Maintenance obligation after divorce

The maintenance obligation after the divorce of spouses is regulated by Section 24 (1) of the Family Act as follows: “In a decision divorcing the marriage of the parents of a minor child, the court shall regulate the exercise of their parental rights and obligations to the minor child for the time after the divorce, in particular, it shall determine to whom it will entrust the minor child into personal care, who will represent it and manage its property. At the same time, it shall determine how the parent to whom the minor child was not entrusted into personal care is to contribute to its support, or it shall approve the agreement of the parents on the amount of maintenance.”

This provision can be applied if the court decides to entrust a minor child into the care of one of the parents, on the basis of which it shall determine the amount of maintenance, or the scope of the maintenance obligation, which the parents will expend on the child after the divorce. Maintenance takes precedence over all expenses, whereby those expenses that cannot be inevitably incurred are taken into account. This is, of course, already subject to review by the court, which examines the abilities, possibilities, and financial circumstances of the liable parent. It is a statutory obligation of a parent arising from the Family Act and lasts until such time as the child is able to support itself.

It is different in the case where the child is entrusted into alternating personal care of the parents. In this case, it is at the discretion of the court whether it will determine maintenance. It is not necessary in every case. Section 62 (6) of the Family Act states: “If a minor child is entrusted into alternating personal care of the parents, the court, when determining maintenance, shall take into account the length of the alternating personal care of each parent, or the court may also decide that during the duration of the alternating personal care of the parents, it does not determine maintenance.”

and further states: “Both parents contribute to the maintenance of their children according to their abilities, possibilities, and financial circumstances. The child has the right to share in the standard of living of the parents.”

The aforementioned provisions state that it is not a condition to determine maintenance even in the case of alternating personal care. It is at the discretion of the court whether it determines maintenance based on the income that both parents must prove in court. In the event that one of the parents has an incomparably higher income, the court is obliged to determine maintenance given that the child is entitled to the same standard of living with both parents.