Unpaid maintenance and family abandonment

Failing to pay child maintenance is not only something you can claim through the civil courts: it can also be a criminal offence. We claim what is owed to your children, or we defend you if you have been unable to pay.

Reviewed by Celeste Pérez Bleda, Bar member no. 7301 · Updated October 2026

In short

Failing to pay, for two consecutive months or four non-consecutive months, any financial payment set out in a court-approved agreement or a court decision in favour of a spouse or children in cases of separation, divorce, annulment, parentage or maintenance is the offence of non-payment of maintenance (article 227 of the Criminal Code). It is punishable by three months to one year in prison or a fine of six to twenty-four months, and compensation includes payment of the amounts owed. At the same time, the debt can be claimed through civil enforcement proceedings.

When non-payment is a criminal offence

There must be maintenance set out in a court decision or in an agreement approved by a judge.
The non-payment must last two consecutive months or four non-consecutive months.
It must be deliberate: if the person who has to pay genuinely cannot afford it, there may be no offence, although the debt remains.

The offence of family abandonment (article 226 of the Criminal Code) also punishes failure to fulfil the legal duties of care inherent in parental authority (patria potestad).

How to claim maintenance

Civil route: an enforcement application so that the court seizes the debtor’s wages, accounts or assets.
Criminal route: a complaint for non-payment of maintenance, which can end in a conviction and an obligation to pay what is owed.
Maintenance Payment Guarantee Fund (Fondo de Garantía del Pago de Alimentos): in some cases, the State advances part of the unpaid maintenance.

If there is gender violence between the parents, these claims may fall to the Violence against Women Section (Sección de Violencia sobre la Mujer).

If you are the one who cannot pay

If your income has fallen, the right thing to do is to apply for a modification of the orders as soon as possible. Until there is a new court decision, the agreed maintenance can still be enforced. We help you prove your situation and negotiate a payment plan.