Register of alimony debtors

2024: Enactment of legislation to create an open digital register of child support defaulters

On May 6, 2024, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the second and third readings a bill on the creation of an open digital register of defaulters of alimony.

According to the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, the register will include data on those who do not pay funds for the maintenance of minor children, incapacitated children who have reached the age of majority, or disabled parents.

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The bill is primarily aimed at protecting the interests of children. It is necessary to create conditions so that fathers, no matter how they treat ex-wives, do not run from their children. The open register of malicious defaulters of alimony will allow you to collect funds in favor of the child, - the speaker explained.

He added that the alimony debtor will be notified of the inclusion in the "black list" within 24 hours after the information about him is included in the register. The information will be in the public domain until the defaulter fully repays the debt.

To obtain up-to-date information on the employment of debtors, the FSSP of Russia, in accordance with the adopted bill, is empowered to request relevant information from state authorities and state extrabudgetary funds. For this, bailiffs will be able to use a single system of interdepartmental electronic interaction.

The document adopted by the State Duma establishes that the methods already established by law, including telegrams or SMS messages, will be used to notify the debtor of inclusion in or exclusion from the register. In addition to information about enforcement proceedings against debtors, the register will also include data on the date of adoption of the judicial act on bringing a person to administrative or criminal liability. The data will be entered into the register within five days from the date of receipt of information to the bailiffs.^[1]

2023: Government approval for debtor list

The government commission on legislative activities approved the draft law, according to which a register of alimony workers brought to administrative and criminal liability for failure to fulfill their obligations will appear in the Russian Federation. This was announced on September 26, 2023 to Interfax by the chairman of the board of the Russian Bar Association Vladimir Gruzdev.

The draft federal law provides for the creation of a register of debtors for alimony obligations. It is proposed to assign the authority to maintain this register electronically to the Federal Bailiff Service. The register will include information about debtors on alimony obligations brought to administrative and criminal liability, as well as those wanted, Gruzdev said.

FSSP will monitor child support evaders

The prepared bill is aimed at increasing the social protection of children whose parents could not figure out among themselves. The principles of forming and maintaining the register will be determined by the chief bailiff of Russia. The publicly available part of the register will be published on the website of the FSSP of Russia.

In addition, the legislative initiative proposes to expand the powers of bailiffs and give them the opportunity to challenge the transactions of debtors on alimony if, with the help of a transaction, the debtor tries to hide his property. At the same time, it is possible to file a lawsuit, even if the transaction was made even before the court decision on the appointment of alimony. The main thing is to prove that the transaction is fictitious and was made in order to evade the payment of alimony. Evidence that the deal was fictitious could be, for example, the fact that the debtor still uses the car he sold.

According to criminal lawyer Maxim Kalinov, every year the number of cases of non-payment of alimony increases by about 3%. In district courts, this category of cases remains one of the most numerous.^[2]

2022: Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation creates a publicly available register of debtors for alimony

On April 19, 2022, it became known about the creation by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation of a publicly available register of alimony debtors. It will receive information about the owed citizens who were attracted to administrative and criminal liability, as well as those who are wanted. Bailiffs will be able to invalidate real estate transactions of alimony debtors through the court.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Justice, it is proposed to assign the authority to maintain this register in electronic form to the Federal Bailiff Service. In turn, the procedure for forming and maintaining the register will be determined by the chief bailiff of the Russian Federation, and the publicly available part of the information contained in the register will be published on the official website of the FSSP of Russia.

On April 19, 2022, SAP spoke about the new restrictions on its activities, which the company resorts to in Russia in response to the country conducting a special operation in Ukraine.

The name, date and place of birth of the debtor, appointment, information about enforcement proceedings - his number, initiation and adoption of a court decision, information about the enforcement document and the announcement of the wanted list will be publicly available.

It is noted that in case of repayment of debt on alimony obligations, the debtor will be excluded from the register within five days.

The Ministry of Justice expects that the creation of a register will contribute to improving the effectiveness and quality of the enforcement of judicial acts, as well as motivating debtors who evade the payment of alimony to fulfill their duties.

By mid-April 2022, the amount of unpaid alimony debt exceeds 156 billion rubles, and the number of enforcement proceedings initiated against alimony defaulters exceeds 196 thousand, the Ministry of Justice added.

Earlier, the department insisted on the need to introduce criminal liability for those who do not pay alimony in full. By April 2022, such a measure is provided only for malicious defaulters with heavy debts.^[3]

2021: First information on the creation of the registry

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation plans to create a register of debtors for alimony, if it falls into which certain restrictions will be imposed on citizens. This was announced on May 19, 2021 by the head of the department Konstantin Chuichenko during his speech at the Federation Council.

He noted that the Ministry of Justice has a number of proposals on this initiative, they will be worked out with the Federation Council, interested bodies and organizations.

One of the proposals of the Ministry of Justice is to oblige debtors immediately after entering the register and then every year hand over to the bailiff a declaration of income and property in use.

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation will create a single register of debtors for alimony

In addition, the registry participants are planned to be forced to inform the bailiff, who conducts his enforcement proceedings, about the debt on alimony and about the upcoming trips.

If there is information on the submission of inaccurate information, it is proposed to give the FSSP of Russia the authority to submit to the court an application for foreclosure on such property and prosecution, up to criminal,

Earlier, the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) of Russia reported that bailiffs have about 800 thousand enforcement proceedings annually to recover alimony. About 45% of them each end in sending writ of execution to recover funds at the place of work, and enforcement measures are applied to the rest of the bailiffs. According to the FSSP, about 20% of alimony workers do not pay money even under the threat of a criminal case.

According to TASS, by April 1, 2021, despite a slight decrease, there continues to be a significant number of alimony debtors who did not even begin to fulfill their obligations (163 thousand, or about 20% of all alimony proceedings).^[4]

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