Modify Child Support or Alimony in Latvia

To modify child support or alimony in Latvia is to change the maintenance, uzturlīdzekļi, that a parent pays for a child or, less often, that one former spouse pays to the other. Some older lists and lawyer pages call this service “Modification Child Support or Alimony Agreements”. English speakers search for child support in Latvia, child maintenance in Latvia or alimony in Latvia; in everyday speech in Latvia the payments for a child are often simply called alimenti. Alimony in the English sense, support for a former spouse, also exists in Latvian law, but on narrower conditions.

When a change comes up

A parent's income falls or rises, the child moves to the other parent, the child's needs grow with age, health or schooling, a parent moves abroad, or a new family brings new obligations. The paying parent may want a reduction, the receiving parent an increase.

How it works in Latvia

Both parents are obliged to maintain their child according to their means, and the Cabinet of Ministers sets a minimum amount per child that depends on the child's age and applies whatever the parents' finances. An amount fixed by a court judgment is changed through a new claim, in which the court looks at what has changed since the earlier decision. An amount the parents agreed, including one in a notarial divorce agreement, can be changed by a new agreement; if they cannot agree, the court decides. Maintenance can continue for an adult child who is still in education, up to an age set by law.

When payments stop altogether

If a parent does not pay what a court has ordered, the other parent can turn to the Maintenance Guarantee Fund (Uzturlīdzekļu garantiju fonds), which can pay the state minimum for the child and then claims the money back from the debtor. The fund's payments generally stop when the child no longer lives in Latvia. Collecting maintenance from a parent who lives in another country goes through EU or international rules on maintenance.

What a lawyer does

A lawyer compares the earlier decision or agreement with the present situation, gathers evidence of income and of the child's needs, negotiates a new agreement or files the claim, and deals with enforcement or recognition when one parent lives abroad. Changes to maintenance often come with questions about where the child lives or about the divorce itself; maintenance for a child whose father is not yet recorded starts with a paternity suit.

Questions and answers

Can a parent stop paying after losing a job?

Not on their own. The amount stays until a new agreement or a court decision changes it, and the state minimum for a child generally applies regardless of income.

Is child support the same as alimony?

No. Child support is paid for the child; alimony is maintenance for a former spouse, which Latvian law allows only in particular situations. In everyday Latvian, though, alimenti usually means money for a child.

From when does a new amount apply?

From the date the new agreement or the court sets; debts that are already owed are dealt with separately.

Can a Latvian court change a foreign maintenance order?

Sometimes, depending on where the child lives and on EU and international rules; a lawyer checks which court can deal with it.