Although officials announced that the first payments from the Alimony Fund could be made at the end of November, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare has informed CdM that as of yesterday, only 20 decisions had been made. This means that the first payments can be expected in mid-January at the earliest. The law on temporary child support, which defines that if a parent does not pay alimony to children, the state assumes this obligation, entered into force on 1 November. That Law also introduced the long-awaited Alimony Fund.
The Ministry has told CdM that the number of submitted applications for the Alimony Fund at the state level is 215 so far.
“The preparation of the decision is still ongoing, and as the procedures for individual requests are still in the phase of supplementing the documentation, 20 requests have been approved so far”, the Ministry has told CdM.
Single parents in 80% of cases in Montenegro are women, while the minimum alimony determined by the court cannot be lower than €67 per month or higher than 50% of parents’ earnings.