The minimum amount of alimony is one quarter of the permanent earnings, the other income of the parents. The specified amount is determined by family law for those parents who are responsible for the maintenance of one child.
Alimony obligations of parents in relation to their own children are regulated by Chapter 13 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation. It also establishes specific amounts of the corresponding payments, which are usually paid in shares in relation to the parents' permanent income. The minimum amount of alimony for each depends on the number of children who are brought up in the family. Thus, parents will have to pay the smallest share of their own income if they have one minor child, since in this case the size of payments will be only one quarter of wages, other types of earnings taken into account when assigning alimony. If the family has two children, then the share of deductions will already be one third, and if there are three or more children - half of the income.
Is it possible to reduce the amount of alimony?
The above-mentioned shares of the parents' permanent earnings are only a general rule that can be changed when the case is being considered in court. The judge, taking into account the specific circumstances of the case, can reduce or increase the percentage of earnings that will be paid as alimony. In addition, the court has the right to assign payments in lump sums. Nevertheless, in practice, court decisions most often fix precisely the above-named method of calculating periodic payments for the maintenance of their own children. A downward decision can be made only in cases where the parent has a high income. In this case, even a quarter of a month's earnings will amount to a huge amount, so a specific amount of payments may be fixed in a court decision.
Is it possible to set the amount of alimony by agreement?
The named chapter of the Family Code of the Russian Federation allows parents to conclude an agreement on the amount of alimony, which has priority over the amounts determined by law. But this agreement is usually concluded with the aim of increasing the level of material well-being of children, so it is unlikely that it is possible to agree on a smaller amount of deductions than the share specified in the law. If the amount of alimony is too low in the agreement, then the parent concerned can appeal against the specified agreement in court. In this case, the method of calculation, the amount of deductions in favor of children will be determined by a court decision, which is made taking into account all the circumstances, interests of each party.
