If a parent fails to pay proper child support, it is possible to apply for financial assistance from the state in the form of so-called substitute maintenance from 1 July 2021. This is a social benefit paid by the Labour Office of the Czech Republic on the basis of the law on substitute maintenance (Act No. 588/2020 Coll.).

Replacement maintenance is provided in the amount of the difference between the amount of monthly maintenance determined in the judgment (enforcement order) and the maintenance actually paid by the obliged parent in a given month. The maximum amount of the replacement maintenance is CZK 3 000 per month.

The replacement maintenance is paid monthly, in the month following the month for which the maintenance is due (e.g. for July it will be paid in August, for August in September, etc.). The maintenance allowance will be paid for a maximum of 24 payments.

The prerequisite for being able to apply for alternative maintenance is:

• the dependent child has permanent residence and domicile in the Czech Republic,
• maintenance has been established by a judgment (enforcement order) and the obligor parent does not pay maintenance at all or pays a lower amount than established,
• a process of recovery of maintenance has been initiated (i.e. execution or judicial enforcement of a decision is in progress, or a request for recovery of maintenance has been sent to a foreign partner authority).

The application for replacement maintenance must be submitted to the contact office of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic according to the place of permanent residence of the dependent child. Further information and the application form is available on the website of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic.

In the event that maintenance is recovered abroad, the entitled person or his/her legal representative must submit to the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, pursuant to Section 7(4) of the Act on Substitute Maintenance, a certificate (form available for download here) that a request for recovery of maintenance has been filed with the Office for International Child Protection (hereinafter referred to as the "OICP"), or that maintenance from abroad is unrecoverable. To issue the certificate, the Labour Office will use the form "Certificate for a request for substitute maintenance for the needs of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic" issued by the UMPOD.

Primarily, the certificate for the newly submitted application for substitute maintenance should be provided by the entitled person or his/her legal representative. In cases where the entitled person or his/her legal representative asks the Labour Office of the Czech Republic to provide the certificate itself, the Labour Office of the Czech Republic will send the pre-filled certificate to the data box of the ÚMPOD with a request to fill it in and send it back.