People who are under an obligation to pay maintenance often try to avoid it. The family and guardianship code therefore protects the interests of the person entitled to maintenance. In art. 136. it was determined that if, in the last three years before the judicial recovery of maintenance benefits, a person who was already liable for these benefits, without valid reason, renounced his property right or otherwise allowed to lose it, or if he resigned or changed employment less profitable, the resulting change is not taken into account in determining the scope of the maintenance. The sanction of art. 136 of the Criminal Code is directed against those persons obliged to maintain who, of their own free will, without valid reasons, reduce their earning potential, which makes it difficult or impossible to fulfill the maintenance obligation.
Pursuant to art. 138 of the Family and Guardianship Code, in the event of a change in relations, you can request a change to the decision or agreement regarding the maintenance obligation. According to the position of the District Court in Nowy Sącz in the judgment of 24 October 2013, ref. No. III Ca 607/13, the maintenance obligation depends on the earning and financial possibilities of the maintenance obligee and the justified needs of the person entitled to maintenance. Due to this, a reduction (or increase) of maintenance may occur in the event of a significant change in the personal and financial situation of the parties to the maintenance relationship.
In the judgment of March 12, 1973, case no. III CRN 6/73, the Supreme Court pointed out that the change of employment to less profitable, resulting in a decrease in the earnings of the person liable for alimony may constitute the basis for a demand for a reduction of maintenance pursuant to Art. 138 kroons if there is a valid reason for this change. This means that only a change of employment to a less profitable one without valid reason will be sanctioned. However, it must not be forgotten that if the needs of the entitled to maintenance increase at the same time, and the awarded maintenance does not exceed the financial and financial capacity of the obligee, there will be no reason to lower them.
At the same time, it is assumed that the mere possibility of the defendant finding a job and receiving earnings at a level similar to those obtained on the date of determining the maintenance payments means that the application of the claim for the reduction of maintenance will be excluded (judgment of the District Court in Nowy Sącz of October 24, 2013 No. . with reference number III Ca 620/13).
It is worth quoting the words of the District Court in Sieradz in the judgment of June 26, 2013 I Ca 215/13 that the scope of a child’s justified needs should be determined in such a way that, if they are satisfied, the child’s living standard would be the same as that parents, because the level and quality of meeting the child’s needs depend on the parents’ income and financial opportunities, which also determine their standard of living.