Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance
The Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, also referred to as the Hague Maintenance Convention or the Hague Child Support Convention is a multilateral treaty governing the enforcement of judicial decisions regarding child support extraterritorially. It is one of a number of conventions in the area of private international law of the Hague Conference on Private International Law in 2007. The convention is open to all states as well as to Regional Economic Integration Organizations as long as they are composed of sovereign states only and have sovereignty in the content of the convention. The convention entered into force on 1 January 2013 between Norway and Albania and applies now in 55 countries worldwide.
Forms of maintenance
Three forms of maintenance form the core of the convention and are defined in article 2:- obligations towards children below the age of 21
- spousal support in a case linked to child support
- spousal support
Procedure
States Parties are to establish a Central Authority for the convention. The Authority in the country of residence of the requester is the authority through which requests for enforcement of judicial or administrative decisions can be made, while the authority in the country to which the request is lodged should provide further -free- help with the application. As the convention is based on enforcement of judicial decisions, the merit of the decision itself may not be taken into account. The request should include the decision as well as proof that the "respondent had proper notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard, or that the respondent had proper notice of the decision and the opportunity to challenge or appeal it on fact and law". The receiving authority is required to actively enforce the decisions by means which are at least as effective as those used when enforcing decisions within that country. They may include withholding of wages or social security payments or garnishments from bank accounts. Also public bodies may request enforcement if they are eligible to receive payments because one of the parties has made a claim to public funds.States parties
The convention entered into force on 1 January 2013 following ratification by two states: Albania and Norway. For Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine, the convention entered into force later in 2013. The European Union became a party in 2014 as a Regional Economic Integration Organization. Because the subject matter of the convention fully falls within EU competency, the EU rather than the individual member states became a party. The convention is applicable to all 27 member states and only applies to those territories that form part of the European Union. Also the UK was covered by the European Union territory with regards to this convention until 1 January 2021. Ratification could only take place after legislation at state level had been passed in 54 jurisdictions, which was done in March 2016.Signatories that did not ratify are Burkina Faso and North Macedonia.
| Party | Entry into Force | Spousal Support | Support to adult children until | other recognized support | ||||||||||||
 Albaniadts|1 January 2013tickRelationship to other ConventionsThe convention revises two Hague Conventions as well a United Nations convention relating to family support. When the convention is in force on the territories of members which are also parties to one of those conventions, the 2007 convention is applicable.
ProtocolWhich law is applicable on maintenance obligations is not governed by the conventions but by a protocol concluded on the same day. In 2010, it was ratified by the European Union, which declared it had competence over all matters concerning the protocol with regards to all its member states except for Denmark and the United Kingdom. It applied the Protocol since 2011 provisionally, also between its member states within the Maintenance regulation. Serbia has ratified the Protocol on 10 April 2013, leading to entry into force of the convention on 1 August 2013. Afterwards Kazakhstan, Brazil, Ecuador, Ukraine, Georgia, Albania and Paraguay became parties. North Macedonia has signed the convention, but did not ratify it.Applicable lawThe applicable law that is determined by the convention is not restricted to the laws of the parties to the convention: it is therefore possible that a law of a non-state party is chosen. As a general rule, the law of the habitual residence of the creditor habitual residence applies. In cases of parents towards their children, children towards their parents, and persons regarding young persons the following 3 laws are considered in a so-called cascade:
In cases where both parties share a nationality and the law of that nationality as well as the law of the debtor's habitual residence would not lead to maintenance, a debtor may also contest to use of the law of the creditor's habitual residence, provided it is not a case relating to child support. In cases not concerning child support or vulnerable adults, both parties may choose the law governing the maintenance, choosing from:
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