Is the Delayed Support Payer Required to Pay Additional Interest?

After divorce, the person who does not directly raise the child is obligated to provide child support.

Regarding the method of child support: Article 117 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates:

Child support can be provided periodically on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual, or one-time basis.

The parties may agree to change the method of child support, suspend support in cases where the obligated person faces financial difficulties and cannot fulfill their support obligation; if no agreement can be reached, a request can be made to the Court for resolution.

Since you have not specified whether the child support agreement is carried out monthly, quarterly, or annually, if it is done monthly and your husband fails to perform, it constitutes a violation of obligations.

Regarding interest calculation due to delayed child support: The 2014 Law on Marriage and Family and the 2015 Civil Code do not provide specific regulations for calculating interest on delayed child support. Therefore, there are currently two perspectives on this issue:

First, delayed child support is viewed as a delay in fulfilling the monetary obligation. Hence, the party delaying payment must pay interest on the delayed amount for the corresponding delay period according to Article 357 of the 2015 Civil Code.

Second, no interest is charged on delayed child support (this is also our viewpoint). Because: According to Article 107 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family, the support obligation is implemented between parents and children; between siblings; between grandparents and grandchildren; between uncles, aunts, and cousins; between spouses. The support obligation cannot be substituted with or transferred to others. The fulfillment of the support obligation cannot be equated with a monetary obligation as the nature of these two relationships is different. Support is established for those with blood relations, whereas the monetary obligation is a common civil obligation applicable to all civil transactions.

Thus, if your husband delays child support, you are entitled to request the Court to compel him to fulfill his support obligation.

Additionally, acts of refusal or evasion of the support obligation are violations of the law and, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, may be subject to administrative penalties or criminal responsibility.

Specifically, Decree 167/2013/ND-CP stipulates a warning or fine ranging from 100,000 VND to 300,000 VND for acts of refusal or evasion of the obligation to provide support and care for children after divorce according to legal provisions.

Article 186 of the Criminal Code 2015, amended 2017, provides the following regarding the Crime of refusing or evading support obligations: Any person who has an obligation to provide support and has the actual ability to perform the support to the person he/she is obliged to support, as prescribed by law, but refuses or evades the obligation, causing the supported person to fall into a situation dangerous to life, health, or has been administratively sanctioned for one of the acts specified in this Article and continues to violate, if not subject to Article 380 of this Code, shall be subject to a warning, non-custodial reform for up to 2 years, or imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years.

Sincerely!