In accordance with the month of December and the end of the year approaches, people who are obligated to pay alimony are required to make some additional payments to the ordinary alimony payment, according to the Law of Alimony.

Article 16 of said Law states the following:

“Article 16- Obligatory nature of the Christmas bonus. The persons obliged to pay provisional or definitive alimony, shall pay as Christmas bonus an amount equivalent to one month’s alimony, payable in the first twenty-one days of December, without the need of a ruling ordering it”.

It is the obligation of those who must pay alimony to pay an extraordinary quota in the month of December, which corresponds to the Christmas bonus. The obligors must comply with this payment, regardless of whether they work in the public or private sector or whether they are self-employed. The payment corresponding to the Christmas bonus must be deposited by December twenty-first of each year; in case it is not deposited, the person receiving the alimony may request a physical constraint, just like it happens with ordinary alimony payment.

However, this is not the only amount that must be paid by the obligors at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. At the beginning of each year, children start school and college, which means that there will be extraordinary expenses corresponding to the purchase of supplies and materials for their studies, which are not contemplated in the ordinary child support payment.

For this reason, in January, persons obliged to pay child support must pay an extraordinary fee, also known as the school salary, to cover the school entrance expenses of minors who are beneficiaries of the child support payment.

The Law does not establish what the amount to be paid for school salary should be, however, most of the Alimony Courts have historically established that such item corresponds to an additional fee equal to the ordinary child support fee. This is important to consider, since, within the alimony and child support process, there is the possibility of modifying this amount, since, depending on the ordinary alimony and child support payment, this amount will be much higher than the school entrance fees, so it is convenient to review this situation.

It is also important to mention that this payment of school salary in child support is mandatory for everyone, regardless of whether or not the obligors receive a school salary in their jobs. On many occasions this has been questioned, since it would seem unfair to force someone to pay an amount that he/she does not receive in his/her salary, however, our legislation establishes it. However, the criterion of the Judges to establish “ex officio” an amount equal to the child support payment has changed, and now they take into consideration other situations, such as the educational center attended by the child, the cost of uniforms, supplies among others.

If you require advice regarding alimony, child support, its calculation, reduction, modification or any other issue regarding Family Law, ERP Lawyers offers a specialized and experienced team in the field which will provide the best solution to your needs, we invite you to contact us by e-mail info@erplawyers.com, where we will gladly answer your inquiry.