December 3, 2021
News
The number of single parents is increasing year by year in the Czech Republic, and the current economic situation is putting many of them in great financial difficulties. Especially when these people lose their regular monthly income for a while or deal with lengthy disputes with the other parent who does not pay the child support. Starting this July, the state should provide at least partial relief to single parents in the latter case through the payment of so-called substitute maintenance.
It is a social benefit regulated by the Act. N. 588/2020, on substitute maintenance, as amended, which is provided by the state, and its costs are covered by the state. Its purpose is to financially support dependent children for a limited period of time in a situation where one of the parents does not pay the court-ordered maintenance (either at all or only partially). It can be requested by a legal guardian (for instance: single parent, foster parent, guardian), but also by a dependent child over 18 years of age if he/she can prove that motion for distraint or judicial enforcement has been filed.
The following conditions must be met at the same time to claim the maintenance:
- a maintenance obligation is ordered by the decision of the court,
- a child must be dependent according to the law about the state social support
- a dependent child must have permanent residence in the Czech Republic or a residence according to the Act on Assistance in Material Need (unless otherwise provided by law)
- a process has been initiated to recover the maintenance owed as a claim in enforcement proceedings or in court enforcement proceedings. (This condition is fulfilled even in cases when the enforcement of the judgment or the distraint stopped due to the obliged person´s lack of means, that is in the last 4 months before applying for the substitute maintenance or in the course of this process or after the substitute maintenance was granted.)
The amount of the social benefits depends on the amount of the ordered maintenance, meaning it corresponds to the difference between the amount of the monthly maintenance determined in the enforcement order and the maintenance actually paid by the parent-debtor in the given month. Its amount is fixed for a period of four months and, in order to continue the payment, it is necessary that the obliged person must prove every four months how the obliged parent has paid the maintenance during the previous four months. The maximum amount of substitute maintenance is 3 000 CZK a month and can be paid for a maximum of 24 months in total, which needs to be immediately consecutive.
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