Child support is the child's right to receive from both parents everything necessary for a dignified life: food, housing, healthcare, education, clothing, and recreation. It is not a concession or a favor — it is a legal obligation that Argentine law protects firmly and enforces coercively when the obligated parent refuses to pay.
We assist families at every stage of the support process: from the first extrajudicial demand to forced enforcement for non-payment. We work in Buenos Aires City, Buenos Aires Province, and nationwide, in Spanish, Russian, and English.
Child support (cuota alimentaria) is the monthly sum one parent must pay to cover the child's needs when they do not live together. It is governed by arts. 658–670 of the Civil and Commercial Code (CCC), supplemented by the Convention on the Rights of the Child — a treaty with constitutional rank under art. 75 sec. 22 of the Argentine Constitution — and Law 26.061 on the Comprehensive Protection of Children's Rights.
Art. 659 CCC defines the scope: maintenance, education, recreation, clothing, housing, medical care, and illness expenses. The amount must be proportional to the paying parent's means and the child's actual needs. Family courts in Buenos Aires City typically set support between 20% and 30% of the paying parent's net income per child.
When urgency does not allow waiting for a final judgment, art. 544 CCC permits a provisional support order from the outset of proceedings. The amount is set in a single hearing and remains in effect until final judgment.
The main proceeding: the court analyzes the child's needs and the paying parent's income and sets an adjustable monthly amount. The judgment has enforcement force.
Inflation, the child's growth, a change of school, or an improvement in the payer's financial position are all valid grounds for a revision. No bad faith needs to be shown — a change of circumstances suffices.
This applies when the payer loses employment, suffers serious illness, or the child becomes financially independent. The obligation does not end automatically at 18: it continues while the child studies, up to age 21 (art. 658) or 25 (art. 663).
Where there is a final judgment and non-payment: wage garnishment, bank account attachment, general property injunction, registration in the Support Debtor Registry (Law 269 CABA and provincial laws), astreintes (daily fines), and in serious cases, criminal prosecution for breach of family support obligations (Law 13.944, imprisonment from 1 month to 2 years).
When the primary obligor cannot or will not pay and the child is left unprotected, a subsidiary claim may be brought against grandparents or siblings with sufficient means (arts. 537 and 668 CCC).
A parent's new spouse or partner — the step-parent (progenitor afín) — has a duty to assist with the other parent's children and may in certain cases be required to contribute (arts. 672–676 CCC).
Art. 660 CCC establishes that the day-to-day care of the child also constitutes a support contribution — a crucial point: the parent who lives with the child and attends to them daily is already contributing, so the other parent must compensate financially to a greater degree. To calculate the amount, the court considers formal income (pay stubs, ARCA tax filings), undeclared income (proven through indirect evidence: lifestyle, properties, vehicles, travel, social media), the payer's assets, the child's documented expenses, and other family obligations.