Maintenance (Child Support)
Cross-border recovery of maintenance
CIPC is a central authority in Slovakia and assists with enforcement of claims in cases related to cross-border recovery of maintenance. CIPC deals with recovery of maintenance in cases where the maintenance payor lives abroad and the maintenance beneficiary lives in Slovakia, or vice versa. Unfortunately, CIPC is unable to assist if both the Maintenance Payor and the Maintenance Beneficiary are located in the same State, regardless of their nationality.
CIPC offers assistance with the following:
• recovery of maintenance based on an enforceable order/judgment;
• determination of maintenance obligations;
• adjustment/cancellation of maintenance obligations.
Who may contact CIPC:
• a parent (or other person) who has child custody by a court order and is entitled to maintenance to be paid by a payor who lives abroad;
• an adult child (upon the age of 18) who seeks maintenance obligation from a payor who lives abroad; an institutional establishment that has child custody by a court order;
• the Slovak Labour Office (in Slovak: úrad práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny) if the child is placed in foster care.
Under Slovak law, the parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children exists until the child is unable to support himself/herself. Whether or not parents have an existing maintenance obligation depends on circumstances of each and every case. However, there are other decisive factors to consider, such as the child’s age, health, education, ability to work, financial situation, and others.
When to approach us? Examples:
- when a parent abroad fails to voluntary pay your maintenance;
- when you disagree on maintenance amounts with the other parent abroad;
- when you seek to increase or reduce your maintenance amount;
How does it work?
After we receive your written application (application for assistance in respect of recovery of maintenance, or maintenance court order issued abroad, or in respect of an increase or reduction of maintenance amounts from abroad, etc.), CIPC will advise about the procedure and as to which documents need to be prepared or provided (e.g. maintenance order, child birth certificate, calculation of unpaid maintenance, etc.).
As soon as we have all required information and documents, CIPC will send your application to our partner agency abroad for further procedure. Please, be advised that all foreign procedures are subject to national laws of a given state, and CIPC has therefore limited control over the process and speed. The success of your enforcement will depend on several factors, including the steps taken by a given State, the payor’s financial situation and his/her willingness to cooperate, the flexibility of courts and other authorities in their decisions, or any other circumstances. Any maintenance recovered from abroad will be then wired by CIPC to your bank account or posted by cheque.
CIPC charges no fees for our services.
What if maintenance is not recovered?
If maintenance from abroad is not recovered despite our CIPC assistance (e.g. in cases where the payor avoids paying maintenance or his/her whereabouts are unknown), we advise to inform competent Labour Office having local authority within the beneficiary’s (child’s) residence and apply for a state-paid maintenance (in Slovak: náhradné výživné) according to Act No. 201/2008 Coll. on State-Paid Maintenance and Act No. 36/2005 Coll. on Family and other supplements of laws as amended by the Slovak Constitutional Court’s Ruling No. 615/2006 Coll.
More information (in Slovak)
State-paid maintenance is an allowance paid by the Slovak state to provide for the maintenance of a dependent child. CIPC will issue all necessary certificates for the said procedure.
Related legislation:
- Act No. 97/1963 Coll. on Private International Law and Procedure;
- Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 December 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations;
- 2007 Convention on the International Recovery of Maintenance and Other Forms of Family Maintenance;
- 1956 Convention on the Recovery of Maintenance Abroad; and
- formal reciprocity for some countries.
As to which type of procedure to choose will depend on where the applicant and respondent reside.