimony in good faith when going abroad for permanent residence.
In such cases, the maintenance or enforcement of alimony claims abroad causes serious legal and practical difficulties.
So, where to go and what to do if the debtor does not pay alimony and went abroad?
The international community, concerned about the problem of non-payment of alimony abroad, has reached a number of international instruments that allow, through effective interstate cooperation, to collect alimony from an unscrupulous payer in cases where he resides in another state.
Yes, if you need to force a person living abroad to pay alimony, you should act in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Recovery of Alimony Abroad, in force for Ukraine of 20.07.2006.
It provides 2 options for the action:
Option 1.
Application for recovery of alimony from a debtor living abroad on the basis of the Convention on the Recovery of Alimony Abroad
This method is suitable in situations where:
there is no ready decision on recovery of alimony in Ukrainian courts;
the law of the State in which the debtor is present provides that the issue of recovery of alimony is decided at the place of residence of the defendant, ie the debtor himself.
The application shall be made in accordance with the requirements of Article 3 of the Convention and Annex 1 of the Instructions.
The document is drawn up in two copies: 1) in Ukrainian, and 2) an official translation into the language of the State in which the debtor is located.
The application must be submitted to the territorial department of justice. From there, it will be sent to the Ministry of Justice within a month, and then to the relevant authority of another state.
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine shall be informed in writing about all further actions of the applicant and the status of consideration of the application.
Option 2:
Petition for recognition and execution of the decision of the court of Ukraine on recovery of alimony in the territory of another state
This method is effective for situations where:
You have obtained an alimony order, but it is not done voluntarily, and the national enforcement services are not able to collect the alimony payments from the debtor.
The application is made in accordance with Annex 2 to this Instruction and is submitted together with the following documents:
a copy of the court decision,
a copy of the minutes of the court hearing,
certificate of entry into force of the decision,
certificate of non-execution (partial execution) of the decision on the territory of Ukraine;
a certificate of proper notification of the defendant about the court hearings.
The application for recognition and enforcement of a decision shall be filed and examined in the same manner as applications for recovery of alimony under the Convention.
If you are going to use one of the above methods of collecting alimony from abroad, you should keep in mind some nuances:
First, such a procedure is relevant only in the case of the stay of the obligated person in the states that are parties to the Convention on the Recovery of Alimony Abroad, namely:
Australia, Algeria, Argentina, Barbados, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Vatican, UK, Haiti, Guatemala, Greece, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Israel, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Cape Verde Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia, Germany, Liberia, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, Niger, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Seychelles, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovakia, Slovakia , Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Hungary, Philippines, Finland, France, Croatia, Central African Republic, Czech Republic, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden, Sri Lanka.
Second, in resolving a dispute over maintenance obligations under jurisdiction, the courts are usually guided by the provisions of bilateral agreements on legal assistance and legal relations in civil and criminal matters.
Such agreements regulate all the features of the definition of jurisdiction and applicable law, depending on the circumstances of the case, so when applying, you should read the rules set out in these acts.
Ukraine has bilateral agreements on legal assistance with the following countries:
The Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Poland, Lithuania, Lithuania, Lithuania Vietnam, Macedonia, Iran, Bulgaria, Cuba, China, etc.
Thirdly, it is also important to note that according to the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine", alimony from citizens of other states in Ukraine is no longer subject to taxation. Simplifying the procedure for paying alimony to non-residents may to some extent encourage debtors to voluntarily perform their family responsibilities.
Questions? Contact our lawyers in a way that is convenient for you:
1. Write your question in the CHAT (at the bottom of the page)
2. Call our contact number +380677752277
3. Come to our office (by appointment) at: pl. Solomianska, 2, office 801.
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