Article: National Child Support Debtor Registry Surpasses 30,000 People and Debts Total More Than 47 Billion Pesos

29,472 men (97.08%) and 885 women (2.92%) are entered in the register, which has been in existence for three months. Furthermore, in most cases the debt is equal to one person, although 575 people currently have more than one case against them.

The National Alimony Debtors Register, which has been in operation for three months, currently has 30,357 people registered, of whom 29,472 are men (97.08%) and 885 are women (2.92%). There are currently 1,869 registered institutions and a total debt of more than 47 billion Chilean pesos ($58,750,000).

Most of the registered people are in the metropolitan area (12,024), followed by the Valparaíso region (5,431) and the Biobío region (2,693). In most cases, the debt is equal to one person, although 575 people currently have more than one case against them.

“These numbers demonstrate the need for the country to regulate what happens when the duty to provide resources for the optimal development of children and young people is repeatedly violated. This also shows us how crowds affect the lives of the majority of those who are the sole caregivers of children and young people, who are predominantly women. Our strategy continues to be to formalize alimony debts in family courts for people to enforce through the debtor registry, as well as the mechanism for effective payment of alimony that we have enacted into law and will come into effect in May,” Antonia said Orellana, Minister for Women and Equality.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Luis Cordero also spoke about the importance of creating this mechanism. “I would like to emphasize that for the first time there will be numbers in this regard. This will allow the state to make better decisions when designing new public policies in order to improve the conditions for citizens’ development,” he explained.

“Our strategy remains to formalize child support debts in family courts so that people can enforce them through the debtor registry.” Antonia Orellana, Minister for Women and Gender Equality.

How the National Debtor Register works

To be included in the register, a maintenance claim must be brought against a debtor before the courts, which must assess the background information. The person seeking maintenance must apply to the competent court for a settlement of the debt, which will be brought to the attention of the debtor. If the latter has a debt of three consecutive months and/or five non-consecutive months and does not pay after paying it, the court sends the information to the Civil Status and Identification Service (SRCEI) so that the debtor can be identified and entered in the National Debt Register.

This mechanism is a remote, free and instantaneous electronic system. It can be viewed by any person or institution legally required to do so, such as debtors, plaintiffs, legal representatives, courts, banks, notaries, municipal authorities and other public and private institutions.

The consequences of being entered in the National Debtors Register include: the withholding of tax refunds during the annual income tax return process; inability to obtain or renew a driver’s license and/or passport; and the retention of credit transactions (from 50 UF1 until reaching 50%).

When implementing the register, the Ministry for Women and Equal Opportunities identified and developed measures to improve legal compliance among financial service providers. The Financial Markets Commission was given explicit powers to monitor and punish these actors, which Congress approved last December. The law stipulates that the Financial Market Commission must monitor from March that the financial service providers it supervises comply with the obligation to inspect the register.

1Unidad de Fomento: An indicator whose value in pesos is adjusted daily according to the consumer price index.