Maintenance is a financial contribution paid to any person whose subsistence is to be ensured, as provided for in the Civil Code.

As a rule, maintenance payments are set by a court decision.

Any person entitled to maintenance, the amount of which has been set by a court decision enforceable in Luxembourg, may apply for an advance on maintenance payments in order to receive any unpaid monthly instalments provided for in the judgment. However, for the application to be admissible, the maintenance creditor must be in financial difficulties and must have personally exhausted all legal options to obtain their entitlement.

Who is concerned

Spouses or direct relatives—ascending or descendants, such as a father, mother, child or grandchild—(maintenance creditors) to whom a court decision has awarded maintenance to be paid by a third party (the maintenance debtor).

Prerequisites

For the payment application to be considered, the creditor must:

• be legally domiciled in Luxembourg and have been continuously resident there for 5 years;
• be entitled to maintenance payments set by a court decision enforceable in Luxembourg;
• not have been able to obtain payment, either in full or in part, through private means of enforcement. The application is also accepted when ordinary means of enforcement appear doomed to failure, or when the debtor is a foreign resident;
• be in financial difficulty.

How to proceed

Filing the application

Application forms can be downloaded below, under "Forms / Online services".

The application for an advance on and recovering maintenance payments includes information on the household and income of the applicant and the creditor.

The application must be completed, signed and sent by post to the FNS.

Supporting documents

For the application to be admissible, the applicant must send the following documents to the FNS:

• a copy of the judgment setting the amount of the maintenance as well as the notification of the clerk of the court, or the document of service and the certificate of non-appeal;
• a statement from the clerk of the court in the competent jurisdiction, or a bailiff, stating that private means of enforcement to recover the maintenance have been unsuccessful (e.g. after an attempt to enforce an attachment of earnings).

If such a statement cannot be produced, the creditor may produce any other documents proving that they have been unable to recover the debt by private means of enforcement.

The creditor should, to the extent possible, provide information about the debtor concerning:

• their identity;
  
• their address (or last known address);
  
• their occupation;
  
• the names and address of their employer;
  
• the source of their income and the nature and extent of their assets.

If necessary, the FNS will carry out an inquiry among the interested parties.

Acceptance of the application

When the application is accepted, the President of the FNS notifies the maintenance creditor of that outcome by post, specifying the conditions and modes of payment.

The advance is first due on the 1^st of the month following the date on which the application is deemed to be filed.

Upon written request, the FNS may also cover unpaid maintenance amounts covering the 6 months preceding the date on which the application is valid.

The monthly amounts may not exceed the limits which are due to the creditor's household, as set out in the legislation on the right to social inclusion income (REVIS).

In the interval between the acceptance of the application and the cessation of FNS payments, the creditor may not take any action against the debtor to recover the owed sums.

The FNS notifies the debtor by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt that it has upheld the application for payment of maintenance. This letter sets out the sums relating to the payment and recovery and notifies the debtor that the reimbursement of the advance of maintenance, as well as the payment of the recovery charge must be made directly to the FNS, in accordance with the payment terms specified therein.

Cessation of FNS payments

The FNS ceases to pay the maintenance on behalf of the debtor:

• if the debtor dies;
• if the maintenance creditor waives their entitlement to maintenance;
• if the maintenance creditor moves abroad;
• in the event that the children finish their studies.

Denial of the application and appeals

Should the President of the FNS decide to deny the advance on maintenance, or to cease maintenance payments, the creditor will be notified by registered letter. In such a case, the notification must specify:

• the reasons for the denial;
• the possible avenues of appeal against the decision;
• the time period within which any appeal must be lodged;
• the authority to whom the appeal should be addressed;
• the method for presenting the appeal.

Appeals against decisions relating to the application for payment fall within the jurisdiction of the justice of the peace of the creditor's residence. Such appeals must be lodged within 40 days of the notification of the FNS President's decision.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact