Who has to pay, and to whom

Both parents must maintain a child, regardless of whether they were married, lived together informally, or never lived together at all. Divorce, separazione, or the breakup of an unmarried couple only change the form of the obligation: the parent the child does not live with usually pays the other an assegno di mantenimento — a regular sum for the child's upkeep.

The formal recipient is not the parent whose account the money reaches, but the child. That parent only manages the sum in the child's interest, and the court checks that it is actually spent on the child, not treated as family income.

The duty does not end automatically at eighteen. Support continues for an adult child who has not yet reached economic independence — still studying, looking for a first job, or objectively unable to support themselves. The court can redirect payment straight to the adult child instead of the other parent, and the duty ends only once real independence is proven, or the child knowingly refuses work without good reason.

Where a parent lives does not release them from the duty. If one parent has left Ukraine for Italy while the child stayed in Ukraine with the other parent, an Italian court still counts that parent's real income, regardless of which country the work is actually done in.

How the amount of child support is set

Italian law has no single table or fixed percentage for calculating child support automatically. The court — or, in a consensual divorce, often the parents through their own lawyers — sets the sum from several criteria at once:

These criteria apply under shared custody (affidamento condiviso) — the standard model today — and in the rarer cases of sole custody. Shared custody means shared responsibility for decisions, not an automatic equal split of expenses.

The court looks at real income, not only the salary in an employment contract: signs of extra earnings or assets that do not match the declared income affect the conclusion on ability to pay. Preparing financial documents before filing or signing is one of the most important stages of the case.

Spese straordinarie — extraordinary expenses

Spese straordinarie are costs above the basic monthly assegno di mantenimento: medical expenses not covered by the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, dental care, tutors, sports clubs, school trips, and occasionally surgery or study abroad. In practice this category is the most frequent cause of conflict after the divorce is finalised.

The reason is simple: the basic payment is one fixed figure, while extraordinary expenses arise irregularly, need advance agreement, and must be documented. A parent who pays without prior agreement often meets a refusal to reimburse their share.

Lawyer's tip. The agreement or order should define in advance the list of typical spese straordinarie, the procedure for agreeing to them beforehand, and reimbursement deadlines. Without this, every dental bill or tutoring invoice becomes a separate dispute. We draft this list with the client already while preparing the agreement.

The assegno di mantenimento is usually linked to the ISTAT index — Italy's national statistics institute — and adjusted every year for the cost of living. This clause appears in practically every order or agreement, and its absence should be treated as an oversight.

How the obligation is fixed in an agreement or a court order

There are two main ways to formalise the duty. The first is a consensual divorce or separation (separazione consensuale), where the parents, usually with their own lawyers, agree on everything themselves: the amount and schedule of support, contact with the child, and how extraordinary expenses are covered. The agreement goes to the tribunale for approval, and once approved it carries the same legal force as a court judgment.

The second way is a court process, when the parents cannot agree and the court sets the terms from the evidence submitted. It takes longer and is usually harder emotionally, which is why most cases end in an agreement instead.

For parents who were never married, the procedure is similar: an application for maintenance and contact is filed with the competent court at the child's residence, and the resulting order has the same binding force.

Lawyer's tip. Draft the agreement or claim as if, years from now, its content will have to be proven to a third party — an employer, a bank, a court abroad. Vague wording like "as agreed between the parties," without a specific sum and date, is a typical reason enforcement later fails.

How payment actually works

The most common and safest form is a bank transfer with a clear reference and a fixed date each month. Cash payments create a serious problem in a dispute: proving the fact and amount of cash support paid is nearly impossible, and the burden of proof falls on the payer.

For an adult child who is not yet independent, the agreement or order can direct payment straight to the child instead of the other parent — for example, to their own account, once they can manage money for daily needs themselves.

The paying parent should keep proof of every payment — statements, transfer receipts — for the whole payment period and some time after the child becomes independent. It is the only reliable protection if a dispute arises years later over an allegedly unpaid period.

When the amount can be changed

The amount is not fixed forever. The law allows review when circumstances change materially: job loss or a substantial drop in the payer's income, the birth of another child the same parent must also support, a significant rise in the child's expenses, or a considerable improvement in one parent's finances.

Review is possible by mutual agreement — a new agreement is signed and submitted for approval — or through court if agreement fails. A drop in income alone does not release the payer from the previous amount until the court or a new agreement officially changes it. A parent who unilaterally pays less is legally in default and accrues a debt.

Lawyer's tip. If income has genuinely fallen, apply for a review right away instead of cutting the payment yourself. The difference looks formal, but it decides whether the earlier payment counts as a lawful reduction or as arrears that can be forcibly recovered with accrued charges.

What to do when the other parent stops paying

Non-payment of child support is one of the few situations in Italian family law where the recipient has several effective enforcement tools at once, and all of them start from the same point: a court order, or an agreement approved by the court, is an enforceable title that does not need to be proven again.

Pignoramento — attachment through the employer

If the payer is officially employed, the most effective tool is pignoramento presso terzi — attaching part of the salary directly through the employer as a third party. The court orders the employer to withhold a set part of wages and transfer it to the recipient, bypassing the payer. Funds can be attached from the debtor's bank account the same way.

