As of 1 January 2015, a lot of changes have been made to child support. Chaos has ensued in alimony country! Here are the most important changes and the current state of affairs.
First of all, the tax refund received by the child support payer expired on 1 January 2015. In other words, since this year the maintenance payer no longer receives any tax benefit. It is important to note that in recent years many people have agreed to higher amounts of alimony so that they could actually claim this tax benefit. The question is therefore whether these amounts of maintenance can still be paid. In any case, it is clear that the expiry of the tax benefit is a reason to change the amount of child support.
On 1 January 2015, the Child Arrangements (Revision) Act was also introduced. As a result, a number of other schemes were abolished and all child schemes have now been merged into the Child Budget (KGB). Part of the KGB is the single parent credit. As of 1 January, the Expert Group on Alimony of the courts recommends that the entire KGB be deducted directly from the children's needs. After all, these are allowances received for the children and should be used for that purpose immediately. Until last year, however, these supplements were added to the income of the child support recipient. The result is that the need for the children when determining child support has become much lower. It can even turn out that the KGB is higher than the total need of the children and that therefore no child maintenance is required anymore.
The courts of The Hague and North Holland disagreed and ruled in various judgments that it is unacceptable for the government to provide for all the costs of the children and for the maintenance payer not to have to pay anything. The other courts in the Netherlands did follow the recommendation of the Expert Group.
The various rulings do not do the legal unity of the Netherlands any good, which is why the Expert Group consulted again on 17 April 2015. The conclusion of this consultation: nothing! They stick to their point of view that the entire KGB must be deducted from the children's needs. However, they do consider it appropriate for the Higher Council to express its opinion on the subject.
In short, chaos in alimony land still reigns! But it also offers space. Space to perhaps have your alimony amounts reviewed by the court. We would be happy to advise you on this, based on the latest case law. Do you have any questions about alimony? Please contact our specialists.