Parents Abroad Are Also Obliged to Pay Alimony: How to Collect Payments
If one of the parents lives abroad, this does not exempt them from the obligation to support the child. Ukrainian legislation and international mechanisms allow for the collection of alimony from debtors residing in other countries.
There are two ways to collect alimony from a person living outside Ukraine. The first involves obtaining a decision from a Ukrainian court on alimony collection, followed by applying to the competent authority of the foreign country for its recognition and enforcement. The second option is to submit an application directly to establish an alimony decision in the debtor's country of residence.
If a decision from a Ukrainian court already exists, the applicant must prepare a petition for its recognition and enforcement abroad.
Step 1. Prepare a petition for recognition and enforcement of the court decision abroad.
The petition should include the following information:
- Full name of the debtor, date of birth, place of residence over the last 5 years (if known), occupation, place of work, photo
- Information about financial status, family circumstances, property owned
- Other information that would help establish the debtor's location or facilitate the petition's execution (for example, employer's address and phone number).
Step 2. Attach the following documents to the petition:
- Copy of the court decision
- Certificate of the decision's legal force
- Certificate of partial or non-fulfillment of the decision in Ukraine
- Documents proving the defendant was properly notified of the hearing
- Copy of the court hearing protocol (or court session journal) where the case was substantively considered
- Photo of the plaintiff.
Documents must be submitted in Ukrainian along with a translation into the official language of the debtor's country of residence.
Step 3. Send the documents to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine through the interregional justice administration.
If there is no court decision, citizens can apply to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine through interregional justice administrations.
Step 1. Prepare an application to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine through the interregional justice administration.
The application or attachments should include information on:
- Full name of the debtor, date of birth, place of residence over the last 5 years (if known), occupation, place of work, photo
- Financial status, family circumstances, property owned by the debtor
- Financial and family circumstances of the applicant, income certificate
- Documents confirming the family relationship between the debtor and the child (birth certificate, etc.)
- Other documents.
The application must be submitted in Ukrainian with a translation into the language of the debtor's country of residence.
Step 2. The Ministry of Justice sends the application to the authority of the country where the debtor is located within a month.
The Ministry of Justice informs the applicant in writing about the results of the application or petition review.
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