Can I stop paying child maintenance if they will not let me see my child?
No — maintenance and contact with the child are two legally separate duties, and you cannot set one off against the other. Stopping payment is not leverage, it is the criminal offence of breaching the duty of support (Criminal Code Art. 172): up to 1 year in prison, and up to 3 years where a child is involved — prosecuted of the state's own motion. Blocked contact is fixed by enforcing the contact decision, never by cutting the money. The minimum monthly amounts since 25 June 2026 (NN 66/26) are EUR 246 (child 0–6), EUR 290 (7–12) and EUR 319 (13–18). Stop paying, and the state pays the child instead — then collects it from you.
📋 The rules
- Contact and maintenance are separate duties: a work-capable parent cannot be released from supporting a minor child, and obstruction of contact is remedied by enforcing the contact decision — never by unilaterally stopping payment. Nor does the mother earning more extinguish the obligation; it only calibrates the amount.
- Minimum monthly amounts (a decision under Family Act Art. 314(1), reset every year): since 25 June 2026 (NN 66/26) they are EUR 246 for a child aged 0–6, EUR 290 for 7–12 and EUR 319 for 13–18 — that is 17 %, 20 % and 22 % of the average net salary of EUR 1,449. From 3 May 2025 to 24 June 2026 they were EUR 224 / 264 / 290, and those figures still circulate widely.
- The amount is set by a court decision, a court-approved agreement or the parenting plan, guided by the ministry's table of a child's average needs (income brackets from EUR 1,449 upward; above the top bracket the court may go higher). Support continues for an adult child in education, at most to age 26 (Art. 290). It changes only by a new decision or agreement — never by self-help.
- Criminal exposure (Criminal Code Art. 172): failing to pay maintenance in the manner, amount and deadlines set by an enforceable instrument — up to 1 year in prison; where the obligation concerns a child (or a person unable to work) — up to 3 years. It is prosecuted ex officio, and there is no offence only if the perpetrator proves a justified inability to pay.
- If the obligor does not pay, the child gets state money: under the Temporary Maintenance Act (NN 145/24, in force 1 January 2025) the agency AORT pays temporary maintenance equal to 100 % of the statutory minimum for the child's age (previously only 50 %) once payment has been missed wholly or partly for more than 1 month from enforceability. It is paid monthly by the 15th, up to age 18 — and the state then recovers every euro from the debtor.
🔓 Exceptions
- Justified inability to pay (Art. 172(3)): genuine, provable incapacity — documented illness without income, for instance — excludes criminal liability. But the debt itself survives and remains enforceable.
- An amount below the minimum is possible where the obligor supports two or more children, or where the child has own income contributing to its support — but only by court decision, never by the parent's own arithmetic.
- Changed circumstances (job loss, disability, new dependants) justify a claim to reduce future maintenance — but the reduction never applies retroactively to arrears already due.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
A criminal conviction under Art. 172 (up to 1 year, and up to 3 years where a child is involved), prosecuted ex officio, plus civil enforcement against your salary and bank accounts on the enforceable instrument, with statutory interest on every missed instalment. The least obvious consequence: once AORT pays temporary maintenance, the state becomes your creditor and recovers the full amount — with the option of ordering you to work the debt off in public works. Arrears do not vanish when the child turns 18, and the debt can even follow your estate, except where the law writes it off because the child is the sole heir.
📎 Official sources
- narodne-novine.nn.hr · front page of the official gazette — the minimum-maintenance decisions (NN 75/25, NN 66/26) →
- aort.hr · front page of the AORT agency — temporary maintenance conditions and payment →
- zakon.hr · front page of the statute register — look up the Criminal Code and the Family Act →
❓ Frequently asked
What is the minimum maintenance in 2026?
Since 25 June 2026 the minimums are EUR 246 for a child up to six, EUR 290 for ages seven to twelve and EUR 319 for thirteen to eighteen (NN 66/26). The figures EUR 224 / 264 / 290 applied until 24 June 2026 and still linger on older pages.
The other parent will not let me see the child. What can I do?
Contact is enforced through the court decision on contact and visits, with the court and social services involved. Stopping maintenance is not a legal remedy at all — it simply turns you into a criminal defendant.
What is temporary maintenance and who pays it?
When the obligor fails to pay for more than a month from enforceability, the child receives 100 % of the statutory minimum from the AORT agency, up to age 18. The state then recovers the full amount from the debtor, who may be ordered to work it off in public works.
I lost my job. Can I reduce the amount myself?
You cannot: a reduction requires a claim and a new court decision, and it only bites on future instalments. Arrears that already fell due remain a debt and are collected by enforcement regardless of your changed circumstances.
Until what age is maintenance paid?
For a minor child it runs until majority, and for an adult child in regular education at most to age 26 (Family Act Art. 290). Majority by itself erases neither the obligation nor any arrears already accrued.
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