Child support and contact right- where is the link?
Children cost money. Anyone who has children must pay child support. So far it sounds quite simple, yet child support is a topic that evokes many questions and frequent conflicts.
Who pays child support?
Parents are basically obliged to support their children until the children are capable of supporting themselves. Contrary to a widespread misunderstanding, the children’s ability to support themselves does not automatically begin at the age of 18.
The person who mainly cares for the children, i.e. who still lives with the children in the same household after the separation, makes his or her contribution through maintenance in kind. For example, by actually providing for the children (food, care, living space, clothing). The other parent owes monetary maintenance.
The amount of child support
On the one hand, the question of how much maintenance is to be paid is about how much the person who owes child support earns and, on the other hand, about the actual needs of the child.
As a guide, there are percentages to determine the amount of child support. Depending on the age of the child, between 16 and 22 percent of the monthly net income is owed. Other care obligations (other children or spouse) are also taken into account. In addition, there is a so-called “playboy limit” or luxury limit, which caps child support above a certain income level. This is intended to prevent over-alimentation, which is not pedagogically valuable. Maintenance amounts such as those reported in the American media do not exist in Austria. This playboy limit amounts to 2 or 2.5 times the standard need (Austrian ARGE for youth welfare) of the child.
The link between the right of contact, care, and child support
In Austria, child support as described above is based on the assumption that one parent is the primary caretaker of the children and the other has a right of contact. The right of contact is a factor in the assessment of child support. “Full” child support in the form outlined above is available for a “normal right of contact,” which is approximately 80 days per year. “Usual” contact right according to case law is to the extent of 2 days every two weeks (or one day/week) and 4 weeks during vacations. That means simplified for example – Every second weekend Friday to Sunday and Tuesday afternoon (single hours on the day are not counted under maintenance law – the weekend from Friday to Sunday is counted as two days) plus 4 weeks of vacations. If the right of contact goes significantly beyond the “normal” right of contact, there will be deductions from the child support. The case law deducts about 10% per (regular) additional day – because the parent is liable to pay maintenance and thus also pays a higher amount of maintenance in kind. Less contact does not lead to higher child support.
If both parents care for the child in approximately equal proportions and earn approximately the same amount, child support is not paid in full and the costs for the child are shared. If there are serious differences in income (exceeding about one third), there may be “supplementary maintenance” to the parent who earns less. The idea is that if care is shared equally, all costs for the children are also shared. However, this often puts more of a burden on the one who earns less.
In Austria, legal practice shows how much the fact that more contact means less maintenance fuels conflicts about the children. Again and again, there are bitter disputes about how much contact a parent should get with the children. Such proceedings drag on and cost not only money, but also energy – especially not only for the parents but above all for the children. The basis of communication rarely improves as a result of these proceedings. In fact, it is then often not only about the children but also about money and that on both sides. Sometimes there are parents who only want to have as much contact with the children as possible at the time of separation or afterward, and who strive for equal care, which they cannot provide (themselves) due to financial reasons. Sometimes there are also parents who would be in favor of more contact in principle, but who cannot afford it financially without (full) child support. De facto, the coupling of money and contacts brings difficulties with it. The argument that those who provide equal care and still have to pay in full are at a disadvantage is, however, also justified.
READ NEXT
