[Jeon Daegyu's 7 Wins 8 Losses] Personal Rehabilitation and Child Support

There is an internet site called Bad Fathers. It is a site that unauthorizedly discloses personal information (such as age, occupation, address, photos, etc., quite detailed) of parents (mostly fathers) who are obligated to pay child support but fail to do so. Disclosing personal information without legal grounds in a civilized society is likely due to the recognition that child support is related to the child's right to survival, and non-payment of child support constitutes child abuse. However, the disclosure of personal information by Bad Fathers is a clear defamation, and the site operator has been sued dozens of times and is currently undergoing a criminal trial (although acquitted in the first trial, the appeal is ongoing).

Bad Fathers brought public attention to the child support issue that the government had neglected. However, Bad Fathers plans to cease operations at the end of this month. This is because the government will take over the responsibility with the enforcement of the "Act on the Assurance and Support of Child Support Payment" and its enforcement decree. According to this law, measures to ensure child support payment include driver's license suspension, travel bans, and public disclosure of names. Additionally, there is the direct payment order system for child support stipulated in the Family Litigation Act. The direct payment order system means that if a person obligated to regularly pay child support for minor children after divorce (child support debtor) fails to pay child support without justifiable reasons two or more times, upon the application of the creditor holding the execution title for the child support claim (child support creditor), the income tax withholding agent who has the obligation to withhold income tax from the child support debtor's salary is ordered to deduct child support regularly from the debtor's salary and pay it directly to the child support creditor.

This allows for the enforcement of future child support claims that have not yet matured as execution titles, enabling compulsory execution against the debtor's future salary claims, thereby effectively securing relatively small child support claims.

The problem is that despite these child support enforcement measures, if an individual rehabilitation procedure is initiated against the person obligated to pay child support, there may be times when the child support cannot be received as needed. Among child support claims, the portion whose repayment due date arrives after the decision to commence individual rehabilitation can be preferentially repaid as individual rehabilitation estate claims. However, the portion whose repayment due date has arrived at the time of the decision to commence individual rehabilitation is treated as individual rehabilitation claims, limiting the exercise of rights and making enforcement difficult.

The direct payment order system for child support also has issues. When individual rehabilitation procedures commence, the direct payment order is suspended or prohibited. Therefore, during the individual rehabilitation process, sufficient child support for the child cannot be secured, which can significantly affect the child's welfare. Although child support claims against the child are non-dischargeable debts, this only means that they can be repaid without discharge after the conclusion of the individual rehabilitation procedure; there is no way to secure child support during the ongoing individual rehabilitation process. Considering this, in practice, child support payments are made after the repayment plan is approved during the individual rehabilitation process for the child's welfare. Despite this practical approach, there is no way to secure child support from the decision to commence individual rehabilitation until the repayment plan is approved.

Public disclosure of names is also ineffective once individual rehabilitation procedures commence. The Minister of Gender Equality and Family can disclose the name and other information of a child support debtor who fails to fulfill child support obligations despite a detention order decision due to non-payment, upon the application of the child support creditor and after deliberation and resolution by the Child Support Enforcement Committee. However, once individual rehabilitation procedures commence, even if child support is not paid, the debtor is excluded from public disclosure.

As such, some measures to secure child support can become ineffective due to individual rehabilitation procedures, highlighting the need for legislative supplementation as soon as possible. Children are our future.

Jeon Dae-gyu, Chief Judge, Seoul Rehabilitation Court