Contribution to a child’s maintenance is one of the obligations arising out of parental custody rights.
Contribution to maintenance
As a parent, you have an obligation to financially support your child’s everyday needs, for example, food, health care and education. You have an obligation to contribute to the child’s maintenance even if the other parent has separate custody or if your custody rights have been fully withdrawn.
If the other parent does not contribute to your child’s maintenance voluntarily, you may request that maintenance costs are collected by a court order. The court may order the splitting of contributions to the child’s maintenance costs proportionally to each parent’s financial means. Read more about how to prepare and submit an application to the court under the Civil Procedure Code.
State support
The Maintenance Guarantee Fund provides maintenance for a child to the minimum amount where the parent caring for the child cannot provide for the child’s maintenance to the minimum amount set by Lithuanian law or where this amount cannot be collected from the child’s other parent by a court order.
Read more about how to submit an application to the Administration of Maintenance Guarantee Fund where the other parent cannot contribute to the child’s monthly financial maintenance to the minimum amount set by law.
Read more about how to submit an application to the Administration of Maintenance Guarantee Fund where the collection of the child’s maintenance from the child’s other parent is not possible by a court order.
Length of decision-making & the Enforcement process
The effective protection of family life requires that issues regarding child maintenance should be determined as soon as possible. Proceedings regarding child maintenance should not be unnecessarily delayed by state institutions.
If the court has ordered the other parent to contribute to child maintenance, it is in your and your child’s interests for this decision to be enforced as soon as possible. A delayed enforcement procedure may violate your right to a fair trial and negatively affect the child’s interests. The use of effective sanctions against the other parent may be requested if he/she does not comply with the decision. Read more about the enforcement procedure in the Civil Procedure Code.