Privatperson

Agreement on child support

What is child support (underhållsbidrag)?

Child support is the amount that a parent who does not live with his or her child is to contribute to the child’s maintenance. Unlike maintenance support [underhållsstöd], which is administered by Försäkringskassan [The Swedish Social Insurance Agency], payment of child support is arranged directly by the parents themselves. It is also the parents who make an agreement on child support. 

Why does child support have to be paid?

Parents are liable to contribute to their child’s maintenance according to their ability. When a child lives with only one parent, the other parent shall pay child support to the child.

As a rule, the parents’ financial responsibility ceases when the child attains the age of 18. If the child then still attends compulsory school [grundskola], upper secondary school [gymnasieskola] or the equivalent, the obligation to maintain the child continues as long as the child attends school, although at the longest until he or she attains the age of 21. The provisions on maintenance obligation for children are contained in Chapter 7 of the Children and Parents Code [föräldrabalken].

Child support to children can be established by agreement between the parents or by a court. If the child has attained the age of 18, child support shall be established between the child and the parent who does not live with the child (the child support debtor).

Should the agreement be in writing?

You can decide whether to regulate the child support you have agreed upon in a written or in an oral agreement. It may often be preferable to write down the agreement in case, for instance, you later disagree about the content of the agreement.

If the child support debtor does not pay according to the agreement, the parent with whom the child lives (the residential parent), or the child if he or she is over 18, can ask the Enforcement Service [kronofogdemyndigheten] to collect the child support. To do this, there must be a written agreement and the signature of the child support debtor witnessed by two people. There is a link on the right to a form which can be used for a written agreement. 

Who has to pay child support?

The parent with whom the child does not live regularly has to pay child support. This is the case regardless of whether you have joint custody or one of you has sole custody. 

When the child lives approximately the same amount of time with both of you, this is regarded as alternate residence and, in this case, neither of you are obliged to pay child support. However, this may be thought to be unfair if the parents’ financial situation differs greatly. In such cases, it may be a good idea to write down what each of you pay for the child and then allocate this amount between you in a way that seems fair.

Whom should child support be paid to?

It is the child who is entitled to child support. However, the residential parent receives the money on behalf of the child and represents the child in matters relating to his or her maintenance. When the child attains the age of 18, the amount shall be paid to the child. 

When must child support be paid?

The parent that doesn’t live with the child must pay child support from the day that the parents separate. This is the case regardless of whether you were married or living together. If you have never lived together, child support is to be paid from the birth of the child. 

Payment periods
The main rule is that child support is to be paid in advance every month. Child support for the month of December is thus to be paid at the latest by 30 November. 

When can child support be changed?

Judgments and agreements on child support are binding on both parties. If both parents agree, you can change child support by making a new agreement. This is also the case even if the child support amount was previously decided by a court judgment.

Child support can be increased or decreased.
If you are unable to reach agreement, the parent who wants the amount changed must go to court to have a new child support amount established.

When must child support be changed?
Generally, child support amounts decided upon before 1 November the preceding year are changed on 1 February each year. The child support amounts are adjusted taking into consideration changes in the price base amount. This change affects child support established under Swedish law. This is intended to adjust the value of child support to the cost of living. The child support amount will not be changed if the change in the price base amount is less than one per cent.

How to calculate child support

Here you can find general information about how to calculate child support. This can assist parents who do not live together to reach agreement on child support for their children. 

How to calculate child support (Beräkna underhållsbidrag) (pdf 25 kB)

Explanation of terms

• Child support debtor - The parent who is to pay child support.
• Residential parent - The parent the child lives with.
• Price base amount - An amount set by the Government for a year at a time and which serves as the basis for calculation of certain social benefits, etc.
• Custody  - The legal responsibility for the child. Actual care is carried out by the person who has the daily care of the child regardless of whether this person has custody of the child or not.
• Custodian  - The person who is legally responsible for the child.
• Sole custody -  A parent who has sole legal responsibility for the child.
• Joint custody - Both parents have legal responsibility for the child.