The state bailiff admitted his mistake and removed the arrest from the child’s bank card

Publication date: May 29, 2023

The actions of the state bailiff, who seized the bank account from the state childbirth allowance, were illegal. Thanks to the professional actions of the lawyers of the Bila Tserkva (Kyiv oblast) NGO “Legal Unity”, the state bailiff admitted his mistake and corrected the situation.    

Yuliia* moved to Kyiv oblast from Kharkiv. She received the status of an internally displaced person (IDP) in her new place in December 2022. In April 2023, she turned to “Legal Unity” with a request to help remove the seizure from a special bank account to which social assistance from the state is credited.

The woman said that before the war, she took a loan for the development of her own business in the amount of over UAH 100,000. But a full-scale invasion changed her life and disrupted her plans. Yuliia was unable to repay the loan in full. In April 2023, she gave birth to a daughter and opened a special purpose account for state assistance at the birth of a child in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On State Assistance to Families with Children.” In March, Yuliia saw that her bank account had been seized. Later, in April, through the Diia app, she found out that the state bailiff issued a decree on the seizure of the debtor’s funds against her.

The lawyer of the organization, Oleksandra Shcherbyna, explained to the woman: according to Part 3 of Article 52 of the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings”, funds held in accounts with a special mode of use, special and other accounts, foreclosure on which is prohibited by law, are not subject to seizure in the manner established by this Law. A bank, other financial institution, or a central executive body that implements the state policy in the field of treasury service of budget funds, in the case of receipt of an executor’s decision to seize funds in such accounts, must notify the executor of the intended purpose of the account and return the executor’s decision without an execution in terms of seizure of funds on such accounts.

• We helped the client file a complaint against the actions of the state bailiff about the seizure of the debtor’s funds, adding supporting documents to the complaint, namely: a statement from her bank account, to which state childbirth assistance is credited, and a certificate from the Department of Social Protection of the Population about receiving social assistance to take care of the child until it reaches the age of 3, — comments Oleksandra Shcherbyna.

The lawyer adds that in accordance with Paragraph 6 Part 1 of Article 73 of the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings”, the recovery cannot be applied for one-time assistance in connection with the birth of a child.

When the state bailiff received the complaint, after reviewing the supporting documents and realizing the illegality of his actions, he independently removed the seizure from the account.

*Name has been changed for ethical reasons.

The material was created with the support of the international charity platform GlobalGiving and the Legal Empowerment Fund (Fund for Global Human Rights program) and the Legal Development Network. The content of the publication is solely the responsibility of the Legal Development Network and does not necessarily reflect the views of the previously mentioned organizations.

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