Maintenance obligation towards adult children

Pursuant to Section 2 of Act No. 601/2003 Coll. on the Subsistence Minimum and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts (hereinafter referred to as the “Subsistence Minimum Act”), the subsistence minimum of a natural person or natural persons whose incomes are assessed jointly pursuant to Section 3 of the Subsistence Minimum Act shall be the amount or the aggregate of the amounts of:

a) EUR 210.20 per month in the case of a single adult natural person,

b) EUR 146.64 per month in the case of another jointly assessed adult natural person,

c) EUR 95.96 per month in the case of:

• a dependent minor child,

• a dependent child.For the purposes of the Subsistence Minimum Act, the definition of a dependent child shall be governed by Section 3 of Act No. 600/2003 Coll. on Child Benefit (hereinafter referred to as the “Child Benefit Act”). Pursuant to the cited section of the Child Benefit Act, a dependent child is a child until the completion of compulsory school attendance, up to a maximum age of 25 years, if the child:

a) systematically prepares for a profession through studies, or

b) cannot systematically prepare for a profession through studies, or engage in gainful activity due to illness or injury.

Therefore, after the completion of compulsory school attendance – but up to a maximum age of 25 years – a child shall be considered dependent pursuant to subpar. (a) above if they systematically prepare for a profession through studies. Systematic preparation for a profession through studies also includes studies at a secondary school after the completion of compulsory school attendance.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 62(1) of Act No. 36/2005 Coll. on the Family: “The performance of the parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children is their statutory obligation, which continues until such time as the children are capable of supporting themselves.”

The assessment of whether a child is capable of supporting themselves depends on the circumstances of the specific case. In general, the capacity to support oneself may be considered a situation where a child is consistently capable of covering their reasonable living expenses from their own income. Therefore, certain occasional incomes are not sufficient. When assessing whether a child is capable of supporting themselves, factors such as whether they are systematically preparing for a profession (e.g., full-time university studies, etc.), as well as the child’s state of health, etc., are taken into account.

In the case of your son, it would be possible to assume the termination of the maintenance obligation after the completion of his secondary school studies, provided that he does not pursue further education and provided that no circumstances concerning his state of health or other serious circumstances have arisen that would prevent him from working, conducting business, or otherwise securing his livelihood. Naturally, if a change in circumstances occurs later, e.g., if your son subsequently enrolls in full-time university studies, the maintenance obligation could arise again.

Please note, however, that if your obligation to pay child maintenance was determined by a court decision, you are obligated to pay the maintenance in accordance with the court decision until the maintenance obligation is terminated by a court. Therefore, if a change in circumstances has occurred that would imply the termination of the maintenance obligation, it would be necessary to file a motion with the court to terminate the maintenance obligation, and you could cease paying the maintenance only after the court decision terminating the maintenance obligation becomes final and binding.

Hello, The legal regulation of parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children is enshrined in Act No. 36/2005 Coll. on the Family (hereinafter referred to as the “Family Act”).

Pursuant to Section 24(1) of the cited Act: “In a decision dissolving the marriage of the parents of a minor child, the court shall regulate the exercise of their parental rights and obligations towards the minor child for the period after the divorce, in particular, it shall determine to whom the minor child shall be entrusted for personal care, and who shall represent the child and manage their property. Concurrently, it shall determine how the parent to whom the minor child has not been entrusted for personal care shall contribute to their maintenance, or it shall approve the parents’ agreement on the amount of maintenance.”

Since you state that you were entrusted by the court to the care of your father, the divorce judgment of your parents should have also included a ruling by which the court ordered your mother (as the parent to whom you were not entrusted for care) to contribute to your maintenance. Unless another court decision was adopted at a later stage, the original decision remains binding, and your mother continues to be obligated to contribute to your maintenance in accordance with that judgment. However, after you reached the age of majority, she may contribute directly to your account. Given the change in circumstances, e.g., in the sense that your mother currently participates in your maintenance in a different manner, she is entitled to file a motion with the court for a modification of the maintenance obligation.

If the court has not yet regulated your father’s maintenance obligation towards you, you may, as an adult, file a motion with the court for the regulation of the maintenance obligation, requesting the court to order your father to pay you maintenance. Pursuant to Section 65(3) of the Family Act: “The maintenance of adult children shall be regulated by the court only upon a motion.”

The maintenance obligation of a parent until their child reaches the age of 25 is a very common myth in Slovak legislation. In reality, the legal order does not regulate any age limit that would establish a maintenance obligation.

