Spain's child maintenance guarantee fund: up to 300 euros a month per child, no 18-month limit

Real Decreto-ley 31/2026 of 20 October (a government decree-law), published in the BOE (Spain's Official State Gazette) and in force since 21 October 2026, amends Real Decreto 1618/2007, which governs the Fondo de Garantía del Pago de Alimentos. The maximum advance each beneficiary can receive rises from 100 to 300 euros a month. The fund advances the maintenance set by the court up to that cap: if the maintenance is lower, it advances the amount set in the court decision.

The 18-month maximum period also disappears. Under the new article 9 of Real Decreto 1618/2007, the advance continues while the maintenance obligation exists. The fund is now managed by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration through the Dirección General de Ordenación de la Seguridad Social.

Beneficiaries are children under 18 who have maintenance recognised in a decision by the Spanish courts and are not receiving it. The application is filed by the parent or guardian with custody of the child. Adult children with a disability of 65 % or more can also be beneficiaries under the first additional provision of Real Decreto 1618/2007.

The income of the household, made up of the father or mother and the minor children in their care, is calculated on an annual basis and cannot exceed the national minimum wage multiplied by a coefficient: 1.75 with one child, 2 with two children and 2.25 with three. Children who are foreign nationals from outside the European Union generally need to be legally resident in Spain and to have been so for the two years immediately before applying.

The second transitional provision of Real Decreto-ley 31/2026 applies the new maximum to advances in force on 21 October 2026. The managing body reviews the amount automatically from the first day of the following month, that is, from 1 November 2026, without the family having to file a new application.

Applications filed before 21 October 2026 that were still pending are decided under the new wording of Real Decreto 1618/2007, with the 300-euro cap and no 18-month limit.

Non-payment alone is not enough. Real Decreto 1618/2007 requires that you have asked the court to enforce the decision setting the maintenance and that enforcement has failed. The application must include certified copies of the court decision and of the enforcement request, plus a certificate from the court clerk (letrado de la Administración de Justicia) confirming that payment was not obtained.

There is an urgent procedure for victims of gender-based violence and for families whose income is below the limit reduced by 0.5 points of the coefficient. In that case it is enough to show that enforcement was requested and two months have passed without payment. The maximum time to decide is three months in the ordinary procedure and two months in the urgent one.