USE OF THE INFLATION CLAUSE IN THE PARENTS' AGREEMENT ON MAINTENANCE

#102Use of the inflation clause in the parents' agreement on maintenance

What is a Maintenance Agreement? A child support agreement is an agreement between the parents of a minor child, also called a parenting agreement. This agreement governs parental rights and responsibilities, but it is not determined by the court, but agreed upon by the parents. The maintenance agreement is subject to the approval of the court. If the court does not approve the Maintenance Agreement, the agreement may be considered null and void. The maintenance agreement is regulated by Section 24(1) of Act No 36/2005 Coll. on the Family, as amended.

What is the subject of the maintenance agreement?

The subject matter of the Maintenance Agreement is mainly the care of the minor child and, consequently, the amount of maintenance for the minor child. If the parents agree that the child will be in the personal custody of only one of the parents, they must also agree on the amount of maintenance to be paid by the parent who does not have personal custody of the child.

What is maintenance?

Maintenance is a sum of money which the non-custodial parent is obliged to contribute towards the child's usual expenses, at regular monthly recurring intervals.

What is the use of an inflation clause?

The inflation clause protects the maintenance, which is intended to cover the child's normal costs, from the direct effect of inflation, i.e. as the prices of the goods and services needed by the child and which are covered by child maintenance rise, the amount of the maintenance also rises.

The amount of maintenance is thus exempt from inflation, for the reason that it protects what is most important, namely the interests of the minor child. The inflation clause thus makes it possible to stabilise the real value of maintenance which covers the needs of the minor child.

In practice, this means that a non-custodial parent who is obliged to contribute to the maintenance of a minor child, for example in the amount of €300, would be liable for an inflation rate of 0%. However, at an inflation rate of 5%, the non-custodial parent will have to contribute 315 € to the maintenance of the minor child. Accordingly, the minor child will not be deprived of his or her normal needs.

From the point of view of the case-law of the courts, the courts also agree with the inflation clause contained in maintenance agreements, on the ground that it can protect the amount of maintenance. This means that maintenance is adjusted for inflation and each year the maintenance amount is increased by the rate of inflation.

The inflation clause is secretly set up for the benefit of a parent who has custody of a minor child and does not contribute to his or her maintenance, on the grounds that if inflation increases, the amount of maintenance also increases.

In the light of the above, it is to the benefit of the custodial parent to include an inflation clause in the Maintenance Agreement to protect the maintenance of the minor child against rising inflation.