The child has the right to at least the standard of living which the parents have. The child has the right to have both parents contributing to their needs.

  • If you live mainly with your mum or dad, is your other parent not sending money for you?
  • Do they send too little?
  • Do your parents argue about how much each of them should pay?

Do you have any of these questions?

Then we might help. Every case is different, so we’d like to know more about you and your family.

Contact us and we will write back and tell you what we can do for you.

Elisabeth's story (age 12)

Elisabeth is 12 years old and lives with her mother in the Czech Republic. She sees her father only rarely, as he lives in England. Her mum is unhappy about having so little money for Elisabeth; she feels that she can’t buy everything Elisabeth needs. Dad stopped sending the child support money which he was ordered by the court to pay. At first, he sent only half of what he had to, and for the last four months he has sent nothing at all. 

Elisabeth’s mom turned to Umpod for help. Our lawyer tried to ask the father to start paying again but he didn’t reply. We then contacted the authorities in England and asked them to cooperate. They teamed up with an enforcement agent, who is someone who can seize money if one has debts. But they couldn’t take everything from Dad because he had to keep something for food and housing. Dad doesn't have a stable job, but every month the enforcement agent sends to the Czech Republic at least a part of what Dad should send. Although his debt is growing, Elisabeth’s mum is happy for the money she gets.

Since Elisabeth is over 10 years old, she got a letter from Umpod in which the lawyer explained all this to her.the lawyer explains all this to her.

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What is the usual procedure in such cases?

If one parent does not pay child support, the other parent can ask Umpod for help. Similarly, any child whose parent does not pay child support can turn to us for help.

First, Umpod tries to find the non-paying parent and remind him/her to pay. In the Czech Republic, Umpod will do this directly (the Office will find the parent’s address and send him/her a reminder), or it will ask the authorities abroad to do this. If the non-paying parent does not respond, the Umpod lawyer (together with the parent who lacks the money) will take steps toward getting at least some money for the child.

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Court enforcement of child support

If the non-paying parent doesn’t respond to the reminder to pay voluntarily, the Umpod lawyer has a few options for trying to get the money. Enforcement is one of these options. Enforcement means that the property of the non-paying parent will be taken away, or money will be taken from his or her salary or social benefits.

How much the other parent must pay depends on how much money they have and how much they make regularly. The authorities cannot take away everything they have. If they don’t have enough, only small amounts of money are collected from them. Although this might cause them to go into debt, the caring parent will at least receive something from them.

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How will I know that Umpod is enforcing the child support?

Umpod will send a letter to children over the age of 10, explaining everything to them. If nothing changes, then Umpod will continue to work with the caring parent, who should receive child support until the child turns 18.

When the child turns 18, Umpod will contact them directly, and agree on what to do next. At age 18, the child can decide on whether they should keep receiving child support, and whether they wish to increase or decrease it.

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