US - Finland conference call May 3, 2007
Tiina Nurmimäki, Hanna Rantala and Tuija Miettilä
AN OVERVIEW OF THE FINNISH SYSTEM OF
CHILD SUPPORT ESTABLISMENT, VARIATION
AND
ENFORCEMENT
11.9.2009
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FINLAND
SWEDEN
ICELAND
NORWAY RUSSIA
Helsinki
DENMARK
Democratic republic
Member of the European Union
Population 5.3 million
Area 130,558 sq mi
Capital Helsinki
Official languages Finnish and
Swedish 11.9.2009
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Child Maintenance Act
• A child is entitled to maintenance from the parents until
the age of 18, but even after that the parents can be
responsible for the costs incurred by education if deemed
reasonable.
• Maintenance is payable in cash on a monthly basis and
in advance, or as an exception it can be established as a
lump sum.
• The amount is determined individually based on the
child’s needs and the parent’s financial capacity.
• Due to rises in living costs, an automatic increase
applies to maintenance paid periodically.
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• The amount and payment method of validated maintenance
can be adjusted by agreement or judgement, if the
circumstances have changed remarkably.
• Child maintenance is paid to the child’s custodian (deposited
in a bank account specified by the custodian).
• Interest on overdue maintenance payment is enforceable
based on law.
• Maintenance payments and interest on arrears fall under the
statute of limitations in five years.
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Security of Child Maintenance Act
• If the person liable does not pay the validated maintenance,
the person entitled to maintenance can:
1) request assistance from the local enforcement authority to
collect maintenance
2) apply for advance of child support from the local social
welfare authority (2007: € 129,91 / $ 173 per month)
• Advance of child support does not affect the liable parent’s
duty to pay maintenance in full and the authority has the sole
right to collect all maintenance arrears from the person liable
for payment.
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Establishment of child support
1. Confirmation of maintenance on the basis of agreement
more than 90 % of the child support cases
in writing and signed by the parents
submitted for the confirmation of the social welfare board of the
municipality in which the representative of the child has his habitual
residence
the board pays special consideration to whether or not the agreement can
be deemed reasonable in view of the right of the child to sufficient
maintenance, the financial ability of the parents and other relevant factors
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2. Confirmation of maintenance on the basis of a court
decision
If the parents cannot reach an agreement, the matter
has to be handled through a judicial process
the court confirms the responsibility to pay maintenance from the date
the action was brought or from a later date specified in the decision
the responsibility to pay maintenance can begin from a date preceding
the bringing of action if there are especially weighty reasons for this,
but not beyond the year preceding the date the action was brought.
if the action for maintenance was brought within one year of the date
paternity had been established, the father may be ordered to pay
maintenance from the date the child was born if deemed reasonable
(not beyond five years preceding the date action was brought)
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Method of calculating child support
• A child has the right to sufficient maintenance
• The parents are responsible for the maintenance of the child
in accordance with their abilities
• In assessment consideration shall be given to
– their age
– ability to work
– opportunity to take part in gainful employment
– the amount of their assets
– their other statutory maintenance liability
• Consideration shall also be given to the ability and opportunity
of the child to be responsible for his own maintenance
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Variation of child support
• maintenance payments are subject to automatic
reassessment carried out by the Ministry for Social Welfare
and Health (Act on linking of certain maintenance payments to
the cost-of-living index)
• if the circumstances that must be taken into consideration in
confirming the maintenance have changed to such an extent
that alteration of maintenance is deemed reasonable in view
of the circumstances of both the child and the parents
-> by an agreement confirmed by the social welfare or court
decision
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Enforcement of child support
• an agreement on maintenance confirmed by the social welfare
board is enforceable in the same way as a final judgement
• a judgement ordering a person to pay maintenance of
increasing/decreasing the amount of maintenance can be
enforced immediately as a final decision, regardless of appeal
• child support is given priority compared to other debts in
execution
• methods available for enforcement: wage withholding, tax
refund intercept, garnishment from a bank account or other
sources, distraint of property for a forced sale
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Enforcement of US Support Order in Finland
Ministry for Foreign Affairs as the receiving central authority:
1. verifies the address of the debtor
2. requests the local social welfare authority to contact the debtor
and to examine his financial situation -> aim is to get the debtor
to pay voluntarily
3. if the debtor is solvent but refuses to pay voluntarily or is not
willing to give account of his financial situation -> sends the US
support order to Court of Appel of Helsinki for recognition and
enforcement
4. sends the enforceable decision to the District Enforcement Office
for recovery of the maintenance (recovered maintenance is sent
directly to the US bank account, not through the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs)
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Enforcement of Finnish Support Order in US
Ministry for Foreign Affairs as the transmitting central authority:
1. provides assistance to the social welfare authorities or the
custodian
2. ensures that the application contains all the relevant information
and documentation
3. sends the application to the competent US authority
Please note that Finnish banks charge a fee of approx. $ 15 when
payment is made by check.
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Establishment of child support in US related cases
• If the child lives in Finland; the social welfare authority / court
corresponding to the domicile of child’s custodian has jurisdiction.
• If the child lives in US; court corresponding to a) the former
domicile of the child’s custodian or if there is no former domicile, b)
District Court of Helsinki or c) the domicile of the person liable to
pay maintenance has jurisdiction
• An attorney from the State Legal Aid Office will represent the
applicant.
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Modification of a foreign decision on child support
in the recognition proceedings the Finnish courts are not
allowed to review the merits of the foreign decision
if the applicant requests a variation of the foreign decision,
same rules apply in regard to the jurisdiction of Finnish courts
as for the establisment of child support
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Contact information
• Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Legal adviser Hanna Rantala
tel. + 358 9 160 55 740 / fax + 358 9 160 55 755
hanna.rantala@formin.fi
Legal adviser Tiina Nurmimäki
tel. + 358 9 160 56 398 / fax + 358 9 160 55 755
tiina.nurmimaki@formin.fi
• Department of Social Services of Helsinki
Child Support Officer Tuija Miettilä
tuija.miettila@hel.fi
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