From June 2025, the Law on Exercising Rights from the Alimony Fund is in force in the Republic of Serbia. This law established the Alimony Fund in order to protect the right to maintenance of children whose parents do not pay alimony. It is managed by the ministry responsible for family protection, and funds are provided from the state budget.
Who is entitled to payment from the Alimony Fund?
A child who:
- is a citizen of the Republic of Serbia
- has the status of an enforceable creditor in an enforcement proceeding initiated for the purpose of realizing the right to legal maintenance
- it is necessary that the enforcement procedure has not been carried out in whole or in part for longer than two months from the date of delivery of the enforcement decision to the enforcement debtor
What is the procedure for exercising rights from the Alimony Fund?
If the enforcement procedure is not carried out in whole or in part within two months from the date of delivery of the decision on enforcement to the enforcement debtor, the public bailiff invites the enforcement creditor (the parent who initiated the enforcement procedure) to declare within eight days whether he agrees to provide temporary maintenance from the funds of the Alimony Fund. If the parent representing the child agrees, the public bailiff himself initiates the procedure by notifying the manager of the Alimony Fund.
In what period and to what extent is the right to temporary maintenance exercised?
The manager of the Alimony Fund is obliged to make a decision on the payment within 15 days of receiving the notification and make the payment to the account of the executive creditor (the parent who represents the child). The amount cannot be higher than the minimum amount of maintenance that is determined in accordance with the law governing family relations. The payment refers to the period after the decision on the payment has been made.
Refund of the amount paid from the Alimony Fund
The public executor is obliged to check every month whether the enforceable debtor has acquired property eligible for execution. The Republic of Serbia has the right to return the funds paid from the enforcement debtor.
Danilo Babić- attorney at law Novi Sad
