Alimony Fund: To Be or Not to Be?

Last week, in the Ramana suburban settlement of the Azerbaijani capital, 27-year-old Samir Valeh Oglu Shabanov struck some blunt object on the head of his former father-in-law, 53-year-old Hatam Aliyev, during a family quarrel, from which the man died on the spot.

As it turned out, the conflict between the men arose because of alimony for children. One side claimed that the alimony was incorrectly counted, therefore they refused to comply with the court's decision, and the other party complained that the money was not paid on time. The verbal skirmish and mutual accusations turned into a fight.

This incident again drew the attention of the Azerbaijani public to the problem of the financial situation of single mothers and children without fathers. By law, after a divorce one of the parents has to pay child support. In the overwhelming majority of cases in our country the child remains with the mother, and the father has to finance the maintenance of his offspring. But in reality, things often are different: ex-husbands often change their place of work, shy away from paying alimony or run at full speed and the women have to hit the thresholds of government agencies.

Human Rights Commissioner Elmira Suleymanova said in her speech in the Milli Majlis on April 24 that to solve this socially significant problem it is necessary to prepare and implement a mechanism for compulsory payment of alimony debts. In the current situation, when courts are littered with complaints about runaway fathers and husbands, the creation of the Alimony Fund becomes inevitable.

Commenting on the initiative of the Ombudsman, a member of the Pardon Commission Alimammad Nuriyev stressed that the problem of alimony is becoming more urgent in our country, but there is still no single option for its solution. Various schemes are suggested.

"Courts to protect the interests of children require their fathers to pay alimony. But, unfortunately, the enforcement of court decisions on the payment of alimony is hampered for a number of reasons. The debtors referring to unemployment and lack of income shy away from paying alimony. The reality is that it is difficult to convict them of lies, because there is hidden employment, as the men work in the private sector without drawing up a labor contract, and they hide their incomes. Or else, they receive a fake certificate in the accounting of their firms, where low amounts of salaries are indicated," the lawyer said.

In such cases, the court establishes the minimum amount of alimony. If the assigned amount is not paid, the debtor will face administrative or criminal punishment, but the state bodies do not apply that. Is there any sense in this arrest? After all, this step does not solve the problem of alimony in a particular case.

Touching upon the idea of ​​the Alimony Fund, Nuriyev noted that in several European countries such bodies function. The mechanism is simple: the state pays the family child support for children and then deducts this amount from the salary of the vicious father. The creation of such a fund is realistic if there are budgetary funds for this program. There is certain skepticism about the implementation of this idea in Azerbaijan, and it is necessary to take into account the positive and negative aspects of this step.

"It is possible that in the case of the creation of such a fund in the country, more and more men will try to evade payment of alimony. This can lead to specific problems for the budget. Today, the number of divorces in the country is increasing. Last year, the registration offices of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan registered 62,923 marriages and 14,514 divorces. For every 1,000 people, there were 6.5 marriages and 1.5 divorces. In these conditions, I doubt that the state will decide to create such a fund. There is another important point. Often, after the divorce, men leave for work in Russia or Turkey. From whom in this case will the state deduct funds for the alimony paid from the fund? It is necessary to study the experience of foreign countries in this field and the mechanism of this practice, and take into account the specifics of Azerbaijan," Nuriyev said.

An independent economist Vugar Bayramov shared his approach and the way to solve this problem in an interview with Turan News Agency. According to him, with the disintegration of the family, the social situation of mothers deteriorates. All expenses for the household should be put on their shoulders. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the mechanism of payment of alimony, toughen laws and penalties for providing incorrect information about wages and to check this information.

"In developed countries, along with the father"s alimony, the state itself provides these children with additional financial assistance. For this purpose, solid funds are allocated. In Azerbaijan, incomplete families, single mothers, in addition to alimony, could receive social assistance. Depending on the number of children, they could be assigned a benefit paid before they graduate from high school and start working. In this case, one can speak about genuine care for poor families and improvement of their financial situation. It seems to me that the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) should discuss such a solution to the alimony problem," the expert suggested. -0-