Pursuant to Section 62(1) et seq. of Act No. 36/2005 Coll. on the Family: “The performance of the parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children is their statutory obligation, which continues until such time as the children are capable of supporting themselves. Both parents shall contribute to the maintenance of their children according to their abilities, possibilities, and financial circumstances. A child has the right to share in the standard of living of their parents.”

It is precisely this provision that determines the duration of the maintenance obligation, namely until the moment the child is capable of supporting themselves independently. In such a case, several factors are examined that must be satisfied for the child to be considered independent, as this is individual for each person.

For the capacity of independence, the child’s health status, education, and preparation for a future profession, as well as their capacity to seek independent employment and support themselves, are assessed.

In support of this fact, we also attach a court decision: R 86/1967 “The capacity of a child to support themselves does not depend on reaching a certain age limit; therefore, there is no reason for the performance of a parent’s maintenance obligation towards a child to be limited before the child reaches a certain age limit (e.g., by attaining the age of majority).”

A child is predominantly independent at the moment they are capable of supporting themselves independently and covering all essential needs for life from the resources of work for which they are mentally and physically fit.

Concurrently, it is necessary to point out the fact that the court may also terminate the maintenance obligation in the event that the child is not employed, but has completed their studies and is fit to seek employment.

Hello, We would like to draw your attention in particular to the provision of Section 24(6) of Act No. 36/2005 Coll., the Family Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FA”), pursuant to which: “When deciding on entrusting a minor child to the personal care of one of the parents, the court shall safeguard the right of the parent to whom the minor child will not be entrusted for personal care to be regularly informed about the minor child. The parent to whom the minor child has not been entrusted for personal care may seek the right to regular information about the minor child through a court.”

In connection with the cited provision, it is appropriate to state the following: Section 24(6) of the FA concerns a situation where a minor child has been entrusted by a court decision to the exclusive personal care of one of the parents. However, we are of the opinion that the right to be informed about all matters concerning the child (e.g., their health problems, medication, school attendance, extracurricular activities, temporary change of the child’s residence, summer camps, etc.) is an essential component of the bundle of parental rights and obligations that belongs to both parents even after a divorce (or if the spouses are still legally married but live apart) and regardless of which parent provides personal care to the child. Personal care exercised by only one parent does not alter the fact that the other parent remains the legal representative of the minor and has an equal right to participate in their upbringing (Section 28(1) of the FA).

In your case, there is an option to petition the court to impose an explicit obligation on the so-called custodial parent to inform the parent to whom the minor child has not been entrusted for personal care about all material matters concerning the minor. The law does not explicitly require the filing of a formal motion for the imposition of an informational obligation; it is sufficient if you address an action to the court from the content of which it will clearly follow that you are seeking the right to regular information about the minor.

However, given that your son will reach the age of 18 this October, the provision of Section 24(6) of the FA will no longer be applicable, as it pertains solely to “regular information about a minor child.” Upon reaching the eighteenth year of age, a natural person attains full age, i.e., acquires full legal capacity (Section 8(1) of the Civil Code). As a matter of principle, from the attainment of full age, a person does not require a legal representative, and their actions do not need to be approved by anyone. If you are interested in the life of your adult child, you should approach him directly – his mother has no legal authority to deny him any contact with you.

You can read more about the legal capacity of a minor child here: https://www.akmv.sk/schvalenie-ukonu-za-malolete-dieta/

In case of interest in legal services in the field of (not only) family law, you can contact us at office@akmv.sk or by telephone at +421 915 046 749.

The fact that your daughter has already reached the age of majority only means that the father may (and should) pay the maintenance directly to her.

Pursuant to Section 62(1) of Act No. 36/2005 Coll., the Family Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FA”): “The performance of the parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children is their statutory obligation, which continues until such time as the children are capable of supporting themselves.”

Legal theory and practice agree that a parent’s maintenance obligation towards their adult child who is still studying terminates only when the child successfully completes university education in a specific degree program (i.e., achieves the highest possible level of education in a given field – typically a Master’s degree, Engineer’s degree, or Doctor of Medicine degree). At this point, it is presumed that the child is sufficiently prepared for a future profession, possesses adequate prerequisites for entering the labor market, and is therefore “capable of supporting themselves.”

You can find more information on this topic in our article Maintenance for an Adult Child.

Our law firm can assist you with legal issues regarding maintenance for adult children, including representation in court proceedings for the modification of maintenance. In case of interest, please do not hesitate to contact us: https://www.akmv.sk/pravne-sluzby/vyzivne/

Hello, The court regulates contact between divorced parents and their children exclusively in the case of minor children. Act No. 36/2005 Coll., the Family Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FA”), explicitly refers to the “regulation of contact with a minor child.” Upon reaching the age of 18, an adult child acquires full legal capacity and is, from a legal perspective, an “adult” – they no longer require a legal representative and are entitled to manage their own property. An adult person is, in principle, free to decide how to spend their leisure time. This means that if a court-ordered contact schedule every other weekend was established for an adult child, they are not obligated to comply with it if they do not wish to do so, given that the court decision regulates solely the “parents’ contact with a minor.”

