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Both parents are obliged to support their children in Slovakia regardless of if the child was born in or out of wedlock. Both parents' child support obligation endures until such time that children are able to support themselves. Child support is a legal obligation for parents.
Failure to provide child support is a crime.
The child support obligation spans the period from the birth of a child to the moment at which the child is able to support himself or herself independently.
The child's ability to support himself or herself must be understood as the ability to do so independently, i.e. to cover all relevant costs of living with his or her own funds.
This ability must correspond to the durability of such ability as occasional income cannot be considered as acquisition of the ability to support one's self.
Both parents contribute to child support based on their own resources, funds and property. A child has the right to share in the standard of living enjoyed by their parents.
If one of the parents does not pay child support for an adult child, the adult child must petition the court in their own name and not in the name of the other parent as is the case for minor children.
Child support may also be requested retroactively, for a period capped at 3 years from the date on which the petition is filed with the court.
Failure to provide child support is a crime and the spouse that does not pay such child support may be convicted of failure to pay child support pursuant to Section 207 of the Criminal Code and may end up incarcerated as a result.
How much is child support after a divorce (how much you pay)?
The Family Code only stipulates a lower limit for child support, i.e. a minimum amount that a parent must contribute as child support regardless of his or her income.
The upper limit for child support is not specifically defined in the Family Code and is limited only by the resources of the parent obliged to provide child support.
Every parent, regardless of their resources, funds and property, is obliged to meet his or her child support obligation in a minimum amount of 30% of the living minimum for dependent minor children or dependent adult children (approximately €30).
When determining the amount of such child support, the court will consider the resources available to both parents.
The court will consider the property of the parent obliged to provide child support and such details including if this parent owns real estate, a recreational cottage, an exclusive flat, vehicle, securities or cash savings.
The court may also define a higher amount of child support whereby the parent obliged to provide child support will cover such child support by using or selling some of his or her property.
When defining the amount of child support, the court will also consider which of the parents personally cares for the child and to what extent.
If the parents live together, it will review the care the parents provide for the common household.
Every divorce lawyer should strive to deliver a just amount of child support for his or her client.
What are the child's justified needs after a divorce?
The Family code states that the court must also consider the justified needs of a child.
These needs include:
- Basic needs (food, nutrition, healthcare, health needs, medications, clothing, travel costs)
- Costs for educational activities (textbooks, school supplies and aids, tuition, costs for hobby and sport activities including sporting supplies and training costs, free time activities and others.
- Savings; if the financial resources of the parent obliged to provide child support allow, the court may be petitioned to have the obliged parent provide funds to create savings for the minor child.
Pursuant to Section 62 (5) of the Act on Families, child support takes precedence over any of the parent's other expenses.
When reviewing the resources, funds and property of the obliged parent, the court will not consider the obliged parent's discretionary expenditure.
Such expenses that the court should not consider when determining child support for an obliged parent include:
- Lease instalments, loans and credit that are considered discretionary,
- Excessive living costs of the obliged parent
Child support to be paid by the obliged parent for one child is defined individually and is based on the income of both parents, the standard of living of the obliged parent and other factors that the court will review.
The parent must provide proof of income to the court; if such proof is not provided, the Act on Families authorizes a legal assumption be made pursuant to Section 63 of the Act on Families that such income is equal to 20 times defined living minimum.
The legal definition of this assumption was added to the Family code in order to combat problems that occurred in practice within providing such proof of income, or more accurately, the unwillingness to provide proof of income by parents involved in business activities.
