How to Bring a Lawsuit for Child Maintenance in China with the Help of Chinese Lawyers

Parents have the legal obligation to bring up and educate their children. Providing the child maintenance is one of the basic obligations for both of the parents, which would extend even after their divorce.

Under the regulations of Chinese legal system, the parent who have not been granted with child custody, still has the obligation to bear the child maintenance. More specifically, when a married mother has a child, the father is still legally obligated to pay child maintenance after they divorce. In the case when an unwed mother has a child, she must firstly establish the paternity in order to get child maintenance from the unwed father. In other words, establishing the paternity could ensure the unwed father to take his legal responsibilities of providing the child maintenance. The amount of child maintenance to be paid is largely influenced by the gross incomes of each parent and the total time that each parent has spent with his/her children. Other factors would also affect the amount of child support and maintenance to be paid, such as daycare costs, health care/insurance, extraordinary expenses, and much more. When the non-custodial parent refuse to pay child maintenance, bringing a lawsuit tend to be the most effective way of getting child maintenance. Here are some important points summarized by Chinese lawyers of Landing Law Offices, which should be taken into the consideration in getting child maintenance through a lawsuit.

Jurisdiction

The court where the defendant's ID address locates.

Documents needed for initiating a lawsuit

1. Defendant's ID number.

2. Plaintiff's ID certificate (shall be notarized by local notary office and legalized by Chinese embassy).

3. Power of attorney (shall be notarized by local notary office and legalized by Chinese embassy).

Major Evidence (shall be notarized by local notary office and legalized by Chinese embassy)

1. Birth certificate.

2. Evidence of the child's daily expense, including living expense, school expense, medical expense and other reasonable expense.

3. Evidence reflecting the income of the mother.Evidence reflecting the income of the father.

4. Evidence reflecting the living standard where the child is raised.

Major Risks

1. If you do not have the defendant's authentic ID number, we may unable to identify the defendant.

2. The defendant may refuse to accept the case materials , which could make the timeline longer.

3. Any party may appeal to the judgement of first trial, which could make the timeline longer.

4. The defendant may do not have adequate asset for enforcement, or the defendant may transfer his asset so the enforcement after judgement very difficult.

For more professional information and suggestions about how to get child maintenance in China, please contact Landing Law Offices to speak with one of our experienced Chinese lawyers.