My daughter turns 18 this year. Does she lose the right to maintenance ordered from his father upon reaching the age of majority?

Maintenance for an adult child is a topic that interests both the parent and the child. According to art. 133 § 1 of the Family and Guardianship Code, parents are obliged to provide maintenance to a child who is not yet able to support himself, unless the income from the child’s property is sufficient to cover the costs of his maintenance and upbringing. Thus, reaching the age of majority of a child does not terminate the maintenance obligation, and there is no other age limit that would automatically abolish the maintenance obligation. The key is whether the daughter has her own source of income. If she is still in education and is therefore unable to support herself, maintenance is due until her daughter starts working and earns income that will cover her living expenses. It may also happen that the child has some own property that will allow him to cover the cost of living, e.g. he inherited an inheritance, then the parent could apply to the court for exemption from the maintenance obligation.

Maintenance for an adult child

Art. 133 § 3 of the Family and Guardianship Code provides that parents may evade maintenance to an adult child if it is associated with excessive prejudice to them or if the child does not make efforts to achieve independent support. Based on this provision, the father may try to prove that he is unable to pay maintenance because they constitute an excessive burden for him, or he will want to prove that the child is reluctant to become independent – e.g. he does not start work, does not study, repeats a grade, no take up studies. I would like to emphasize that maintenance for an adult child may also never expire if the child is seriously ill or disabled, and therefore has no possibility of earning money.

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