

Child support issues after divorce can be claimed through lawsuit.
2022-11-14

Couples may end up in divorce due to various reasons that arise during marriage. At this time, even if there is a divorce, the parent's obligation to support the child does not disappear, so the party who is not designated as the custodian must fulfill his or her obligation by paying child support.
In order to provide a child with food, clothing, and shelter and an average living environment, significant costs are bound to be incurred, and especially in divorced families raising children alone, it is never easy for one parent to cover all costs through the economic activities of only one parent.
The obligation to pay child support does not disappear even if financial circumstances are difficult or the child’s ability is not sufficient. Therefore, in situations where it is impossible to pay child support, you must apply for a reduction in child support so that you can pay at least the minimum amount of child support.
However, the child support compliance rate among divorced couples in Korea is low. In fact, even if payment was promised from the non-payer of child support through the Child Support Compliance Management Center, only 38.3% of children received child support properly last year.
In this way, if the other party who is obligated to pay child support does not pay child support on time after divorce, child support can be claimed through legal procedures. Unpaid child support can be claimed using the direct child support payment order system, provision of collateral, or lump sum payment order system.
In addition, if child support once determined is insufficient depending on the circumstances, it can be reduced or increased based on reasonable grounds. For example, if circumstances change, such as when a child has an illness that requires long-term treatment and medical expenses increase, or if the financial situation of the party who must pay child support worsens and a reduction in child support is necessary, child support can be increased or decreased through agreement between the parties or by filing a request to the court.
The Seoul Family Court has revised and made public the child support calculation standard table last year, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is also imposing sanctions by adding debtors subject to requests such as disclosure of personal information, ban on leaving the country, and suspension of driver's licenses in cases where child support obligations are not fulfilled for more than 90 days even after receiving a compliance order to increase the child support compliance rate.
Attorney Yang Yang of Daeryun Law Firm said, “If you do not fulfill your responsibilities as a parent and unilaterally fail to fulfill child support obligations without taking any action, you may be subject to various sanctions. If child support has been repeatedly unpaid over a long period of time, you can claim any amount of unpaid child support through a lawsuit, so I hope you will seek legal assistance from a divorce and family affairs lawyer and respond proactively.”
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