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Child Support in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

How child maintenance is set in Portugal, how long it lasts, what to do when a parent stops paying, and when the State guarantee fund pays instead.

The Portugal Brief 8 min read

Child Support in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You are separating from your child's other parent in Portugal, married or not.
  • You already have a maintenance agreement or court decision and the other parent has stopped paying.
  • You pay child maintenance and want to know how it is reviewed or taxed.

Not for you if: you want the whole divorce process, including property and the family home. Read Getting Divorced in Portugal instead.

In Portugal, both parents must support their child. When parents live apart, the parent the child does not mainly live with usually pays a monthly sum called child maintenance (pensão de alimentos). There is no national table. The amount depends on what the paying parent can afford and what the child needs. Parents who agree can register it at a civil registry office without going to court. If you cannot agree, or the other parent stops paying, the family court decides. If a court-ordered payment goes unpaid, a State fund can pay up to €537.13 a month in its place, in some cases.

What child maintenance covers

The law defines maintenance (alimentos) as everything a person needs for food, housing, and clothing. For a child, it also covers schooling and education.

The amount is not read from a scale. The law says maintenance must match two things:

  • the means of the parent who pays
  • the needs of the child who receives it

So two families who look alike can end up with different figures. In practice the payment goes to the parent the child lives with, who spends it on the child.

It does not stop at 18

Many parents assume support ends on the child's 18th birthday. It does not.

If your child has not finished their education or training at 18, the duty continues for as long as is reasonable and for the time the training normally takes. The law goes further for maintenance fixed while the child was a minor. It is presumed to continue until the child turns 25, unless:

  • the child finishes their education or training earlier
  • the child freely stops studying or training
  • the paying parent proves that continuing to pay would be unreasonable

How the amount is set

Child maintenance is normally decided together with the other parenting arrangements: where the child lives, contact with the other parent, and who decides on health and school. Together these are called the regulation of parental responsibilities (regulação das responsabilidades parentais). There are two routes.

If you agree. Parents with a child under 18 can register their agreement at any civil registry office (conservatória do registo civil), without going to court. This works whether you are divorced, married but separated, ending an unmarried partnership, or never lived together. The agreement can cover custody, visits, money, education, and health. The registry sends it to the public prosecutor (Ministério Público), who checks that it protects the child. If you divorce by agreement at a registry office, the same check applies. See Getting Divorced in Portugal.

If you do not agree. The family and juvenile court (Tribunal de Família e Menores) decides. You can also try state family mediation first. A mediator helps you reach an agreement without a court. You apply through gov.pt.

Changing the amount later

The figure is not fixed forever. If circumstances change, either parent, or the public prosecutor, can ask the court to set new arrangements. Common reasons are a big fall in the paying parent's income, or a rise in the child's needs.

If you both agree on the change, you can make a new agreement and register it the same way as the first one. If you do not agree, the court decides.

When a parent stops paying

If the other parent does not pay what was agreed or ordered, you have several tools. You can go to the family court for the area where your child lives, or to the public prosecutor at that court.

  1. Ask the court to enforce the order. This is a non-payment claim (incidente de incumprimento). You, the public prosecutor, or the court itself can start it. The court calls both parents to a meeting. It can order payment, fine the parent who does not pay, and order compensation for the child.
  2. Ask for deductions at source. If a parent ordered by a court has not paid within 10 days of the due date, the court can order the money taken directly from their salary. It can also take it from a pension, benefits, rent they receive, or similar income. The employer or payer then sends the money straight to you, including future payments.
  3. Make a criminal complaint. Not paying maintenance can be a crime. See the next section.

Keep a record of every missed payment, such as bank statements. You will need proof.

Non-payment can be a crime

The Penal Code makes it an offence not to pay maintenance when you are able to. The penalties rise with how serious the failure is:

  • not paying within two months of the due date: a fine
  • repeated non-payment: up to one year in prison, or a fine
  • non-payment that puts the child's basic needs at risk: up to two years in prison, or a fine
  • deliberately making yourself unable to pay, with the same risk: up to two years in prison, or a fine

The case only goes ahead if someone makes a complaint (queixa). You can make it to the police or the public prosecutor. If the parent later pays what they owe, the court can reduce or drop the penalty.

When the State pays instead

Portugal has a public safety net, the Guarantee Fund for Maintenance Owed to Minors (Fundo de Garantia de Alimentos Devidos a Menores, FGADM). Segurança Social runs it. When a parent ordered by a court does not pay, and the money cannot be recovered from their salary or other income, the Fund can pay in their place. It then claims the money back from that parent.

Who qualifies. All of these must apply:

  • a court has ordered the maintenance, and the parent is not paying it
  • the money cannot be taken from the parent's salary, pension, or other income
  • the child lives in Portugal
  • the child's own income is not above the social support index (IAS), €537.13 a month in 2026, and the household income per person is not above that figure either

Children living in state-funded care homes or similar institutions cannot get payments from the Fund. For how the IAS works, see What Is the IAS, Portugal's Social Support Index?.

How much. The court sets the amount. It can be at most €537.13 a month (one IAS) for each parent who does not pay, however many children are involved. The court looks at the household's means, the maintenance ordered, and the child's needs.

How long. Payments start the month after the court's decision. The Fund does not pay arrears from before that decision. It pays until the child turns 18. It can continue to 25 in the same cases as ordinary maintenance, such as a child still in education. Payments stop if the parent starts paying again or the conditions are no longer met.

How to apply. You do not apply to Segurança Social directly. You, or the public prosecutor, ask the court within the non-payment claim to set what the Fund should pay. Then:

  1. Go to the court for the area where your child lives, or where maintenance was set, and open a non-payment claim.
  2. Ask the court to fix a payment from the Fund.
  3. The court checks the facts, including the household's income. It can make a temporary decision if the case is urgent.
  4. Segurança Social pays once the court tells it to.
  5. Each year, you must prove to the court that the conditions still apply. If you do not, the payments stop.

Update your address and bank details (IBAN) in Segurança Social Direta, so payments reach you without delay.

Bring or have ready:

  • the court decision or registered agreement that set the maintenance
  • proof of the missed payments
  • proof that the child lives in Portugal
  • your household's income documents

If you cannot afford a lawyer or court fees, see Applying for Legal Aid in Portugal.

The tax side

If you pay maintenance. You can deduct 20% of the maintenance you paid from your income tax bill (IRS). It must be fixed by a court decision or an agreement approved under the law. You cannot claim it if the child is part of your own tax household. For children over 18, extra conditions apply.

If you receive maintenance. Maintenance covered by that rule is taxed separately, at a flat rate of 20%. It is not added to your other income at the normal rates. Check how to declare it when you file. See Filing Your Annual Income Tax Return (IRS) in Portugal.

Other support for your child

Maintenance is separate from benefits your child may get from Segurança Social, such as child benefit. See Child Benefits and Parental Leave in Portugal. If one parent wants to travel abroad with the child, see Taking a Child Out of Portugal.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change often; check the official source before you act, and speak to a lawyer about your own case.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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