Maintenance - Others – Grandchildren

Question:

My husband has disappeared abroad and I cannot trace him. I cannot support our children. My father-in-law is very wealthy. Is he obliged to support the children if their own father does not ?

Answer:

Yes. A grandparent can be liable for his/her grandchild’s maintenance if the parents cannot support them. Under the Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) Act of 1959 a grandparent is under a legal duty to support his/her grandchildren in certain circumstances. They are that the parents themselves cannot do so and that the grandparent has a surplus from which to support the minors, after first providing for his/her spouse and any minor children they both have.

These points were emphasized by the Supreme Court in the late 1970’s when a minor’s paternal grandmother was held to be liable for her granddaughter’s maintenance after her son disappeared overseas and the mother could not support the child alone.

Question: 

I am divorced, with custody of the children. My ‘ex’ does not pay the child maintenance the court sets. He is very unstable and seems incapable of holding down any job. His parents are very comfortably off. Can I get maintenance from them if I work ?

Answer:

The fact that the mother works does not, in itself, prevent the grandchildren from being entitled to maintenance from their paternal grandfather if their own father cannot support them.

In January 2003 the Kfar Saba Family Court ordered paternal grandparents to pay 2,300 shekels maintenance for their two grandchildren, according to the 1959 Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) Act. It was satisfied that their father, who suffered from severe emotional problems and Attention Deficiency HyperActivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) had no means of supporting the children, whereas the paternal grandparents, in their sixties, both worked and were comfortably off. The father was always in and out of temporary work and had been jailed several times for the non-payment of child maintenance after the mother had brought proceedings against him at the bailiff’s office to enforce the child maintenance judgment. Supporting the child alone, as she had done so for a prolonged period, was taking too much of a toll on the mother, who worked as a teacher and also gave private lessons to supplement her income, the court said. Under the divorce agreement the father had been obliged to pay maintenance of 3,700 shekels, although the mother had sued the paternal grandparents for triple this amount.

Question:

My daughter-in-law threatened to sue me for maintenance for my grandchild after my son fled the country to escape creditors. It seems unfair that one grandfather – and not both – should shoulder the burden. Can the court share the burden between us ?

Answer:

Yes. Under the Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) Act of 1959 a grandfather can be liable for the maintenance of his minor grandchild/ren if the parents cannot do so, providing that he has a surplus after providing for himself and his spouse and any of their minor children first. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has held that the court can oblige other relatives of the same rank separately, and together, and to share out the maintenance burden between them. Thus, depending on the circumstances, both grandparents may have to support a grandchild. In the particular case referred to, the Supreme Court ordered a grandfather to compensate the other grandfather who had been held liable for the maintenance of the grandchild.

Question:

How can grandparents, who have been sued for child maintenance by their grandchildren after their son can’t manage to pay, get their in-laws to share the burden of supporting them ?

Answer:

Grandparents who are interested in getting their in-laws (the other grandparents) to share the maintenance burden for their grandchildren should make a formal request to the court for them to be added as respondents in the maintenance action, or for the plaintiff to supply material regarding their income.

Question:

My husband and I separated. I filed him at the family court for maintenance for our child, whom we both adopted . I got a decision awarding temporary maintenance. My husband has now disappeared abroad and I cannot trace him. My in-laws are well-off. Can they be made to support our child instead of my husband – or is this not possible because he is adopted ?

Answer:

The family of an adoptive parent may have a legal obligation to support a minor if the adoptive parent himself does not do so. The Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) Act of 1959 covers situations where certain relatives of a person with a maintenance obligation are obliged to support a dependent instead of him. It treats adopted children like biological children and places the potential burden for supporting them on the shoulders of the relatives of the adoptive parent. Under the act an adoptive grandparent may have a legal duty to support his/her adoptive grandchildren in certain circumstances.These are that the adoptive parents themselves cannot do so and that the grandparent has a surplus from which to support the minors, after first providing for his/her spouse and any minor children they both have.