The State Duma proposes to transfer parental debt to government agencies

The head of the LDPR Duma faction, Leonid Slutsky, proposed introducing a state guarantee for the payment of alimony debts. His bill contains the following scheme: if bailiffs have been unable to collect alimony debts from a person for six months, then the state will begin to pay part of the amount. It will also sue the debtor in the future. The deputy believes that regions can pay at least the subsistence minimum per child – 12-17 thousand rubles. monthly. Lawyers interviewed by Kommersant do not understand “where the budget will get the money from,” and do not rule out that payment of debts by the state will only increase the number of malicious defaulters.

The draft amendments to the Family Code of the Russian Federation were developed by the head of the Duma faction of the LDPR, Leonid Slutsky. He proposes adding a new article to the code. 120.1 “on the fulfillment of alimony obligations by guardianship and trusteeship authorities.” These bodies will be transferred to the enforcement proceedings of the debtor for alimony if it “has not been completed or terminated” within six months. After this, part of the debts of the defaulter will have to be paid by the regions. The final figure “is established by state authorities,” but it cannot be less than the “subsistence minimum” per child in this subject of the federation, the text of the bill says. In the meantime, guardianship authorities will be able to sue defaulters by filing recourse claims.

The explanatory note provides data from the FSSP: the efficiency of collecting alimony in 2022 was 28.5% against the planned 13.5%. And 96% of criminal cases initiated by bailiffs are against alimony defaulters. “The situation remains tense,” the note said.

Let us recall that in October 2023, the Russian government introduced a bill to the State Duma on the creation of a special register of alimony debtors. It is planned to contain the personal data of defaulters, the amount of their debts, information about the search and prosecution of criminal or administrative liability. The government hopes that the list will increase the “effectiveness of legal influence” on defaulters. Mr. Slutsky believes that his bill “complements this approach” and “offers a specific mechanism” for receiving funds.

“The state must take over the situation. We need to support the children while the proceedings and the search for debtors are ongoing,” says Leonid Slutsky. However, he found it difficult to calculate how much money would be needed to implement his proposal. The explanatory note mentions the cost of living for children in Belgorod (12.4 thousand rubles), Irkutsk (15.6 thousand) and the Moscow region (17.7 thousand). However, the financial and economic justification for the amendments only says that funds will be required, but their “exact amount… cannot be determined,” since there is no “accurate data” on the number of debtors. According to Kommersant, the document is planned to be sent to the Russian government on November 7 for feedback.

“The alimony debt of Russians amounts to huge sums. But more often than not, there is simply nothing to take from the debtor, he does not officially work, does not use bank accounts and has no property,” says Evgenia Ryzhkova, a lawyer at the Yakovlev and Partners legal group. However, the idea of ​​“obliging the state, represented by the guardianship authorities, to pay alimony for malicious defaulters, and then independently run after them” raises questions in her: “It’s not very clear where the budget will get that kind of money.”

Partner at the Grishin, Pavlova and Partners law firm, Polina Pavlova, says that even the threat of deprivation of parental rights “does not stop all debtors.” “A minimum amount is better than nothing at all,” the lawyer comments on the bill. At the same time, she notes: “Debtors will know that the state, represented by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities, will pay alimony for them,” which could cause an increase in the number of defaulters. However, Ms. Pavlova does not rule out that the state will collect the debt more effectively if we are talking about a debt to the budget.

Alexander Voronov