Legal support from Ukraine to Poland: a lawyer remotely helped to issue alimony for a child through the court

Publication date: December 29, 2022

“…I wouldn’t have done this without you. You are an unreal person who does his work not 100%, but 1000%. I am happy with it and very grateful for your help and constant support. I will definitely contact you again!”. Anastasiia Ploshchynska, a lawyer of the NGO “Podillia Legal League” (Khmelnytskyi oblast) recently received such a message on her Instagram…

The problem Maria from the Kharkiv region approached the organization with is similar to hundreds, if not thousands, of others. However, in each such case – the fate of a person, even a whole family, especially one that was forced to find itself in a foreign land due to the war. And such success stories from the practice of lawyers of the Network only emphasize the importance of timely and high-quality legal assistance, as well as the value of humanity and an individual approach to the case.

When she fled the war, Maria ended up with her two-year-old daughter in Poland. In Ukraine, Maria had a husband who did not help at all with money for the child. Maria wanted to go to court, but her modest income did not allow her to use the paid services of a lawyer.

Anastasiia Ploshchynska consulted the woman remotely and also filed an application for issuing a court order for the collection of alimony and a claim for the collection of alimony from the child’s mother until the child reaches the age of three.

• Since the client is abroad, this complicated the application process. Therefore, I also prepared video instructions for Maria, which helped her sign documents using an electronic digital signature and submit them through the Electronic Court, — explains Anastasiia Ploshchynska.  

This greatly simplified the process of collecting alimony, and as a result, the woman received a positive result and was able to protect her right.

Afterward, grateful Maria sent these words of thanks to the lawyer.

Screenshot from Anastasiia Ploshchynska’s Instagram (ploshchynska_lawyer)  (translation of the quote from the screenshot – at the beginning of the article)

It is also worth adding that Anastasiia Ploshchynska very often helps people not only as a lawyer, and a representative of a public organization but also as a volunteer. In her Instagram, she often creates a field for questions. She quickly answers those that can be revealed in a short explanation.

The legal basis, the lawyer was guided by in this case

Norms of the Family Code of Ukraine:

1) According to Part 5 of Art. 183 of the Family Code of Ukraine, one of the parents or other legal representatives of the child, with whom the child lives, has the right to apply to the court for the issuance of a court order for the collection of alimony in the amount of one quarter for one child, one third for two children, for three or more children – half of the salary (income) of the payer of alimony, but no more than ten subsistence minimums per child of the appropriate age for each child.

According to Clause 4 Part 1 of Art. 161 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, a court order may be issued, a demand for the collection of alimony in the amount of one quarter for one child, one third for two children, and half of the earnings (income) of the alimony payer for three or more children, but no more ten subsistence minimums per child of the appropriate age for each child, if this requirement is not related to establishing or disputing paternity.

2) According to the requirements of Part 2 of Art. 84 of the Family Code of Ukraine, the wife with whom the child lives has the right to maintenance from the husband – the child’s father until the child reaches the age of three. In accordance with the requirements of Part 2 of Art. 77 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, by court decision, alimony is awarded to one of the spouses, as a rule, in monetary form.

According to the requirements of Part 1 of Art. 79 of the Family Code of Ukraine, alimony for one of the spouses is awarded by a court decision from the day the claim is filed. According to the norms of 1, 2 Art. 80 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, alimony is awarded to one of the spouses in a proportion of the earnings (income) of the other spouse, taking into account circumstances that are of significant importance.

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