The answer to the question implies, first of all, to determine if there is a maintenance pension defined by the Family Court or in the context of an agreement approved by a Civil Registry Office.
If there is a (monthly) amount stipulated by the Family Court or agreed on the Civil Registry Office, legal proceedings should be taken to obtain the payment, and the Family Court may determine that a discount should be made to the salary of the parent who does not comply. In this case, the money is sent by the employer of the parent that is at fault directly to the complaining parent.
Such a legal action shall constitute an incident which will be appended to the main case in which maintenance pension amount was determined. This in cases where the pension was decided by the Family Court.
The procedure is the same if child maintenance was determined by agreement in a procedure before the Civil Registry. In this event too, legal proceedings should be taken to obtain coercive payment.
If the Family Court is unable to obtain the outstanding amounts from the parent at fault, in particular when the debtor is unemployed and has no other income or property, the payment or part thereof can be made, in certain circumstances, by the Fundo de Garantia de Alimentos.
If child maintenance wasn’t yet determined, the first step will be precisely to define the amount due. If there is agreement between the parents, they should register it with the Civil Registry Office;If there is no agreement, a procedure for this effect must be brought to the Family Court.
The court will assess the needs of the child or young person and the possibilities of the parents and define an amount to be paid as child maintenance. This amount shall be due from the date of the beginning of the lawsuit on.
The information contained in this text refers to child maintenance only.