Alternate care and alimony

Today’s article will continue to address the issue of alternate custody. However, we will focus on the relationship that exists between the court’s ruling on alternate custody and the need to meet alimony payments to minors. 

 

Referring to the regulations contained in Article 133 § 1 of the Criminal Code, parents are obliged to provide maintenance to a child who is not yet able to support himself, unless the income from the child’s property is sufficient to cover the costs of his maintenance and upbringing. It is worth pointing out that according to the Supreme Court in its resolution of February 24, 2011, ref. no. III CZP 134/10, “alimony obligation, in addition to achieving the economic goal of providing the eligible person with the necessary material resources to meet his needs, serves to shape the appropriate, from the point of view of generally accepted social patterns, principles of conduct in the family, affects the strengthening of family ties and shapes the mutual relations between its members.”

 

Alternate custody, on the other hand, is a situation in which, by court order, a child stays with each parent periodically during repeated periods. It is very common for parents to wonder whether a court ruling on alternate custody affects the child support obligation to their minor children. It should be strictly emphasized that the mere ruling of alternate custody does not terminate the child support obligation.

 

 

When ruling on alternate custody, the court has two options related to the issue of alimony for minors. One option is to terminate the alimony obligation. Such a situation occurs when the court, after examining all the circumstances, finds that both parents live at a similar level and, moreover, comes to the conclusion that each parent will contribute equally to the needs of the minor, during the time the child stays with him. This is also indicated, inter alia, by the Regional Court in Warsaw in the decision concluding the case conducted under case number IV C 1212/17 “it does not at all follow from Article 58 § 1 of the Civil Code that the decision on the obligation to bear the costs of maintenance and upbringing of the child must in each case and upbringing of the child must in every case be expressed in terms of a sum of money to be provided by one parent to the other parent. Therefore, when each parent personally contributes to the maintenance and upbringing of a child, especially a child who resides with each parent at recurring times, it may be more appropriate and consistent with the law to determine that the parents bear the respective costs equally. 

 

In such a case, the parents are obligated to equally pay all expenses beyond the ordinary and daily costs of supporting the child. In particular, this applies to the equal payment of fees resulting from joint decisions regarding the referral of the child to appropriate educational institutions or extra-curricular activities, the submission of the child to expensive medical treatments, etc.”

 

If, on the other hand, the court finds that one of the parents lives at a better level than the other or does not contribute adequately to meeting the needs of the minor in such a situation, it may oblige one of the parents to pay alimony to their minor child despite the fact of alternating custody. 

 

 

If you need a legal consultation of your situation we invite you to contact our attorney Catherine, who will provide all the necessary information. 

☎️Phone: +48 502 775 164

📧Email: k.lewicka@lzw-law.com