Panama's child support system struggles with delays and unmet obligations

Panama's child support system is struggling to provide timely justice for families, with a significant backlog of cases and procedural hurdles.

In 2025, a total of 17,245 child support applications were filed across six municipal courts in Panama City. While the initial process is designed to be straightforward and free of charge, the reality often involves lengthy delays.

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a process of food can take from the presentation to the sentence, a month and a half, if it is done expeditiously in terms of notifications. Where can a food process be obstructed? In the notification of the defendant.

Fifth Municipal Judge Alicia Tejada noted that while a child support case can theoretically be resolved within six weeks if notifications are prompt, the actual process is frequently obstructed by difficulties in serving notice to the defendant. This bureaucratic bottleneck means that the "protection of the child" often becomes a race against time that many families lose.

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The person has an arrearage of 9 thousand balboas practically. I would like to know if it is a system that one fights for the money of our children; why can a person with such a high arrearage be so calm on the street? A child is a responsibility of both. I don't understand why that person is normal on the street and one, as a mother, seeing how to support that child. I feel that the system is not well adapted, because one appears, brings evidence and they tell you that you have to wait.

One mother, identified as "Ana," has been fighting for child support for her son since 2015. She expressed frustration over the defendant's significant arrears of 9,000 balboas, questioning why someone with such a debt remains "calm on the street" while she struggles to provide for their child. "A child is a responsibility of both. I don't understand why that person is normal on the street and one, as a mother, seeing how to support that child," she stated, feeling the system is inadequate.

Family law specialist Nitzia Góndola emphasized that child support is a mandatory obligation that takes precedence over other debts. "If I have a loan, a mortgage, or owe someone and already have a deduction, the judge will not look at those obligations; they will simply set the child support, and that support will have priority over all obligations the defendant may have," she explained. Despite these legal protections, the practical application of the law appears to fall short for many.

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child support is mandatory and has priority over any credit obligation that the parties may have, that is, if I have a loan, a mortgage or I owe someone that they already make a deduction for me, the judge will not look at those obligations, they will simply set the child support and that support will have priority over all obligations that the defendant may have.