When does child support indexation take effect?

Questioner

Question about child support indexation. Ex must pay alimony before the 1st of the month according to the court order. But he believes he only has to pay the increase for February in January. In my opinion this should be done before January 1st for the month of January including increase. Who is right?

Lawyer

In the Netherlands, child support is indexed annually. This means that the amount that must be paid for child support is automatically adjusted to the increase in wages and prices. The indexation takes effect on 1 January of each year. The increase in child support by indexation must therefore be applied to the support payments from 1 January. In concrete terms, this means that the payment made for the month of January (and which usually has to be paid before or on the first day of January, depending on what is stated in the order) must already be the indexed amount. In your case, if your ex-partner is required to pay child support on the first of the month, then the payment made on or before January 1st should already be the indexed amount for January. Your opinion that the indexation should be implemented as of January 1st for the month of January is therefore correct. Your ex-partner should pay the increased support from January, not only from February.