Child support

You can apply online for child support

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If you wish to apply for child support, you must fill in and send an application form to the Agency of Family Law (Familieretshuset).

In some situations, the Agency of Family Law will forward your application to the family court, who will make the decision.

If the Agency of Family Law or the family court decide that you are entitled to support from the other parent, you will receive a support decision. The support decision is your proof that you are entitled to the support or that you must pay it.

You can receive child support if you live with your child, but not with the other parent. You can also receive support if you provide for the child in some other way. It is the other parent who must pay the support to you. The general rule is that, as parents, you enter into an agreement concerning the support.

Get a quick overview of child support in the following guidance:

If you establish a private agreement

If you, as parents, establish your own child support agreement, you should draw up the agreement in writing. On the Agency of Family Law's website, you will find a form which you can use to prepare your own support agreement. Your written agreement will be just as binding as a support agreement from the Agency of Family Law.

If you agree that the support should be determined

If you agree on the date of determination of the child support and the amount of support payable, you can apply to the Agency of Family Law to have the support fixed in accordance with your agreement.

The Agency of Family Law will not consider the case. Instead, we recommend that you read about what information is decisive when the Agency of Family Law determines child support.

If you share expenses

Child support will not normally be determined if you have a sharing arrangement and also share expenses relating to provision for the child between the 2 of you.

If you are unable to agree on the support, you can ask the Agency of Family Law to reach a decision concerning the support. 

Please note that child support is not the same as child benefit or family allowance, which are benefits distributed by the government.

If you draw up an agreement concerning child support, you must also reach an agreement on the amount of support that will be payable. You should always establish the agreement in writing.

When establishing the agreement, you should also decide the circumstances under which the support could be amended. See familieretshuset.dk for more information (please note that the website is in Danish). 

On the Agency of Family Law’s website, you will find a form which you can use to prepare your own support agreement. You will also find a support wizard which will enable you to calculate how much child support you can expect to have to pay or receive.

Regardless of whether it is the Agency of Family Law or the family court who determines the support, the support will be based on the following rates: The support will always consist of a basic amount and a fixed supplement, which are collectively referred to as ‘normal support’.

Normal support amounts to DKK 1,548 per month (2024). Normal support is adjusted annually on 1 January.

If the parent who pays the support to the other parent has a high income, an additional supplement may be payable – known as a ‘percentage supplement’. The Agency of Family Law or family court will calculate the percentage supplement based on the gross income of the parent paying the support and the number of children that parent is required to support.

We will calculate the support from the date on which the event which triggers the support occurs. This could for example be:

  • cessation of the parents’ cohabitation
  • cessation of provision for the child
  • cessation of an access arrangement where the child spends approximately the same amount of time with each parent
  • the child moving from one parent to the other.

If the Agency of Family Law receives your application for the determination of child support within no more than 2 months after the event which triggered the support, the child support will be determined from that date.

If you apply more than 2 months after the support-triggering event, we will determine the support from the date on which the Agency of Family Law receives the application.

Start Application for Child Allowance

If you are unable to agree on the amount of child support that should be paid, you can ask the Agency of Family Law to reach a decision on the matter.

You apply for child support by completing and submitting the digital form. 

If you have established a child support agreement yourself, you must also agree between you when and how the support will be paid. The normal situation is for the parent who pays the support to pay a fixed amount to the other on the first day of each month. It can be a good idea for the parent that pays the support to set up a fixed monthly bank transfer with a reference which indicates that the payment concerns child support for the child in question. The reference for the monthly transfer could for example be ‘Child support for Peter’. This will also provide documentation that the payment has actually been made.

If the Agency of Family Law or the family court has reached a decision concerning the support, the Agency of Family Law will set a date for payment of the support. The Agency of Family Law will always set the payment date to the first day of each month. If the parent paying the support fails to pay punctually, the recipient can apply for Udbetaling Danmark to collect the support.

If you receive a payment demand from Udbetaling Danmark, you can set up a Betalingsservice agreement so you are sure that the support will be paid on time.

If you do not pay the support on time, Udbetaling Danmark will refer the outstanding amount to the Danish Debt Collection Agency for collection.

