Remote legal assistance in recovering alimony

Maria sought assistance through the PravoVsim digital legal aid platform from a lawyer of the Charitable Foundation Caritas Kharkiv regarding the recovery of child support for her young daughter. Both of them are currently in Poland under asylum seeker status. The woman explained that she divorced her husband in July 2024, after which the child’s father stopped providing financial support. As Maria faced difficulties finding employment, it became very hard for her to provide for the child. Firstly, she does not have a sufficient level of Polish language proficiency, and secondly, her daughter needs to be accompanied to school and extracurricular activities.

Thanks to a legal aid agreement concluded with a lawyer of Caritas Kharkiv on a free-of-charge basis, the lawyer was able to represent her interests in Ukrainian courts. This meant that Maria did not have to travel to Ukraine to resolve the issue. She sent the necessary set of documents for filing a lawsuit from abroad, and the lawyer prepared a claim, which the court of first instance fully satisfied.

Disagreeing with the decision of the first-instance court, the former husband filed an appeal.

At the stage of appellate review, the Caritas Kharkiv lawyer also ensured proper legal representation for Maria to protect the child’s interests. As a result, the appellate court dismissed the father’s appeal and upheld the decision of the first-instance court.

It should be noted that the positive outcome of this case became possible thanks to the work of the PravoVsim digital legal aid platform , which allowed Maria to access legal support remotely while abroad.

The Charitable Foundation Caritas Kharkiv provides free legal aid to people affected by the war in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) thanks to financial support from the European Union.

* The name has been changed to protect personal data, the image is an illustration and does not reflect the specific events described in the story.