Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal Reviewed Alimony Penalty: Why 30,000 UAH Were Reduced to 10,000 UAH
The Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal changed the decision of the local court in the case regarding the recovery of a penalty for late alimony payments. Partially satisfying the appellant's complaint, the court reduced the penalty amount from 30,078 UAH to 10,000 UAH.
Case circumstances
The child's mother filed a lawsuit. She stated that based on a court order, the father was to pay alimony monthly for the maintenance of their son, but from October 2024 to August 2025, he delayed payments, resulting in a debt of 30,078 UAH.
The plaintiff noted that according to Article 196 of the Family Code of Ukraine, she has the right to recover a penalty from the debtor in the amount of 1% of the unpaid alimony for each day of delay. According to calculations, the penalty amounted to 39,871 UAH. Since by law the penalty cannot exceed 100% of the debt, she requested to recover 30,078 UAH in penalties and 5,000 UAH for legal assistance costs from the defendant.
The Khmelnytskyi City District Court partially satisfied the claim: it recovered 30,078 UAH in penalties for late payment and 4,000 UAH for legal assistance costs from the alimony payer.
The man appealed this decision to the Court of Appeal and requested to dismiss the claim. He stated that he was not aware of the alimony recovery by court order and had repaid the debt by the time of the case review.
He believed he was not at fault for the debt and therefore should not be obliged to pay the penalty. He also added that he supports his older son and provides financial assistance to his disabled parents.
Position of the Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal in case No. 686/27537/25 rejected the appellant's arguments about the absence of fault in the debt occurrence. Evidence confirmed that from October 2024 to August 2025, the man did not properly comply with the court decision on alimony recovery for the child, causing the debt. Therefore, the mother has the right to receive the penalty, the court stated.
At the same time, the panel of judges noted that the first-instance court did not fully consider information about the debtor: he supports the parties' older son, pays for his education and living in another city, provides financial support to the younger son and elderly parents. Currently, he has repaid the alimony debt.
"Under these circumstances, considering the financial and family situation of the defendant, the Court of Appeal concluded to reduce the penalty amount to 10,000 UAH," the appellate court's ruling states.
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