However, this does not apply to the maintenance obligation!

Pursuant to Section 62(1) of the FA: “The performance of the parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children is their statutory obligation, which continues until such time as the children are capable of supporting themselves.” Judicial practice consistently agrees that a child’s attainment of the capacity to support themselves cannot be equated with reaching the age of majority. In your case, this implies that you are obligated to perform your maintenance obligation towards your daughter until such time as the court decides to terminate the maintenance obligation. In your motion (as well as in the subsequent court proceedings), you will be required to prove that your daughter is already capable of supporting herself and, therefore, there is no longer a ground to contribute to her maintenance.

You can read more about the grounds for terminating a maintenance obligation towards an adult child in our article available at this link.

Parents have a maintenance obligation towards their child even after the child reaches the age of majority, provided that the child is not capable of supporting themselves independently. To support oneself independently means that the child is capable of independently providing for the costs of essential relevant life needs.

This fact follows from Section 62(1) et seq. of Act No. 36/2005 Coll. on the Family, as amended, pursuant to which: “The performance of the parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children is their statutory obligation, which continues until such time as the children are capable of supporting themselves. Both parents shall contribute to the maintenance of their children according to their abilities, possibilities, and financial circumstances. A child has the right to share in the standard of living of their parents.”

An adverse health status may affect a child’s capacity to secure the means of subsistence. Receiving a disability pension does not automatically constitute a ground for the termination of the maintenance obligation; however, the court assesses each case individually.

An adverse health status as a ground for the continuation of an entitlement to child maintenance even after reaching the age of majority repeatedly occurs in the decision-making practice of the courts. For example, pursuant to the judgment of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic dated 13 March 2013, file ref. no. I.ÚS 2306/12: “The objective impossibility of a child to support themselves independently due to a severe health disability, leading up to the deprivation of legal capacity, cannot be attributed to the detriment of such child in the sense that, after being granted social benefits, they should no longer have the right to share in the standard of living of their parents (and that they should not have the right to maintenance from the parent). A child disadvantaged in this manner did not cause their own disability and, on the contrary, requires assistance in all aspects so that their life is as bearable as possible within the framework of already significantly limited options.

The consequences (including financial ones, i.e., the maintenance obligation) of such a disability of a child must therefore be borne by the person who (as a rational being) voluntarily and while being aware of all possible consequences brought the child into the world, that is, the parent, provided that their financial possibilities objectively allow for it (Editor’s note of najpravo.sk: we point out that pursuant to Section 62(3) of the Slovak Family Act, every parent, regardless of their abilities, possibilities, and financial circumstances, is obligated to perform their maintenance obligation to a minimum extent equal to 30% of the subsistence minimum amount for a dependent minor child or for a dependent child pursuant to a special regulation).”

Furthermore, the ex-husband cannot proceed to cease the payment of child maintenance arbitrarily, and he is obligated to pay the maintenance in accordance with a final and enforceable court decision until such time as the court rules on a modification.

Hello, Yes, your daughter’s entitlement to the maintenance provided by you is, in this case, in accordance with the law as well as with the court decision determining the maintenance, for the following reasons.

Pursuant to Section 62(1) of Act No. 36/2005 Coll., the Family Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FA”): “The performance of the parents’ maintenance obligation towards their children is their statutory obligation, which continues until such time as.”

Pursuant to Section 78(1) of the FA: “Agreements and court decisions on maintenance may be modified if there is a change in circumstances. Except for maintenance for a minor child, the modification or termination of maintenance shall be possible only upon a motion.”

In accordance with Section 62(1) of the FA, you are obligated to pay maintenance to your daughter until such time as she is capable of supporting herself. As soon as your daughter is capable of providing for her life needs on her own without your financial assistance, your maintenance obligation towards her ceases to exist.

However, it follows from Section 78(1) of the FA that if the maintenance was determined by a court, its termination can occur, again, only by a court decision.

Therefore, in your case, it will be necessary to file a motion with the court for the termination of the maintenance obligation. In the motion, you must describe as best as possible the grounds on which you claim that your daughter is already capable of supporting herself and why the payment of maintenance no longer fulfills its purpose.

In case of any further issues or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at the email address office@akmv.sk or by telephone at +421 (2) 4333 3509.