Maintenance (Alimony) - Collecting maintenance payments from the debtor

A person who owes maintenance payments must reimburse the National Insurance Institute for the full amount that he was ordered to pay in the court judgment, as of the date on which the NII began to make the maintenance payments to his wife.

Upon commencement of payments to the wife, the National Insurance Institute sends a notice to the person who is obligated to pay the maintenance, in which he is requested to pay the NII the amounts he was ordered to pay in the court judgment. The notice also contains a payment coupon and an application form for automatic payments.

If a debtor does not regularly pay the amounts that he was ordered to pay in the court judgment, the National Insurance Institute may act against him with any means at its disposal, including collection proceedings.

If the National Insurance Institute collects amounts from the debtor – that are specified in the court judgment – which exceed the payments made to the wife according to the regulations, the National Insurance Institute will transfer the difference to the wife.