[Monday Column] Child support directly related to a child’s right to survive

An acquaintance of mine with whom I had not been in contact for some time recently called. An acquaintance said that he got divorced by agreement last year due to his spouse's cheating, and that after the divorce by agreement, he sent child support for his minor daughter for 3 to 4 months, but has not been paying child support for several months. Surprisingly, several cases of non-payment of child support, which I am currently in charge of, have also occurred to acquaintances close to me. According to the ‘Single-Parent Family Survey’ conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family last year, 7 out of 10 (71.3%) reported that they had never received child support from their non-custodial parents.

Parents who raise their children alone after divorce have the burden of raising their children as well as their own lives, and the biggest problem is by far the financial problem. As the head of a single-parent family, you inevitably need money to raise a child. Any parent who has raised a child will know how frustrating and frustrating it would be if the ex-spouse avoided contact or unilaterally stopped paying child support.

Ms. A, a working mother who is raising two children alone after divorcing by agreement due to her spouse's misconduct, promised to pay child support of 700,000 won per month for each child when she divorced by agreement with her ex-spouse, but her ex-husband did not pay child support every month and even when he did, he paid a small amount of about 200,000 won. In this situation, Ms. A can compulsorily execute the child support burden record prepared and issued during the divorce by agreement on her ex-husband's property without a separate civil lawsuit as a source of execution.

If the ex-husband does not comply, the family court may issue a direct payment order or compliance order pursuant to Articles 63-2 and 64 of the Family Litigation Act. Violation of compliance orders may result in imprisonment and a fine of up to 10 million won. Imprisonment is a sanction that can result in detention in a detention center for up to 30 days if the court's decision is not implemented.

In addition, pursuant to Articles 21-3 to 21-5 of the Act on Securing and Supporting Child Support Obligation, a driver's license suspension and ban on leaving the country may be requested for defaulters on child support obligations, and indirect sanctions such as disclosure of names are also possible.

However, although compliance orders and detention orders are very powerful means of securing compliance, if the other party interferes with the delivery of lawsuit documents by falsely registering, etc., it is very likely that the trial itself will be delayed because it is difficult to hold a hearing, and execution is also not easy if you change your residence even after being cited. For this reason, the issue of child support is likely to become a long-term battle that will not end for several years, and those who claim payment are often emotionally exhausted before receiving actual child support, so it is necessary to prepare sanctions that ensure speed and effectiveness.

Due to this problem, the 'Act on Securing and Supporting Child Support Compliance' was revised in 2021 to provide the basis for criminal punishment of up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won if a defaulter who intentionally fails to pay child support fails to fulfill child support obligations despite receiving a detention order.

From July 1, 2025, the state will first pay child support to children from single-parent families with an income below 150% of the median income who have not received child support three or more times in a row until the three months preceding the month in which the application date falls or the last day of the previous month. The child support advance payment system will be implemented in which the government will first pay child support to children from single-parent families with income below 150% of the median income, and later collect it from non-custodians who are child support debtors according to the example of compulsory national tax collection. It is said that about 500 applications were received on the first day of enforcement alone.

When proceeding with a child support lawsuit, the custodial parent ultimately realizes that what the custodial parent wants is not the right to execute the judgment or imprisonment or punishment for the other party, but to have the money needed to raise the child immediately deposited into their pocket. In today's era of high inflation, child support is not just a child's welfare, it is a matter directly related to survival, and is also the responsibility of parents who are bound to their children by natural destiny.

Recently, while raising three children, including myself, I feel a lot of gratitude towards my mother, who was unable to buy even the right things for me. Children will also one day come to know such parental love.

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[Monday Column] Child support directly related to the child's right to survive (link)