Pursuant to Art. 137 of the Act of February 25, 1964, the Family and Guardianship Code, maintenance claims shall expire after three years. However, it should be borne in mind that the right to maintenance itself is not statute-barred. This means that entitled persons (relatives in the straight line and siblings) may claim maintenance at any time.
Referring to the limitation of claims such as maintenance payments, attention should be paid to the possible interruption or suspension of the limitation period. At this point it is necessary to refer to the resolution of the Supreme Court (reference number III CZP 65/68), according to which, during the term of parental authority, the limitation period for the claims that children are entitled to against their parents does not start, and the started one is suspended. The Supreme Court also put forward a second thesis, according to which the limitation period for the above-mentioned claims runs not only when both parents are not entitled to parental responsibility, but also when this authority is not vested only in the parent from whom the child is seeking maintenance.
To sum up, during the term of parental responsibility, the limitation period for maintenance claims is suspended and continues until the parental authority ceases to exist. Thus, when a parent is deprived of parental responsibility, a 3-year limitation period applies.