Establishment of maintenance

In Romania, the law provides cases in which a person may have a maintenance obligation towards another person in his or her family.

When maintenance is owed by a parent to his or her child, the amount is determined as follows: up to 1/4 of his or her net monthly income for one child, up to 1/3 for 2 children, and up to half for three or more children. Regardless of how many dependents the parent has, the amount of maintenance will not exceed half of the parent’s net monthly income. Suppose the parent in question has no income. In that case, the court may set a maintenance allowance based on the applicable minimum income.

Maintenance may be fixed as a lump sum or as a percentage of the monthly net income of the person owing maintenance.

Although there is a general perception that a parent who does not live with the child after divorce is always obliged to pay maintenance in cash, the rule under the law is that the maintenance obligation is to be discharged in kind by providing for the necessities of life and, where appropriate, the costs of education, teaching and vocational training. If the maintenance obligation is not enforced voluntarily, in kind, the court may order it to be enforced by the payment of maintenance, fixed in money.