Statutory Bar on Child Support

You may have already heard the reassuring but somewhat misleading piece of information that child support cannot be statute-barred, and you may have even read it in the Civil Code. Unfortunately, it creates a somewhat erroneous impression that you can make a claim to unpaid child support whenever you feel like it.
Since it is the right per se, rather than the particular claim to payment of an instalment of child support granted by court that is not subject to a statutory bar, you must always beware of the short period of time for which individual instalments can remain overdue and you must initiate their enforcement in time.
Each individual installment gets statute-barred in a general limitation period of three years, in accordance with the new regulation of a statutory bar on child support under the new Civil Code, effective as of 1 January 2014.
If a final and conclusive decision exists, determining that child support for a certain expired period of time is due and payable, this child support will be statute-barred after 10 years from its due date determined by the decision.
If a final and conclusive decision exists, determining that child support will be payable in monthly installments in the future, but afterwards, the obligor parent gets into default, enforcement proceedings must be initiated and enforcement commenced within three years (from the respective due dates of individual installments).
If an obligor parent agreed to pay child support under an agreement but fails to pay the installments later, court proceedings must be initiated within three years of the day on which the earliest overdue installment fell due.
Although you can still bring your claim to payment of child support after the limitation period expired, the adverse party may successfully plead the statute of limitations.
However, it is possible that some overdue child support installments (payable by 31 December 2013) which remain unpaid have not been statute-barred yet because the limitation period applicable to these installments at that time was ten years.
Do you have any questions? Do you need an advice about the best course of action? Please feel free to contact us anytime or send a non-binding query.

Mgr. Alexandra Kábrtová, Junior assosciate
Mgr. Jana Sedláčková, Attorney-at-law
Pajerová Sedláčková ADVOKÁTKY s.r.o.
26 August 2021