Waiting for more than two years: An IDP received assistance to collect child support

Publication date: June 24, 2024

Oksana*, an internally displaced person (IDP) from the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk oblast, approached the Kolomyia-based NGO Trykutnyk for help in recovering child support from the father of her child.

The woman wanted to obtain and enforce a court order for child support. She said that the court order for child support was issued in January 2022, but she did not have time to obtain the document from the court and submit it for enforcement. The reason is apparent: a full-scale invasion began, and russians occupied the area where Oksana lived.

Nataliia Kravchenko, a lawyer in Trykutnyk, advised the IDP, prepared documents and provided legal support.

In particular, the lawyer was guided by the fact that since some courts cannot administer justice during martial law, the Supreme Court has issued decrees transferring the territorial jurisdiction of court cases to other courts. The relevant information is available on the court’s website.

First, the court order was found in the Diia application (services, court services, court cases), and the document’s details were obtained.

Next, Nataliia Kravchenko prepared an application for the court order and explained to Oksana the algorithm for sending the document to the appropriate court under the changed territorial jurisdiction.

After some time, she received a certified copy of the court order by mail.

The next step was to prepare and send a request to initiate enforcement proceedings to the relevant state enforcement body. Upon receipt of the application, the state enforcement body commenced enforcement proceedings.

Soon after, Oksana reported that she was already receiving child support.

Lawyer’s comment

Such problems are common. Citizens forced to leave their homes due to temporary occupation do not always know that the courts that heard their cases have also changed their jurisdiction.

State enforcement agencies continue to operate but in different locations. Information on the location and contact numbers of the relevant authorities should be obtained from official websites.

A division of the State Enforcement Service enforces court decisions on alimony recovery. This service has jurisdiction over the territory where the alimony debtor is located, resides, or works.

Unfortunately, enforcing a court decision (court order) may sometimes be impossible if the debtor resides in the temporarily occupied territory.

However, in this case, it is possible to receive temporary state support for children whose parents evade child support or are unable to support the child.

Suppose a court decision (court order) on the recovery of alimony is not enforced due to the debtor’s evasion of alimony or lack of funds and other property that the law can enforce. In that case, the child is granted temporary state assistance at the expense of Ukraine’s state budget.

*Name changed for ethical reasons.

The material was created with the support of GlobalGiving, an international charity platform, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The Legal Development Network is solely responsible for the publication’s content.

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