fbpx

Posts

Child maintenance Bulgaria

A maintenance case is usually filed when two people living in the form of an actual cohabitation have a common child and are separated. 

Then the child or children remain with one parent and the other either does not pay maintenance or pays it less than the needs of minors. Then, for the parent with whom the child lives, a legal interest arises in bringing a maintenance case against the other parent.

Whenever it comes to family relationships, my advice is to resolve the issue on the basis of dialogue and mutual compromise in the best interests of the child. In order for the negotiations to be successful, this should be entrusted to a family professional lawyers, the most specialized family law lawyer, to assist the parties in converging positions.

And only after all the possibilities for a peaceful and voluntary solution to the problem have been exhausted should the case be resorted to.

Child support case without marriage

In most cases, maintenance cases mainly concern children born out of wedlock. This is because a maintenance case is extremely rare in the course of the marriage, and in the case of a divorce the court is obliged to adjudicate on the issue of maintenance and in reality no other case is required.

Children born without marriage, have the same rights as those born in the marriage, and therefore entitled to alimony.

When should a maintenance case be brought?

It is not always the case that after two parents terminate an actual cohabitation, such a case is required. When both parents understand each other, do not call each other, and cover their child’s financial needs, litigation is superfluous, although in this case we personally advise the parties, given the volatility of human nature, to settle their situation after separation, at least out of court, in which they set clear boundaries on how their relationship will develop in the future.

If after separation, the other parent refuses to pay maintenance if he or she is able to do so and does not respond to attempts to resolve the issue peacefully and out of court, then without hesitation, the parent who actually took care of the minor child should bring the court with a claim for maintenance. 

Any delay, hesitation or excuse on the part of this parent not to institute proceedings is against the interests of his or her child and deprives him or her of financial resources for the upbringing and upbringing of the child.

What amount of maintenance can be claimed?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions. The answer can be given only after your lawyer becomes acquainted with all the facts and circumstances, namely, what are the needs of the child, what is the value of his / her monthly maintenance, are there any specific needs such as medicines, therapies, courses, etc. n., what is the approximate financial capacity of the defendant / usually the father / to provide alimony, and what evidence does the parent have for the expenses incurred to cover the child’s needs.

One can only say for sure what is the minimum amount of child support that cannot be sued in one case – it is 25% of the minimum wage for the country, which as of 01.01.2019 is BGN 560, which makes minimum amount of BGN 140 per month.

The maximum amount in a minor’s maintenance case will depend mainly on the child’s proven needs and, to a much lesser extent, on the parent’s ability to provide. Also important here are the income of the parent, where the child lives permanently, because contrary to the widespread opinion, he is also required by law to support his child and the amount of maintenance is divided between the mother and father in a certain proportion.

Past maintenance fees

A maintenance case usually takes a certain period of time from the actual separation to the filing of the claim in court.

 In order not to violate the rights of the child, it should be brought by the parent and a claim for maintenance for a past period, covering the moment from separation to the opening of the case.

However, this period may not be longer than one year, insofar as the law expressly provides that past due maintenance may be claimed for a maximum of 12 months before the date on which the application is filed. All the expenses from the previous period cannot be searched, which is the main reason why the case should not be delayed.

What is the cost of a maintenance case?

Maintenance cases are exempt from paying a state fee for their formation. The only cost is a lawyer’s fee according Tariff. These costs are awarded to the plaintiff if the claim is upheld in full and, therefore, it is important that, in determining the claim is well prepared in the light of the evidence available .

Recognition of foreign judgments

One of the core consequences of globalisation has been the rapid increase in trans-national litigation and the associated need to enforce judgments across national borders. Recognition and enforcement of foreign countries’ court decisions in another country has always been a delicate and difficult issue.

It is known that the system does not have a universal rule and each country adopts its own valued judgment with regard to foreign decisions.

There is also a clear and relatively easy procedure for the enforcement of judgments and other acts passed in other EU Member States.

The Civil process Code does not contain provisions on recognition and enforcement of decisions and acts of countries other than EU Member States.

The Regulation Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments

Recognition and enforcement of judgments rendered in non-EU countries should be subject to different procedures under the Code of international private law act.

According to part four of the CMR, the conditions introduced in Art. 117 The Code of international private law act for recognition and enforcement is as follows:

The decisions and acts of foreign courts and other bodies are recognized when:

  1. – the foreign court or authority was competent under the provisions of Bulgarian law:
  2. – the defendant was served with a copy of the application, the parties were regularly summoned and the basic principles of Bulgarian law related to the defense were not violated ;
  3. – if between the same parties, on the same grounds and for the same request, no decision of a Bulgarian court has entered into force;
  4. – if there is no pending trial between the same parties, on the same grounds and for the same claim, before a Bulgarian court
  5. – recognition or admission of performance is not contrary to the Bulgarian public order.

Legal frame of recognition of foreign judgments

The Recognition of foreign Judgments is made by the body before it.

In the event of a dispute over the conditions for recognition of the foreign judgment, a settlement action may be brought before the Sofia City Court.

A claim is made before the Sofia City Court to allow enforcement of a foreign judgment.

The application shall be accompanied by a copy of the decision certified by the court which issued it and a certificate by the same court that the decision has entered into force.

These documents needs to be certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The court shall examine of its own motion the conditions under Art. 117.

The defendant in the procedure for recognition and enforcement of the foreign decision can not invoke violations under Art. 117, item 2, which he could have pointed out before the foreign court.

The court does not go into the examination of the substance of the dispute, resolved by the foreign court. 

The debtor may object to the discharge of the obligation on the basis of circumstances that have arisen after the entry into force of the foreign decision.

The debtor may not object to the discharge of the obligation on the basis of the circumstances after the enforcement decision has entered into force.

Regarding the recognition of the consequences of foreign enforcement and security acts – the regulation is in Art. 124 International law act in Bulgaria-

If there is a claim before a Bulgarian court for the recognition of a judgment given in a non-EU country and there are no other international instruments in the field of family law that have been signed and ratified by both countries.

The foreign state at the same time as the CPC does not contain provisions on recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments other than EU Member States, the recognition procedure will be Part Four of the CMR, considering the legal conditions under Art. 117 KMCP.

The court procedure in Bulgaria

A decision certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria must be submitted to the court, that it is apparent that the same has entered into force.

Recognition foreign decisions, Bulgarian lawyers recognition of court decision, Court decisions in Bulgaria, Bulgaria recognition court decision lawyerAfter assessing the conditions under Art. 117 CMMR and to check whether it is contrary to the Bulgarian public order, the court decides whether it admits or not.

It is important to note that, according to the provision of Art. 121 para. 1 Code international private law act, the court in the exequatur procedure does not examine the merits of the dispute.

Not found