Japan to subsidize costs of seizure to secure child support

The subsidy system was created in line with the revised Civil Code, which entered into force Wednesday. It allows parents raising children after divorce to claim statutory child support from the other parents living separately.

Under the system, designed to prevent children from falling into poverty due to insufficient child support, the central government will subsidize local governments that financially help parents facing child support nonpayment from their former partners to file for civil execution with district courts.

The statutory child support system allows parents raising children after divorce to claim 20,000 yen per month per child provisionally from their former spouses living separately, until the two sides reach an agreement on child support.

It was established along with a joint custody system allowing both parents to have parental custody of their children after divorce under the revised Civil Code.

The revised code has also made it possible to file a petition for civil execution without a conciliation report or notarized deed if statutory child support or child support agreed on between both parents is not properly paid.

Furthermore, the revision grants a lien allowing parents raising children to seize property of their former spouses worth up to 80,000 yen per month per child before other creditors.

With the introduction of these new systems, the agency expects an increase in petitions for civil execution.

The cost to file a petition is about 5,000 yen, and the agency will subsidize half of the expenses of prefectures, cities and other municipalities that fully or partially cover the petition costs.

A fiscal 2021 welfare ministry survey showed that 46.7 pct of single-mother households and 28.3 pct of single-father households had postdivorce child support arrangements.

However, payments are not made as promised in many cases.

Respondents who said they were still receiving child support payments totaled only 28.1 pct for single-mother households and 8.7 pct for single-father households, according to the survey.