Child support in Brussels

Difference between child support and alimony

- Child support: for children (maintenance and education costs)

- Alimony: for the ex-spouse (under conditions, after divorce)

How is child support calculated?

The amount depends on several criteria:

- the respective income of both parents

- the cost of the child's upbringing (housing, food, schooling, leisure, care…)

- the residence arrangement (equal or primary)

- any income / assets of the child

Several calculation tools exist (Renard method, Tremmery method, PCA calculator…): they are indicative grids with no force of law, and the judge is not bound to follow them. The court sets the contribution in proportion to each parent's means, within the meaning of article 203bis of the former Civil Code, and retains its discretionary power.

The law uses the parents' means, a wider notion than salary: they contribute in proportion to their means. Article 203, § 2 specifies that these include all professional, movable and immovable income of the parents, as well as all benefits and other resources securing their standard of living and that of the children. Rent received, a benefit in kind, investment income all enter the calculation.

Article 1321 of the Judicial Code requires the judgment to state eight elements, among them the nature and amount of each parent's means, the ordinary costs making up the child's budget and how they are assessed, the nature of extraordinary costs and each parent's share, the residence arrangements, and the amount of child benefit and of any social and tax advantages received for the child. The same requirement of justification applies to an agreement.

What does child support cover?

- Ordinary costs: food, housing, clothing, transport

- Ordinary school costs: tuition, cafeteria, school transport

- Ordinary extracurricular activities

- Ordinary non-reimbursed healthcare

Each parent contributes to the child's costs up to their share in the combined means of both. Extraordinary costs are the exceptional, necessary or unforeseeable expenses which exceed the usual maintenance budget. Their list and the manner of settling them are set by royal decree, which groups them in three categories: medical and paramedical costs, school education costs, and costs linked to the development of the child's personality. It is to those categories, and to the conditions they lay down, that orthodontics, non-subsidised education, such as certain private schools, the additional specific costs linked to a study programme abroad or a special school trip belong, for example. An agreement or a judicial decision may depart from that decree.

Article 203bis, § 3 of the former Civil Code defines the two categories itself. Ordinary costs are the usual costs relating to the child's daily upkeep. Extraordinary costs are exceptional, necessary or unforeseeable expenses resulting from accidental or unusual circumstances which exceed the usual budget that served as the basis for the calculation.

The law of 21 December 2018, in force since 10 January 2019, introduced a tacit agreement. Where an extraordinary cost requires prior agreement, that agreement is deemed given by silence: if the parent to whom the request is sent by registered post, electronic registered post or fax fails to reply in one of those forms within twenty-one days of dispatch, the condition of agreement is met. During school holidays of a week or more, that period becomes thirty days.

The content of those costs is set by a royal decree of 22 April 2019, in force since 12 May 2019, which limits them to three detailed categories and to a fourth, open one.

Medical and paramedical costs cover specialist doctors, hospitalisation, orthodontics, speech therapy, ophthalmology, psychiatric or psychological treatment, physiotherapy, prostheses, glasses, braces, hearing aids, a wheelchair, and the annual premium of a hospitalisation insurance. They are taken into account on two conditions only, that they are prescribed by a doctor or a competent body and that they are counted after deduction of health-insurance and insurer contributions.

School education costs cover multi-day school trips, necessary specialised and costly equipment listed by the school, registration fees for higher education, computer equipment needed for studies, private tuition essential to passing the year, student-room rental and the additional specific costs linked to a study programme abroad, in each case after deduction of study grants and scholarships.

Costs linked to the development of the child's personality cover childcare from 0 to 3 years inclusive, membership fees and basic supplies for cultural, sporting or artistic camps and courses, and driving-licence costs where the licence cannot be obtained free through the school.

The fourth category remains open: all other costs which the parents jointly classify as extraordinary, or which are so classified by the judge. An agreement between the parents or a decision of the judge may therefore add other expenses to it.

Payment terms are also fixed, unless otherwise agreed or ordered: costs are settled quarterly, the parent claiming reimbursement attaches a copy of the supporting documents, and payment is made within fifteen days of the statement being communicated. A transparency duty completes the scheme: a parent receiving study grants, health-insurance or insurer contributions provides the other with an overview of the amounts received, with supporting documents, at least once a year in September.

Article 2 of the decree adds an important reservation: save in cases of established urgency or necessity, all these costs must be the subject of prior consultation and prior agreement, covering both the appropriateness of the expense and its amount.

If a parent refuses to bear an expense, the dispute goes before the competent judge, there too on application by the most diligent party.

The duty to motivate

The judge must precisely justify the decision (amount, calculation method, treatment of extraordinary costs).

This obligation produces precise effects.

The judgment must state how each of the eight elements was taken into account and, where it departs from the calculation method that the King may set under article 1322, § 3, of the Judicial Code and that has not been set to date, say so in a specially reasoned judgment. An agreement is subject to the same requirement of justification.

The judgment or agreement must state expressly and in intelligible terms the possibility of collecting the debtor's income directly, or any other sum owed to them by a third party, known as the authorisation to collect income. It must also state the contact details of the Maintenance Claims Service (SECAL/DAVO), created within the Federal Public Service Finance by the law of 21 February 2003, and recall its role in advancing and recovering maintenance.

The amount, lastly, does not stay fixed: article 203quater provides for its automatic adjustment, every twelve months, to the consumer price index, unless another formula is decided by the court or agreed between the parties.

At a parent's request, the court may also require the parties to open a dedicated account for the payment of contributions.

How Sarah Satti can help you

- Detailed calculation of support according to your situation

- Amicable negotiation

- Representation before the Family Court

- Request for review if the situation changes (job loss, increased costs…)

📞 Book an appointment: +32 495 19 34 77 | 100€ excl. VAT — 30 min | [Book online →]