1. Korea’s Child Support Standard
Since the Seoul Family Court enacted and published the child support standard table on May 30, 2012, it was previously revised on May 30, 2014 and November 17, 2017.
In the meantime, the standard table for calculating child support has been established as an important standard for calculating child support not only in the Seoul Family Court, but also in the judicial practice of family courts across the Republic of Korea (ROK).
2. Reasons behind 4th Revision of Child Support in Korea
It has been more than four years since the child support calculation standard table was revised. In the meantime, inflation and national income have risen, and the infant care support system has been improved, etc.
It was necessary to revise the child support calculation standard table to reflect the changed social and economic circumstances.
3. How it has been revised
Accordingly, from 2020, the Seoul Family Court has made the existing non-standing child support committee permanent as the ‘research division of child support calculation standards’ under the Seoul Family Court Domestic Juvenile Trial Research Group.
They have been researching new child support calculation standards, and have gathered opinions from inside and outside the courts through public hearings, etc. to prepare a more appropriate and substantial child support calculation standard table.
The Seoul Family Court has published the revised child support calculation standard on December 22, 2021 and took effect from March 1, 2022.
4. Child Support in Korea in effect from March 1, 2022
5. How to Calculate
Let’s say, your monthly income is KRW 4 million and your spouse’s monthly income is KRW 3 million and you have two children, aged 3 and 6. Suppose, your spouse is going to be the one who will raise both children. Then, since your incomes combined are in the range of KRW 7,000,000-7,999,999 according to the table, the total amount of money that has to be spent on the 3-year-old child is KRW 1,598,000 per month. Then, since your share in the common pool of incomes of your family is 4/7, you will have to pay only KRW 913,143 (= KRW 1,598,000 X 4/7) to your spouse. Similarly, if we look up the expenses for the 6-year-old, we’ll see that the amount should be KRW 1,614,000 per month. And again, since your share in the total income is only 4/7, you will have to pay KRW 922,286 (= KRW 1,605,000 X 4/7) to your spouse.
The calculations above are based on the table. However, if there are any special circumstances to be considered or if there is an agreement between the spouses, the Korean Family Court can ignore the table and order the child support to be paid in a different way.
6. What If I don’t have income information from my ex?
If you cannot determine the income of your opposing party, you can find out their salary, business income, or other income by filing a request for their financial property information with the Korean court. However, if the other party receives salary/pay in cash to hide their income, it is very difficult to ascertain, so you will need to pursue other measures.
In addition, since child support according to the child support standard table is only based on the couple’s income, even if the other person’s property is very large, it does not affect the amount of child support that the other person has to pay.
However, if the wealth of either spouse is very large, the child support calculated in the child support calculation table can be freely adjusted in consideration of that part by the court.
Please see this article if you need information on alimony in South Korea, how child support was previously calculated, etc.
- 1. Korea’s Child Support Standard 2023
- 2. Reasons behind 4th Revision of Child Support in Korea
- 3. How it has been revised
- 4. Child Support in Korea in effect from March 1, 2022
- 5. How to Calculate
- 6. What If I don’t have income information from my ex?
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