european-union brazil
How does Brazilian Law work in relation to a European/foreign father having to pay Child Support?
<p>I am soon to be the alleged father to ex Brazilian girlfriends baby who has moved home to have the child. I will not go over there until I get DNA test, then I will consider signing Birth Certificate.</p>

<p>After the Birth Certificate is signed, when does Child Support decided and how? What percentage of income is taken, or is that decided between the 2 Governments in question? </p>

<p>Regardless of your nationality, you will be held responsible for your brazillian child in our courts. And the bad news for you is that we have a popular belief here that says that the only portion of the criminal justice that <strong>actually works</strong> is the one regarding child support.</p>

<h2>Child Support</h2>

<p>You are bound to offer child support since the birth of the child. If you do not provide for the child during the judicial process, when it's over you are obliged to provide for all the months backwards. For instance, if the child is born in January and the judicial process decides you should pay US$500 monthly in July, you will have to pay for the past months (January to July) the amount of 7(months) * US$500 (per month) = US$3500 in a single payment and start paying monthly from here on.</p>

<h2>Receipts</h2>

<p>You should have proof of any and every payment until the child hits 18 years, otherwise you may be sued for lack of child support that, as I mentioned, works also backwards. In case of woman, the age is 21. Both genders can request a continuance of child support after the maximum age if they're currently in college.</p>

<h2>Lack of Responsibility</h2>

<p>If you do not pay or only pay partially your responsibilities, after 30 days the mother can and will ask for your arrest.  I'm not sure how extradiction works in these cases, but like I said, the only subject that I can guarantee that Brazil takes seriously is about Child Support. Also, you are not required to sign the birth certificate of the child to be bound to the responsibility to offer support. On a side note, there were cases in which the man proved not to be the father with DNA tests, but since the mother didn't have anybody else to point as a possible father and the child needed to be taken care, the judge ruled for the man to pay for child support until the father was unrevalled and the real father could pay back the alledged father backwards.</p>

<h2>Revision</h2>

<p>You are allowed to ask for a revision of the value set by court in the hopes of reducing the percentual amount of your incoming. If you lose your job or your source of income, it's more likely that the child support can be revised, but unemployment is not an excuse for not providing for your child. </p>

<h2>Amount</h2>

<p>Usually, the general amount of Child Support is set to 30% of total incomming (brute value). Although USA and some other countries usually think of payment as anually incomming, Brazil works in a monthly basis. We don't speak about how much we earn in a year, but rather in a month. Overall, the need of the child is what holds the most weight and if the child needs more than 30% of your incomming, the judge can rule to that. There are cases of man having child with more than 1 woman in which their incomming were cut in 70% divided by all the children and the man only received the remaining 30%.</p>

<h2>Advice</h2>

<p>Usually the most legal advice you receive from an family attorney is that you should be friends with the mother of your children. She can make your life a living hell in brazillian courts. All brazillian women knows that. In cases of agreement, the father can, instead of providing money, choose to pay for the care of the child, such as schools, medicine, health insurance and other expenses. In those cases, it's not usually pre-defined an amount by law, but rather an agreement between the parents of the child. If the mother thinks you're not providing enough, she can start a judicial process at any time. As mentioned in "Receipts" section, always keep proofs of supporting your child.</p>
