When the child’s well-being is endangered or may be endangered because child support is not paid
Emergency support for the safety of minor children
- If a child’s welfare is endangered or may be endangered because the child support debtor fails to perform child support obligations, the child support creditor who has applied for legal support for child support claims and the enforcement of child support payments or support for collecting child support debt may apply for temporary emergency child support subsidy (hereinafter “emergency subsidy”) to the Child Support Agency (hereinafter “Agency”) under Article 7 of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment (Article 14(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
※ How to apply for temporary emergency child support subsidy
-Go to the online application page for the subsidy
-Telephone counseling ☎ 1644-6621 (No. 1) 09:00–18:00 weekdays (excluding weekends and holidays)
Standards and eligibility for emergency subsidy
- A child support creditor belonging to a household whose income is not greater than 75/100 of the median income in the National Basic Living Security Act is eligible for emergency subsidies (Article 8(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
- The head of the Agency determines an eligible child support creditor’s receipt of emergency subsidies by considering as a comprehensive whole whether the child support creditor and their family are disabled or ill, their standard of living, other necessities for emergency subsidies, etc. (main body of Article 14(2) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 8(2) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment)
- However, if the child support creditor is receiving the same protections under the National Basic Living Security Act or the Emergency Aid and Support Act, the emergency subsidy will not be given to that extent (the proviso of Article 14(2) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
· A child support creditor who objects to the decision of the head of the Agency on emergency subsidies may appeal by submitting an appeal petition to the head of the Agency within 30 days of the date the creditor was notified of the decision (Article 14-3(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 7-3 and Form No. 4-2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
· The head of the Agency shall make a decision on the above appeal petition within 30 days. However, if the decision cannot be made within this period for unavoidable reasons, the period may be extended by up to 30 days (Article 14-3(2) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
Amount and payment period of the emergency subsidy
- The emergency subsidy is KRW 200,000 per minor child in a month and may be paid for a total of nine months. If additional subsidy is required for a child’s welfare, such as in the event of the continuation of the crisis situation, the period may be extended only once by three months [see Article 14(3) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 8(3) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; The Amount of Temporary Emergency Child Support Subsidy (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Public Notice No. 2022-41 issued and enforced on October 7, 2022); and
Child Support Agency, child support payment enforcement support – Project overview - Temporary emergency child support subsidy].
How to apply for temporary emergency child support subsidy
Application for emergency subsidy
- A child support creditor seeking to apply for emergency subsidy must attach the following documents to the Temporary Emergency Child Support Subsidy Application and submit it to the head of the Agency (Article 14(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 8(4) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 7 and Form No. 4 of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
· Documents proving any disabilities, illnesses, the standard of living of the child support creditor and their family, and any other necessities, etc., for emergency subsidy.
· A copy of a bankbook displaying the account number
- If the child support creditor does not consent to verification through the use of common administrative information, the following documents must be attached (Article 7(2) of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment):
· A national basic living benefit recipient certificate, second-lowest income bracket confirmation under the National Basic Living Security Act
· Single-parent family certificate under the Single-Parent Family Support Act
· Health insurance eligibility acquisition and loss confirmation, health insurance eligibility confirmation, and health / long-term care insurance premium payment confirmation under the National Health Insurance Act
· A certified copy of their resident registration card under the Resident Registration Act
· A proof of value-added tax basis under the Value-Added Tax Act or a proof of income amount under the Income Tax Act
Payment method on decision to pay emergency subsidy
- On a child support creditor’s application for emergency subsidy, the head of the Child Support Agency must, in the absence of special circumstances, decide within 10 days of the date the child support creditor applied for emergency subsidy whether to pay the emergency subsidy and pay the emergency subsidy amount (Article 8(5) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
- Emergency subsidy is paid by deposit to a financial institution or post office account in the child support creditor’s name. However, if one of the following applies to the child support creditor, it may be received through an account in the name of the child support creditor’s child (Article 8(6) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
· An adjudication for the initiation of adult guardianship, the initiation of limited guardianship, or specific guardianship is finalized
√ Guardianship is a system by which a person with a persistent lack or shortage in ability to conduct affairs caused by mental limitations due to disease, illness, old age, or other causes, or a person who requires temporary guardianship or specific affairs, is protected by the support of a guardian selected by family court adjudication (see Article 9(1), Article 12(1), and Article 14-2(1) of the Civil Act).
· Cash receivables have attached because of failure to perform debt obligations
Collection from a child support debtor
- If an emergency subsidy has been paid to a child support creditor, the head of the Agency will notify and collect from the child support debtor all or part of such amount (the former part of Article 14(5) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
- To collect all or part of the amount of the emergency subsidy from the child support debtor, the head of the Agency must notify the child support debtor in writing, clearly specifying the following matters (Article 9(1) and (2) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment):
· Cause of collection
· Amount of collection
· Payment period (at least 30 days from the date of notice)
· Payment institution
· Whether payment can be made in installments and how to apply for payment in installments
Cessation of temporary emergency child support subsidy and cost recoupment
Cessation of emergency subsidy and obligation to notify the child support debtor
- If the child support debtor pays child support, the emergency subsidy to the child support creditor is immediately ceased (Article 14-2(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
- If there are changes in matters relating to the requirements for emergency subsidy payment, such as the child support creditor learning any one of the following, the creditor must notify such fact without delay to the head of the Agency by means such as the mail, facsimile, or information communication networks, etc. [Article 14-2(2) and (3) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 8(1) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 7-2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; and Standards for and Amount of Temporary Emergency Child Support Subsidy (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Public Notice No. 2022-55 issued on December 24, 2021 and enforced on January 1, 2022)].
· The child support debtor pays child support
· Any one of the following standards no longer applies:
√ The income of the family to which the child support creditor belongs is not greater than 50/100 of the base median income under the National Basic Living Security Act
√ The child support creditor is part of a single-parent family under the Single-Parent Family Support Act with an income not greater than 75/100 of the base median income under the National Basic Living Security Act
· The child support creditor receives livelihood benefits under the National Basic Living Security Act
· The child support creditor receives livelihood aid under the Emergency Aid and Support Act
Recoupment from the child support creditor
- If a child support creditor received an emergency child support subsidy by falsehood or other corrupt means, the head of the Agency shall cause all or part of the subsidy to be returned. However, this amount may be reduced if the return of the child support endangers the welfare of minor children (Article 14-4(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
- The head of the Agency, when seeking the return of all or part of the emergency aid child support, must specify the bases, etc., for calculating the amount to be returned and notify the child support creditor in writing to make the payment (Article 14-4(2) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 9-2(1) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).
- A child support creditor who has received the above notice to repay must pay the amount within 30 days of receiving such notice (Article 14-4(2) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment; Article 9-2(2) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).