Parents are being asked to return child support payments: who will receive the debt obligations?

In Ukraine, the main conditions under which large families may lose the right to state child benefits have been determined. The Pension Fund of Ukraine has provided clarification on the cases in which payments are terminated, as well as on the circumstances under which the family must return funds received in excess.

The Fund indicated that one common problem is overpayment of social benefits. This applies to situations when families receive budget funds without sufficient legal grounds. Most often, this happens because of the provision of unreliable information about income or property status, which directly affects the establishment of the right to benefits or the amount of benefits.

Benefits for large families may be terminated for various reasons. In particular, this can happen if the recipient of benefits is deprived of parental rights, or it turns out that the funds were used for other purposes and did not provide proper conditions for raising a child. Payments are also suspended if the child was taken away without deprivation of parental rights, placed on full state support, or enrolled in a boarding school, in exceptional cases specified by law.

Assistance is also suspended if the recipient is serving a prison sentence, the family loses large-family status, or the recipient submits an application to suspend payments. It is separately stated that the grounds for suspension of assistance are the death of the recipient or the child.

The Pension Fund also noted that in cases of overpayment, the funds are subject to return. This can happen voluntarily or with the recipient’s consent by withholding the amount from future payments. If it is impossible to return the funds voluntarily and there is no consent to the withholding, the overpaid amounts can be recovered in court.

The Fund urges large families to be careful when providing information about their income and property status, to report any changes in their circumstances promptly, and to comply with the conditions for receiving assistance to avoid termination of payments and the requirement to return the funds received.

We want to remind you that pensions have been recalculated in Ukraine, including for persons awaiting benefits. Earlier, we also reported on cases of sudden termination of pension payments and how quickly they can be restored. Pensioners may also lose part of their payments, and recommendations were given on how to prevent this.