Unfortunately, there are a lot of alimony payers in the country who are trying to somehow avoid payments. The law strictly regulates the procedure for prosecuting a parent for malicious evasion of alimony. Payments made in violation of the established deadlines, or deliberate underestimation of their size, become the basis for bringing to administrative and civil liability. If a substantial amount is accumulated, and the debtor ignores the court decision, then in addition to bringing to civil liability, he may be punished with a criminal penalty. Malicious evasion is recognized only within the walls of the court.
When evasion is malicious
If a parent who is obliged to pay child support does not do this for a long time, periodically deliberately underestimates the amount and transfers funds late, his actions can be recognized as malicious evasion of paying child support. The court cannot make an appropriate decision if payments are to be made on the basis of an agreement concluded through a notary public. To recognize this fact, you must first obtain a court decision on the recovery of payments, as well as prove the failure of one of the parents (most often the father) of their duties in a systematic manner.
Faced with a similar problem, a woman may wonder how long this violation should last in order for it to be recognized as malicious by the court. To understand what is considered malicious evasion of child support, you need to know the signs of this offense. These include the following:
- frequent change of residence;
- relocations to hide from bailiffs;
- change of places of work, as well as their full name, without notifying the recoverer and the bailiff;
- large debt for child support;
- non-payment of more than four months;
- concealment and reduction of income, as well as their receipt by unofficial means without informing the claimant;
- the provision of incorrect data on earnings, as well as property owned;
- concealment of property from which collection is carried out;
- failure to execute a court decision even after a warning received from the bailiffs;
- non-response to administrative penalties;
- disruption to work in order not to pay child support;
- wanted stay.
When liability is excluded
These signs are indicated in the manuals of the FSSP dated 06/19/2012. But the law also establishes circumstances that exclude maliciousness in the actions of the debtor. These include the following:
- the presence of a serious illness;
- financial difficulties due to illness, the passing away of a loved one, the presence of dependents;
- the impossibility of finding a job, as evidenced by a certificate from the employment center.
Grounds for legal liability
The debtor shall be held liable in the event that other measures have been tried, but have failed. Alimony may suffer the following legal liability:
- civilian;
- administrative;
- criminal.
One or another responsibility for malicious evasion of alimony may be imposed on the offender, based on the nature of the act, intent (for example, in the form of a conscious reluctance to pay alimony) or due to good reasons.
Civil responsibility
Due to non-payment of the amount of alimony required by law, civil liability arises. According to Art.115 of the IC of the Russian Federation, civil law measures are applied to the offender. They consist in payment of the penalty. The size of the penalty almost always remains unchanged: half a percent for each overdue day. The debt collector is entitled to receive debt, including forfeit, for the previous three years.
In difficult situations, perhaps the application of a much more stringent measure, which consists in the deprivation of parental rights. This is implemented on the basis of Art. 68 SK of the Russian Federation. It will be possible to avoid this type of liability if the debtor is able to present evidence to the court of the existence of valid reasons for which no payments were made. These circumstances may include:
- disease;
- being dependent on the debtor of minor children;
- very low income;
- lack of action.
Administrative responsibility
Malicious evasion of alimony is the basis for bringing to administrative responsibility if the alimony does not fulfill its obligations, without good reason. Only the court imposes an administrative measure of punishment. But this is done at the request of the recipient of alimony or bailiff. According to Art. 35.1 Administrative Code, liability in this case may be as follows:
- a fine of up to 20 thousand rubles;
- arrest up to 15 days;
- a ban on traveling abroad;
- forced labor for up to 150 hours;
- seizure of funds held in a bank;
- confiscation of property owned;
- deprivation of a driver’s license until full payment of the debt.
The debtor will be punished if:
- withholds income, as well as property belonging to him;
- does not comply with the requirements of the bailiffs;
- does not report a new place of residence and work or does so in a timely manner.
Bailiffs were able to deprive debtors of a driver’s license from the beginning of 2016. This measure can be applied for debts exceeding 10 thousand rubles. However, the debtor raising a disabled child, either himself a disabled person, or if the car serves as a means of making money, cannot be deprived of the opportunity to drive transport.
Criminal liability
Malicious evasion of alimony may result in criminal liability (Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Then the punishment may be as follows:
- arrest up to three months;
- forced labor for up to 120 - 180 hours .;
- correctional labor up to twelve months;
- imprisonment of up to twelve months.
If a case has been instituted against the violator, then he is automatically prohibited from traveling outside of Russia. Information about the intruder is entered into a special database. And therefore, when buying plane tickets and passing customs, the law enforcement authorities will receive relevant information about the person who has been prosecuted for malicious evasion of alimony. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains article 157. According to it, the debtor will be punished if there are the following signs of a crime:
- sheltering your earnings;
- the presence of debt not paid for more than four months;
- failure to respond to bailiff warnings;
- unwillingness to find a job;
- change of place of residence in order not to fulfill the duties of the parent regarding the maintenance of the child.
A malicious debtor will be held accountable under the Criminal Code even if he is disabled, has lost his ability to work, has become a pensioner, went bankrupt, has outstanding loans, dependent children or other persons are dependent. If the guilt of third parties or the presence of force majeure circumstances is proved, then the debtor cannot be proved guilty.
What can a child support recipient do?
In order to hold the debtor accountable, the claimant must provide the court with relevant evidence that there has indeed been a malicious evasion of child support.The actions of the recipient should be as follows:
- filing a lawsuit with a demand to collect money to provide for the child in a forced manner;
- after the court makes a decision and receives a writ of execution, a document is sent to the bailiffs.
Currently, bailiffs have different mechanisms of influence on non-payers of alimony. For example, they have the right to withhold part of the earnings for transfer to the beneficiary of the alimony, to seize the property of the debtor with subsequent sale at auction to pay off the existing debt.
If the collector gave the writ of execution to the bailiff, but there is no result for a long period, then the following steps can be taken:
- appeal to the bailiffs with a request to inform what actions were taken in this enforcement case;
- complain about judicial executors to the management;
- take a certificate from the bailiff about the presence of debt, and file a lawsuit in the court to recover a forfeit;
- file an application to bailiffs for malicious evasion of alimony to hold the debtor liable under criminal law.
Initiation of proceedings by a bailiff
In case of non-response of the debtor, the bailiff issues a warning on a special form. After the second such warning has been sent and the debtor has not made any movements, the bailiff has the right to institute criminal proceedings for malicious evasion of alimony (Article 157).
Statement
In addition to the official, the claimant of alimony is also entitled to initiate criminal proceedings. To do this, he should submit an application to the bailiff, drawn up in any form. But it should contain the following information:
- name of the department of service and name of the bailiff;
- information about the applicant and the defaulter;
- circumstances relevant to the case;
- demand for liability of the defaulter.
Calculation of the debt must be done directly by the bailiff.
To start legal proceedings, the recipient of the alimony must collect sufficient evidence. Then the debtor will be held accountable under Art. 157 of the Criminal Code. To date, such criminal cases have long ceased to be a rarity.
Conclusion
As you can see, malicious evasion of child support may cause the debtor to be held accountable under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Since this problem is widespread, the legislation is becoming tougher with respect to alimony payers. To avoid punishment and unnecessary problems in life, and most importantly - to do the right thing in relation to your child, it is better to pay child support in a timely manner.