Order for direct payment by a third party

A separate mechanism lets the court order an employer, or anyone who regularly pays the debtor, to route part of those payments straight to the recipient. It works as an ongoing mechanism for the future, for as long as the debt or the failure to pay continues.

Criminal liability

Systematic, deliberate non-payment of child support in Italy is not only grounds for civil enforcement but a criminal offence in its own right — violazione degli obblighi di assistenza familiare, under Article 570-bis of the Italian Criminal Code. Reporting it often speeds up voluntary repayment.

This is where the value of the lawyer-plus-advocate pairing shows most clearly, in cases reaching a court or a prosecutor. The client tells the whole story in Ukrainian, and the lawyer translates it into the language of the Italian process: which rule applies, what evidence pignoramento needs, whether there are grounds for a criminal complaint. The lawyer sets a concrete task for the advocate and keeps the case moving instead of stalling for years in paperwork.

Cross-border cases: the debtor in Ukraine, or the creditor in Italy

A separate category covers cases where one parent left Italy for Ukraine while the other stayed in Italy with the child, or the reverse: the order or agreement was made in Ukraine, but the payer or recipient now lives in Italy. A direct pignoramento in an Italian court is not enough if the debtor has no income or assets there — recognition and enforcement is needed in the country where the debtor or their assets actually are.

International mechanisms exist for this: cooperation between competent authorities of different states for recognising and enforcing child-support decisions abroad. In practice this means preparing a document package — translated, certified, formatted to the enforcing country's requirements — and applying to the competent authority where the debtor is located.

How Dorosh & Partners helps

Child support cases are rarely a purely financial matter — they are tangled up with the emotions of separation, and often with a language barrier that makes it hard to follow what is happening in an Italian court. We handle these cases from start to finish.

When setting the amount, we prepare the client's full financial package — income, assets, expenses on the child — so that neither the court nor the other side can question a single figure. An understated declaration of the payer's income is one of the most frequent reasons the agreed sum turns out unfair.

When drafting the agreement or claim, we write in exactly the details most often missed without a lawyer: a specific spese straordinarie list with an agreement procedure, an ISTAT indexation clause, and the exact date and method of the monthly payment, not vague wording. That is precisely what decides, years later, whether a debt is recovered quickly through pignoramento, or has to be proven again in court.

When the payer stops paying, we assess the situation soberly and offer the tool that actually works: pignoramento of wages, an order for direct payment by a third party, or a complaint under Article 570-bis when the non-payment is systematic and deliberate. Here the lawyer-plus-advocate pairing does exactly its job: the lawyer guides the client in a language they understand, keeps the advocate accountable, and keeps the case moving.

We also handle cross-border cases — when the debtor has moved to Ukraine, or a Ukrainian child-support order needs enforcing in Italy. This requires Italian procedure alongside an understanding of Ukrainian documents and their correct translation and certification. If your case touches divorce more broadly, read in advance how divorce without travelling to Italy works, and how division of marital property is handled separately — these questions often come up alongside child support. On when a case moves into criminal proceedings, and why the lawyer-plus-advocate pairing works there too, see our article on court and criminal cases in Italy.

If a cross-border case requires authorising a lawyer to act on your behalf while you are in another country, we prepare a power of attorney with wording Italian institutions accept. Broader family questions — from family reunification to a child's status — fall under our migration services, and we are ready to discuss your situation at a consultation before any documents go to court.

Frequently asked questions

Can child support be agreed without going to court?

Yes, and it is the most common route: the parents agree on terms themselves, usually with their own lawyers, and submit the agreement to the tribunale for approval. Once approved it has the same legal force as a court judgment, including forced enforcement.

Does the court count child support I already pay for a child from an earlier marriage?

Yes, having other children the payer must also support is one of the criteria the court weighs when setting support for a particular child. The same applies in reverse, when a new child is born after the previous amount was set.

What if my former spouse is not officially employed in Italy?

No employment contract makes a classic wage pignoramento harder but not impossible: the court can attach a bank account or other assets, and systematic non-payment remains grounds for criminal liability.

Can a debt built up over several years still be recovered?

Yes, a debt for unpaid child support does not vanish by itself and can be recovered for the whole period of default, with ISTAT indexation if the agreement provides for it. The longer it goes unrecovered, the harder it is to reconstruct the full picture, so act right after the first missed payment.

The child lives in Ukraine, and the payer is in Italy. Where do I file?

Both routes are possible: a Ukrainian court with later recognition and enforcement in Italy at the payer's workplace, or in certain cases a direct claim to an Italian court. The right route depends on the family's situation, and a lawyer who understands both systems saves years otherwise lost correcting a wrong choice.

Child support is not a one-off arrangement but an obligation planned for years ahead, and the quality of the document signed or approved today determines how easily the child's interests can be defended tomorrow, if circumstances change or the payer stops holding up their end. The more precisely the sum, the indexation, the extraordinary expenses, and the enforcement mechanism are set out, the less room is left for disputes once the emotions of separation have settled and the matter of maintaining the child remains for years to come.

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