Alimony in Ukraine: how to apply for alimony and its calculation

Alimony — these are monetary funds intended for maintenance, which the legislation of Ukraine obliges one of the parents of a minor or minor child to pay until the child reaches the age of 18 (adulthood), and in some cases (if the child continues to study) - until the child reaches the age of 23.

In fact, the payment of alimony payments is a guarantee that each of the child's parents fulfills their duty to maintain the child, to provide him with the opportunity to use all the benefits of social security (proper food, housing, etc.) necessary for his full development.

At the same time, it is not important whether the child's parents are in a marital relationship, because this circumstance does not in any way affect the duty of citizens to maintain their minor or minor child.

How to apply for alimony in Ukraine?

There are 2 possible methods for assigning alimony payments in Ukraine, namely:

1. Voluntary order. The child's parents can agree among themselves on a voluntary basis how and in what amount one of them will pay alimony payments for her full support. As a rule, they fix these conditions in a written contract, which is then notarized, less often - they agree orally on the payment of mandatory financial payments.
2. Judicial procedure. In cases where the child's parents cannot agree on the amount of alimony to be paid or in what manner, then in order to assign the appropriate payments, it is necessary to apply to the judicial authorities with a statement of claim, which should be submitted in writing. The following documents should also be added to it, namely:

• Child's birth certificate (confirms the existence of family ties between the child, the plaintiff and the defendant);
• Certificate of marriage or its dissolution(if available);
• Documents confirming income (at the same time, it is necessary to submit documents about the income of both the plaintiff and the defendant to determine the future amount of alimony payments for the child);
• Certificate of family composition (confirms the fact that the plaintiff really lives with a child who needs additional maintenance from the second of her parents);
• Documents confirming expenses for the child (it is necessary to submit when the plaintiff wants to establish alimony for a child more than the minimum amount guaranteed by the state);
• Documents confirming evasion of obligations (they duly prove that the second parent of the child evades the fulfillment of his duties regarding his full support).

Pay attention! The above list of documents is not exhaustive and can be significantly expanded depending on the individual circumstances arising in each case.

How to calculate alimony payments?

The Family Code of Ukraine states that the designated amount of alimony payments must be sufficient to ensure full support and upbringing of the child. That is, depending on the needs of the child, the final amount of alimony will be determined. For this purpose, the state has a minimum and maximum amount of alimony.

If we are talking about the minimum amount of alimony, then according to the current legislation of Ukraine, it cannot be less than 50% of the subsistence minimum for a child of the appropriate age.

As of 2024, the minimum amount of alimony is the following amount:

• for a child under the age of 6 - UAH 1,281.5;
• for a child between the ages of 6 and 18 - UAH 1,598.

Thus, when assigning alimony payments, the court cannot set them lower than the amounts guaranteed by the state.

Regarding the maximum amount of alimony, it is worth noting the following. The Family Code of Ukraine states that alimony payments cannot be set at more than 10 subsistence minimums per child of the appropriate age.

As of 2024, the maximum amount of alimony is the following amount:

• for a child under the age of 6 - UAH 25,630;
• for a child between the ages of 6 and 18 - UAH 31,690.

Pay attention! When assigning alimony for a child, the judicial authority must in any case take into account: whether the person has the financial ability to pay the corresponding payments, whether he has someone permanently dependent on him, whether he has a constant or variable income, whether he has a satisfactory current state of health etc.

Only when these circumstances are established, the judge will be able to determine the necessary amount of alimony that the person must pay in the future.

Conclusions

So, the issue of assigning alimony payments in Ukraine has a number of legal peculiarities. Therefore, in order to be able to reliably protect your interests in practice, you should contact the "Prikhodko and Partners" law office.

Our company provides full legal support in matters directly related to the appointment and collection of alimony payments from a person, which allows the company's clients to significantly save their own time and get only the desired result in the case.

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