Child maintenance in Cyprus: what applies now and what the reform changes

Supporting a child in Cyprus is the duty of both parents, not only the one who lives separately.

Article 33(1) of the current Law on Parent and Child Relations No. 216/1990 establishes that both parents must jointly support a minor child, with each parent's share determined by their financial means. The law does not set a fixed percentage of salary: the court assesses the specific situation of the family.

Article 37 defines what maintenance covers: the costs of the child's normal life and well-being and, where applicable, education. The court may also award an additional 13th or 14th maintenance payment if the payer receives a corresponding 13th or 14th salary.

In other words, when calculating maintenance today the court already looks not only at official income but at the parent's real financial means and the child's real needs.

The common belief that maintenance in Cyprus automatically ends on the day the child comes of age is inaccurate.

Article 33(2) of the current law already allows support of an adult child to continue in special circumstances: disability or inability to support themselves, National Guard service, or continuing studies at an educational institution or vocational school. Today this happens by a separate court decision.

The reform proposes a mechanism for automatic continuation: if by the age of 18 the child has not yet completed basic school education, the existing maintenance order could continue to apply without a new application to court, for a maximum of 24 months after reaching adulthood. For now this is a proposal, not a rule: courts do not apply such automatic continuation today.

One of the difficult practical problems in maintenance disputes is establishing a parent's real financial position when the official salary does not reflect all income: companies, property, investments, overseas assets.

The bill proposes to oblige parents to disclose their income and assets through a separate sworn statement, an affidavit. There is no such mandatory form at present: the court is already entitled to examine the parties' financial position, but the parties submit evidence in free form.

The reform should make disclosure more formal and mandatory. The final scope of the information and the consequences of incomplete disclosure will depend on the final text of the law.

In publications about the reform it is easy to mix up these two figures, and the difference between them is fundamental.

The first rule is a scheduled indexation of the maintenance amount that has been in force for almost 20 years. The second is a proposed penalty specifically for non-payment, which will appear only once the reform is adopted.

Current legislation already provides enforcement tools, and the proposed 20% measure would supplement them, not replace them.

• Article 38A allows the court to order maintenance to be deducted from the earnings of the obligated parent;
• an order for automatic monthly transfers from a bank account to the recipient is also possible;
• Article 40 permits maintenance orders to be enforced in the manner applied to monetary penalties under criminal procedure legislation.

Official information from the Ministry of Justice on maintenance orders is available at gov.cy.

Another detail that is often lost in the translation of the term “alimony”.

Law No. 216/1990 regulates specifically the duty of parents to support a child. Maintenance between spouses and former spouses is governed by a separate law, No. 232/1991 on the property relations of spouses, which has its own conditions for payments after separation or divorce.

So when discussing maintenance in Cyprus, it is always worth clarifying whether it concerns child support or spousal support.

If one of the parents lives outside Cyprus, a maintenance dispute acquires an international element.

Between EU states, EU Regulation No. 4/2009 on maintenance obligations applies: a maintenance decision made in one EU state in compliance with the applicable rules can be recognised and enforced in other member states. For families with assets, income or residence in several jurisdictions, the question of recognition and enforcement of a decision should be assessed separately, taking the specific circumstances into account.

There is no date yet for the new rules to take effect: the bill has not passed its final vote.

On 2 September 2026 the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Public Order began an article-by-article review of the bill amending the Law on Parent and Child Relations (file 23.01.059.036-2018). According to the official agenda of the House of Representatives, the review will continue on 23 September 2026. After the parliamentary procedure is completed, it will be necessary to check the final text, the number of the adopted law and its publication in the Official Gazette; this will determine the exact date each provision takes effect.