Lithuania offers state aid for children owed alimony, reveals 188 million euro debt
Translated from Lithuanian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
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- Lithuania is offering state assistance to children whose parents evade alimony payments.
- Parents who receive this state aid become debtors to the government, owing the amount paid to the child.
- Currently, approximately 30,700 individuals in Lithuania have outstanding alimony debts totaling 188 million euros.
Lithuania is implementing a state support system for children whose parents neglect their alimony obligations. This measure aims to ensure children receive financial support even when one parent fails to comply with court-ordered payments.
The ex-husband did not pay alimony for the child for 4 years. It was handed over to an enforcement officer. The debt exceeds 10,000 euros.
When the state provides this temporary child support, the non-paying parent becomes indebted to the government. The amount paid by the state must be repaid by the delinquent parent. The "Sodra" social insurance institution manages these cases, tracking individuals who owe the state for the alimony payments it has temporarily covered.
After a month has passed since applying to the enforcement officer, one can request child support benefits from "Sodra" as temporary state assistance for a child who is not receiving court-ordered maintenance from one of the parents.
According to "Sodra" representative Malgoลพata Koziฤ, the process begins when a parent applies to an enforcement officer for alimony collection. If the enforcement officer initiates a case, and after a month passes without payment, the child can receive state assistance. However, enforcement officers may decline to start a case if the debtor resides outside Lithuania.
Currently, there are about 30,700 individuals in Lithuania who have debts for child maintenance benefits. Their total debt amounts to 188 million euros.
Currently, around 30,700 individuals in Lithuania owe a collective 188 million euros in alimony debts. This figure includes 135 million euros inherited from the former Child Maintenance Fund. The largest single debt amounts to 77,000 euros, with the average debt around 6,000 euros. While the number of debtors has decreased over the past year, the total debt has increased due to annual adjustments in the child support payment amount, which now reaches a maximum of 185 euros per child per month.
Although the number of debtors is decreasing, the amount is growing because the amount of child maintenance benefit increases annually.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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