Advance Child Support Payments Allowed Even for Trick Small Payments... Ministry to Improve System

Eligible Even with Irregular or Small Payments
Implementation Scheduled for September after Review Committee Approval

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will improve the criteria for the advance payment system to prevent cases of "trick small payments," where individuals exploit loopholes in the system by making minimal child support payments to avoid being eligible for advance payment, which is currently only available to those who have not received any child support at all.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Child Support Agency announced that they would begin revising the "criteria for non-fulfillment of child support obligations," which is one of the requirements for applying for advance payment, so that advance payment can be made even in cases of trick small payments.

The advance payment system for child support allows the state to pay child support in advance to creditors who have not received child support, and later recover the amount from the debtor. This system was implemented on July 1. According to current laws and guidelines, applications for advance payment are only accepted if the child support debtor has not paid any child support at all for three consecutive months or on three separate occasions. As a result, there have been cases of "trick fulfillment," where debtors make only small payments to evade their obligations.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Child Support Agency plan to address this loophole by establishing criteria for "small payments," so that advance payment applications can be accepted even if only irregular or partial small payments have been made. The revised plan will be implemented starting in September after gathering feedback from the field and undergoing review and resolution by the Child Support Review Committee.

The Child Support Agency made its first advance payments on July 25, providing child support to 313 children in 188 households. For households that applied this month and are currently undergoing eligibility review, advance payments will be made retroactively for July if they are determined to be eligible.