In the Vitebsk region, parents are increasingly agreeing to transfer ownership of housing to their child instead of paying alimony

September 27, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The number of parents entering into alimony payment agreements is growing in the Vitebsk region, Deputy Head of the Main Justice Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Marina Bykova told a BELTA correspondent. The agreement is concluded between the parent obliged to pay alimony and the person receiving alimony. The act regulates the procedure, form, method, and terms of providing maintenance for children, as well as the amount of alimony paid. At the same time, the agreement may provide for various methods: from a percentage of income to the transfer of property of the parent obliged to pay alimony to the ownership of the child. The alimony agreement as a way of voluntarily resolving the issue of alimony for the maintenance of minor and needy disabled adult children appeared in 2009 with the adoption of amendments to the Code on Marriage and Family. In 2009, notaries of the Vitebsk region certified 7 alimony agreements. In the first six months of the current year, they have already certified 14 such documents. As Marina Bykova noted, the majority of agreements provided for the transfer of housing to the child's ownership. Parents also agreed on lump-sum alimony payments, for example, one such agreement provided for a payment of Br65 million in lieu of alimony. There were also agreements on purchasing a computer for a child within a specified period, on paying alimony in dollar equivalent or in basic units. According to Marina Bykova, the increase in the number of agreements indicates a growing legal awareness of citizens and is an indicator of the legal culture of society. According to the Main Justice Department, in 2009, notaries of the Vitebsk region, both in state and private notary offices, carried out more than 118 thousand notarial actions. State notaries most often issued certificates of the right to inheritance (20% of actions), private notaries certified powers of attorney (27% of actions). -0-