As a general rule, alimony in Belarus, is collected from the parents in favor of their minor children and, in essence, is a regular financial support that should be spent on the needs of the child. Usually, alimony is paid regularly until the child reaches the age of 18. At the same time, in some cases and after the age of majority, a person has the right to raise the issue of collecting alimony.
Recovery of alimony after the child reaches 18 years of age
In accordance with the provisions of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Marriage and Family, disabled adult children have the right to receive maintenance from their parents, regardless of the time and reason for their disability.
Persons in need of assistance are recognized only as disabled, who do not have sufficient means of subsistence. Thus, the conditions for receiving alimony are disability established by the competent authorities of Belarus, as well as the fact that the person is in need of parental assistance. This is the subject of a judicial assessment and is established during the trial.
At the same time, cases are not uncommon when the fact of having a disability is recognized as a sufficient basis for collecting alimony from the obligated person in favor of his adult child. In our opinion, this approach does not fully meet the requirements of the law. In our practice, there have been cases when we were approached with a request to cancel alimony collected for adult children.
Cancellation of alimony for an adult
In a recent case, we represented the interests of a father from whom alimony for the maintenance of an adult son was collected for more than 10 years. Previously, the child was recognized as a disabled person of the 3rd disability group. Due to the fact that even after reaching the age of 18 he needed the financial support of a parent, the court ordered alimony in the amount of 15 basic units monthly. The father did not dispute this decision for a long time due to the fact that he did not object to the demands of his son. However, taking into account the fact that the circumstances on the basis of which the court ruled on the recovery of alimony have changed (the father had a daughter, in addition, the alimony payer has reached retirement age), it was decided to initiate a new trial.
Grounds for canceling child support for an adult
As a justification for the stated claims, the plaintiff indicated that at the time the decision was made to collect alimony, his son was 20 years old, however, at the time of the consideration of the dispute on the abolition of alimony, his son is already over 30 years old, he is married, he is employed and regularly receives wages. Despite the fact that the recipient of alimony has been assigned a disability group, he is not limited in his ability to work. In connection with these circumstances, the plaintiff considered it possible to cancel the earlier court decision on the recovery of alimony.
Conclusions of the court
The court confirmed the circumstances indicated by the plaintiff as a substantiation of the claims. At the time of the dispute, the defendant was employed in a private company providing outsourcing services in the IT sphere. In addition, as a result of a request for information on the average monthly income of the alimony recipient, it was found that it is practically equal to the income of the alimony payer. Consequently, the court came to the conclusion that at the moment a person who previously received alimony cannot be recognized as needing parental assistance.
The plaintiff’s claims were satisfied in full.
Our lawyers have extensive experience in representing the interests of our clients in cases of recovery of alimony, as well as the cancellation of alimony. Our lawyers are ready to provide you with the following legal assistance in resolving a dispute on the abolition of alimony:
– oral and written consultations on the issues of recovery, as well as the cancellation and reduction of the amount of previously collected alimony;
– representation and protection of interests in courts on issues of recovery, cancellation of previously collected alimony;
If you have questions related to the recovery of alimony, and you need help or advice from a lawyer, please contact our lawyers at the email address: info@familylawyer.by or by phone: +375293570355.
