AnoverviewoftheNorwegianSystemofChild Support Establishment,ModificationandEnforcement
August 2012
OrganizationalStructure
NationalOffice for Social Insurance AbroadTheChild Support Unit
A central office for the National Insurance Service’sinternational cases, located in Oslo, Norwaydeals with 10% of all the child support cases in Norway40 %ofcases with theNordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland)the obligor lives in the US in9%of thecasesthereare13million US dollars in child support arrears from US obligors
The Norwegian legislation on child support
The rights for and the obligation to pay child supportChildren Act of 8 April 1981 nr 72The right for advance child support paymentsAdvance Payment of Maintenance Act of 17 February 1989 nr 2The collection of child support and alimonyThe Maintenance Payments Recovery Act of 29 April 2005 no. 20
The Children Act
Parents have the obligation tobear the expenses of maintaining and educating the child according to the child’s ability and aptitude and the financial circumstances of the parents, when the child itself does not have the requisite meansthe absent parent is obliged to pay monthly childsupportThe parents may agree upon the child support amount or theycan askthe local National Insurance office to establish a child supportorder for a small fee (there is no fee in international cases)Norwegian authorities have the jurisdiction to establish a child supportorder ifthe child or one of the parents lives in Norway
Legislationin Norway
When establishing a child supportorder we take into considerationboth parents’financial situationthe number of children and theiragesthe obligor’s ability to pay support
The Advance Payment of Maintenance Act
A child who resides inNorway isentitled toreceiveadvance child support payments from the Norwegian StateIf the child actuallylives in NorwayIf notliving with bothparentsifthe child support agreed upon or ordered is collected by theauthoritiesevenif the paternity has not beenestablishedevenif a child support agreement or order has not been establishedTheadvance child support issubjectto means testing. The amount depends on the CP’s gross income, if she/he lives with another adult person, and if she/he lives with other own children. A full advance support is NOK1430per month per child (approximately240USD). Depending of the circumstances above, she/he can receive 100, 75, 50 or 0 % of the full amount.
The Maintenance Payments Recovery Act
TheNAV National Insurance Collection Agency shallcollect the child supportifthe personreceives advance payments(resides in Norway)the custodial parent may at any time request that the child support shall be collected bythe Collection Agencya foreign authority may at any time request that the child support shall be collected by the Collection AgencyCollectionordered in a foreign country will depend onwhetherthe foreign state hasa reciprocalagreement with Norway [or]isa memberof one of the HagueConventionsAny foreign order must first be recognized by the National Office for Social Insurance Abroad.
Norway’s International Obligations Regarding Child Support
The Nordic Conventionconvention between Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden on enforcement of child support and alimony (1962)The UN conventionconvention on the recovery of maintenance abroad (the New York Convention 1956)The Hague Convention1958TheHague Convention1973The Hague Convention 2007conventionson the recognition and enforcement of decisions relating to maintenance obligationsTheLuganoConventionConvention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial mattersA reciprocal agreement between the US and Norway from June 2002
Handling InternationalCases in Norway
Centralization has been of great importanceNorway is a small nation(5millions inhabitants)Most child support orders are established administratively and not by the courtsWe have employees with good foreign language skillsConventions are our main instrumentsthe Nordic conventionthe two Hague conventionsthe agreement between the US andNorway
The Assessment Rules
The child support amount will bedetermined onthe basis ofa statistical maintenancecost for supporting the child.The maintenance cost is calculated on the basis of consumption expenses, living expenses and any costs of child care.In international cases, child support is always determined by discretion.When the child resides abroad, the maintenance cost will reflect the general cost-of-living expense in the country of domicile.
TheParents’ Incomes
The parents’ incomeswill beimputed ifhe/shedoes not submit the requested documentation, or there are reasons to believe that he/she is withholding information material to thedecisionorhe/she has no reasonable justification for having a significantly lower income than he/she couldobtain or noincome atall
The Non-CustodialParent’sIncome
When the child support amount is determined by the authorities, the NCP is entitled to retain a certain minimum of his/her income to maintain him-/herself and any own children in his/her household. The consequence of this may be that the support will be reduced or set aside completely.The total child support amount (for all NCP’s children) cannot exceed 25 % of the NCP’s income.We will take into consideration ifthe parentshave an agreementora court orderstating that the childspendsan average of at least two days in a month with theNCP.
Modificationand Child SupportAbovetheAgeof18
Both parties may at any time apply for amodification ofa previous agreement or order.Anew orderwill be established ifthe variationexceeds 12 % ofthe previous amount.The obligation to pay child support normally ceases fromthemonth following the child’s 18thbirthday.If the child continues at school after he/she reachedtheage of 18, he/she may apply forestablishment of a new support order forthe duration of thehigh school education.
Paternity
It is the state’s responsibility to establish paternity for all children born in NorwayWhen paternity has not been established and the alleged father lives in Norway, NAV can assist with establishment of paternity in NorwayAn application for establishment of paternity can be sent to the National Office for Social Insurance Abroad, and we will forward it to the correct NAV Administration Office
NAV National Insurance CollectionAgency
A centralagency whichcollectschild support inNorway, located inKirkenes40% of the child support paid tothem isdone so in one of the following manners:Agreed bank endorsementsDirect deductionsInvoice billing60% of the cases are collected by one of the following methods:Automatic deduction from wages, benefits, military income etc.Lienon:Personal property: Home, Cabin, Car, Motorcycles, Airplanes, and Boats etc.Other: Bank accounts, stocks, bonds and securitiesTax returnsSettlements from inheritance and bankruptciesArrests, Notice to the police, surveillance, confiscate passports, prohibit travels abroadDemand bankruptcy
Routines for billing, second notices and past due accounts
Every case will be invoiced once a month. This includes child support, and if necessary, debt (if there is any).No payment – second noticeStill no payment- automatic routines are put into force. This means that the system will use the person’s social security number to check for registered information concerning theobligor inthe availableregistries:Employers registered in NorwayState benefitsOther benefits or payments thatare dueto theobligorIf theobligor isregistered in any of these categories, a deduction is put into force.Cases are checked every monthFurther down the line the case will be checkedamongstthe followingregistries:Motor vehiclePropertyStocks andbondsIfanything is found here, a [lien] on items belonging to theobligor willbe put forth
PaymentofChild Support
Allpaymentsofchildsupport to NAVshouldbemadetotheCollectionAgencyatthefollowingaddress:NAV NationalInsurance CollectionAgency9917 KirkenesNorwayTel.: +47 21 05 11 00Fax: +47 21 05 11 01
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