Organization : Social Insurance Board
Service Name : Applying For Maintenance Allowance
Country: Estonia
Website : https://sotsiaalkindlustusamet.ee/et
Maintenance Allowance:
Parents have equal rights and obligations in regard to their children. They are obliged to provide for their children until they reach adulthood.
Related : Social Insurance Board Apply For Family Benefits Estonia : www.statusin.org/11293.html
Maintenance allowance is a short-term benefit paid by the state to children whose parents are not meeting their obligation to provide for them.
The Maintenance Allowance Act was established with the aim of encouraging parents to lawfully claim maintenance, which should improve the situation of the child or children they are providing for.
The state-funded maintenance allowance forms part of the amount of maintenance the other parent must pay for their child. The allowance is paid during court proceedings regarding maintenance claims, and after the judgement of the court enters force the state recovers the amount of maintenance paid to the applicant from the other parent, i.e. the maintenance claim debtor.
If a parent does not meet his or her obligations to provide for his or her children, the court will find in favour of the claimant (the other parent, or a guardian or individual in whose interests the claim was lodged by a guardianship authority) and order the parent to pay maintenance to the child.
If the state does not oblige the other parent to pay maintenance to the child, the applicant must pay back the maintenance received from the state.
Who is eligible for maintenance allowance?:
The recipient of maintenance allowance is a child, although the person who applies for it is the child’s parent, who has lodged a claim for maintenance in court and who meets the conditions set out in the Maintenance Allowance Act.
The following people are eligible for maintenance allowance:
** permanent residents of Estonia; and
** foreigners residing in Estonia on the basis of a temporary residence permit or residential rights.
People do not have the right to obtain maintenance allowance if a similar benefit is already being paid to them by another country.
Conditions of payment of the maintenance allowance:
The maintenance allowance is paid to a parent who lodges a claim in court for the payment of maintenance and in whose favour one of the following court rulings is made:
1) a payment proposal ruling in the case of an expedited procedure for the ordering of payment of child maintenance; or
2) a ruling implementing a measure to secure an action obliging a parent to pay maintenance.
Maintenance allowance is not paid if a parent applies through the courts for the amount of the allowance to be amended.
Amount of maintenance allowance:
The state supports applicants for maintenance allowance over a period of 90 days, with the daily rate being one-third of the child allowance rate.
Applying for maintenance allowance:
To apply for the maintenance allowance, parents must submit the following documents to the Social Insurance Board:
1) the appropriate declaration;
2) a personal identification document (passport or ID card); and
3) the payment proposal ruling or ruling securing an action.
The maintenance allowance application declaration can also be submitted to the Social Insurance Board electronically, signed digitally, with the required documents.
Maintenance allowance will be determined if the required application documents are submitted within 30 days of the payment proposal ruling or the ruling securing an action obliging a parent to pay maintenance being made.
The application may also be submitted electronically through the State portal (at the address https://www.eesti.ee/et/!portaal.viga )
Obligations of the recipient of maintenance allowance:
A parent to whom maintenance allowance is paid is obliged to immediately inform the Social Insurance Board in writing of any circumstances affecting the payment of the maintenance allowance, chiefly the court ruling securing an action being annulled, the claim for maintenance being disallowed, the child in question no longer being provided for or the debtor starting to meet his or her obligation to provide for the child.
If a parent fails to pay back maintenance allowance issued without a legal basis, the Social Insurance Board issues the parent with an injunction and warning demanding repayment of the overpaid sum. Should the injunction fail to be heeded within the time prescribed in the warning, the Social Insurance Board forwards the injunction for compulsory execution in accordance with the Code of Enforcement Procedure.
Maintenance claim debtor:
The Social Insurance Board informs the other parent i.e. the maintenance claim debtor of the transfer of the maintenance claim to the state due to the ruling determining the maintenance allowance.
After the court ruling enters force the state recovers the amount of maintenance paid to the applicant from the maintenance claim debtor. who is informed of the option of voluntarily repaying the allowance sum to the state.
If the debtor fails to repay the allowance to the state, the Social Insurance Board forwards the claim for compulsory execution in accordance with the Code of Enforcement Procedure