Start Application for Child Allowance

You and the child’s other parent can amend a previous agreement or a decision concerning child support at any time. Agreements and decisions concerning support should always be amended in writing.

On the Agency of Family Law’s website, you will find a form which you can use to draw up your own support agreement. If you draw up a new agreement yourself, you do not need to notify or contact the Agency of Family Law.

If the parents are unable to agree on a change to the support, you can apply to the Agency of Family Law to resolve the situation.

Fixed support can be amended at any time upon application provided the relevant conditions are met. The same applies to agreed support where the agreement states that it can be amended in accordance with the general guidelines, that is pursuant to Section 16 of the Act on provision for children (lov om børns forsørgelse).

If you have established an agreement concerning the amount of support payable and it is not agreed that the support can be amended under Section 16 of the Act on provision for children, different rules will apply to amendments to the support. Such an agreement can only be amended if the agreement is unreasonable, if the circumstances have changed materially or if the agreement is contrary to the best interests of the child. However, if you have agreed a level of support which is lower than the rates, the Agency of Family Law will normally increase the support if it receives an application for such an increase.

If you apply to amend child support, you must pay a fee of DKK 3,000 (2024). This fee must be paid when you submit your application. However, in some cases, you will not need to pay the fee to amend child support.

These cases are:

  • if you apply for the child support to lapse because the child is now living with you,
  • or if you apply for a change to agreed child support, and the Agency of Family Law has not previously considered a case concerning this child support.

A fee must only be paid if you apply for a change to support for several children between the same parties. Only one fee must also be paid if you apply for a reduction in support for several children in cases between different parties.

Read more about the calculation, how you can draw up an agreement yourself and the determination of child support.

If support approved by the Agency of Family Law is not paid by the agreed date, you can apply to Udbetaling Danmark and ask them to pay an advance on the support. This arrangement is referred to as ‘advance child support’.

Advance child support means that Udbetaling Danmark will pay your child support to you in advance. Udbetaling Danmark will then collect the support from the other parent.

However, you must first attempt to collect the support from the child’s other parent.

The child support comprises normal support and, in some cases, a percentage supplement. Udbetaling Danmark will only pay the normal support in advance. The percentage supplement will not be paid by Udbetaling Danmark until it has been paid by the other parent.

If you have established an agreement concerning child support yourself, you will not be able to apply for advance child support. However, you can apply to Udbetaling Danmark and ask them to collect the support from the other parent.

You can only have your child support paid in advance if both you and your child live in Denmark.

If your support decision was not reached in Denmark or another Nordic country, you must contact the Danish Debt Collection Agency on +45 70 15 73 04. The Danish Debt Collection Agency will investigate whether you can receive support payments in advance.

If you are a foreign citizen, you must have lived in Denmark for at least 3 years in order to have the support paid in advance. If you have lived in Denmark for less than 3 years, but have a Danish support decision, you can apply to Udbetaling Danmark and ask them to collect the support. For refugees, the same rules apply as for Danish citizens.

You can deduct the child support that you pay from your tax bill if:

  • You have drawn up a written agreement concerning the child support
  • You have a decision concerning child support from the Agency of Family Law

The basic amount for normal support is DKK 1,370 (2024). This is equivalent to DKK 16,440 per year (2024). You cannot deduct the supplement, which amounts to DKK 178 per month (2024). If you pay a higher amount in support, the percentage supplement can normally also be deducted.

The Agency of Family Law determines and adjusts child support amounts, while Udbetaling Danmark collects child support and, where appropriate, pays advances. 

When to contact The Agency of Family Law: 

Contact the Agency of Family Law if you have any questions regarding a decision concerning support or the amount of support payable.

When to contact Udbetaling Danmark

If you have any questions regarding collection of the support, contact Udbetaling Danmark on phone +45 70 12 80 62 or via Digital Post to ‘Familieydelser’ (Family services).

If you disagree with the decision made by the Agency of Family Law concerning support, you can appeal against it.Enclosed with the decision, you will receive guidance on how to appeal. 

The Agency of Family Law must receive your appeal no more than 4 weeks after you received the decision. 

You can read more about the legislation concerning child support. 

  • Get an overview of the financial aspects of divorce and separation (in Danish)

Written by the Agency of Family Law

Last updated: 23 February 2024

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