Distribute travel costs for visiting arrangements
HOW TO
|Updated 26. October 2023
Brief about distribute travel costs
Copy linkLink successfully copiedChildren whose parents live far apart often have to travel to spend time with the other parent during visitations to which they are entitled. As parents, you have complete freedom to decide how these travel costs are shared between you.
In a few situations, you can ask NAV for help to determine the best way to share the costs, but NAV cannot collect the money for you.
Relevant for you who (in Norwegian)
Contents
Brief about distribute travel costs
Copy linkLink successfully copiedChildren whose parents live far apart often have to travel to spend time with the other parent during visitations to which they are entitled. As parents, you have complete freedom to decide how these travel costs are shared between you.
In a few situations, you can ask NAV for help to determine the best way to share the costs, but NAV cannot collect the money for you.
Relevant for you who (in Norwegian)
How are travel costs for child visitations distributed?
Copy linkLink successfully copiedDividing the cost of travel so that children can visit their parents is basically a private legal matter. This means that you as parents can agree to divide the costs in the way you think is best in your specific situation.
If you cannot agree to another solution, the normal approach is to divide the cost of travel equally among yourselves according to the size of your income. This means that the person with the highest income will cover a larger share of the travel costs than the person with the lowest income. The cost of travel must be reasonable and necessary, as long as you do not come to another arrangement.
How to calculate parent income:
Income is calculated in the same manner as in determining child support payments, unless you agree otherwise. If NAV has stipulated the amount of child support you will pay, it is sensible to use this as the basis for determining your incomes.
You may also use the child support calculator (in Norwegian) to calculate income and the percentage of distribution between you.
In order to establish good visitation arrangements that ensures the child/children time with both parents, it is important that you agree on how the travel costs will be divided. You must therefore contribute with as much income information as possible to achieve this.
You calculate your income in the same way as in calculating child support. Here you can see what NAV counts as income when we determine child support.
NAV determines alimony (maintenance support) obligations between the parents based on their income. When we calculate parental income, we look at
- gross personal income, such as ordinary salary from employers including holiday pay, overtime pay and other supplements, taxable benefits from insurance, use of cars, and telephony and communication media · care benefits from the municipality, board of directors’ remunerations, private pension schemes and insurance payments
- positive net capital income above NOK 10 000, such as dividends, interest income and sale of real estate
- taxable financial support from NAV such as sickness benefits, unemployment benefits, work assessment allowance, disability pension and transitional benefits
- other financial support from NAV to the beneficiary to be included are cash-for-care benefits for the child for whom you receive contributions, extended child benefits and extra infant supplements for single parents
If your income is substantially lower than what you should be able to earn, NAV may determine your income at its discretion. We then consider what you might have had in income.
Frøya and Tor have two children, Ask and Embla. Ask and Embla travel to their mother Frøya for visitations. The trip costs NOK 3000 for each visitation. Frøya and Tor agree that the travel cost of NOK 3 000 per trip should be divided proportionally between them according to the size of their income.
Frøya earns NOK 600 000, while their father Tor earns NOK 400 000 as his income. Frøya and Tor's combined income is NOK 1 000 000. As a percentage, Frøya's share of their total income is 60 percent, while Tor's share is 40 percent.
This means that:
- Frøya will pay 60 percent of those 3000 kroner: That equals NOK 1800 per trip.
- Tor will pay 40 percent of 3000 kroner: That equals NOK 1200 per trip.
What are considered travel costs for visitations?
Copy linkLink successfully copiedTravel costs are expenses you incur to get the child to and from a visitation. Regardless of how many different means of transport you use, it is the actual travel costs from door to door that must be counted.
The actual cost of travelling by public transport (bus, train, plane, boat, tram and subway) is the cost of the ticket for the journey. If you drive a car, the actual costs will consist of e.g. fuel, road tolls and fees for tunnels, bridges and/or ferries.
Travel costs apply to the following trips:
- the child's trip, and an adult if the child cannot travel alone
- the cost of the parent travelling alone in connection with bringing a child either to or from a visitation
- the non-resident parent's travel to and from the child's place of residence, when the visitation is to take place where the child lives
What does not count as a travel cost?
These are not considered travel costs:
- expenses for holiday travel during a visitation
- lost wage earnings for the parent who brings the child to or from a visitation
When using a car as a means of transport, the cost of insurance and maintenance of the car are not considered travel cost.
It is basically the parent who will have the visit, that pick up and bring the child to a visitation, but you are free to agree on another solution. The same applies when the child will be picked up and brought to kindergarten or at school.
If you have signed a visitation agreement or have a decision from the court regarding visitations, the matter of retrieving and bringing the child/children is often stipulated in the agreement.
When can NAV determine the distribution of costs?
Copy linkLink successfully copiedIf NAV is asked to determine a different distribution of travel costs than simply calculating the income ratio, there must be special reasons to warrant this.
It is not enough for you, as parents, to disagree on the distribution. There must be special reasons why a different distribution is considered reasonable.
What are special reasons?
The NAV case officer will assess whether there are special reasons for determining another distribution in your case. Special reasons may be e.g. large income differences between the parents, when travel costs are high.
That one of the parents moves far away is as a rule not a special reason in and of itself. Moving may nevertheless be one of several factors that together constitute a special reason. The age of the child/children may have a bearing on whether NAV can process the case:
· If the child is under the age of 15, you must agree that NAV will determine the cost distribution for you.
- If the child is over the age of 15, NAV can process the case if only one of you wishes.
- If the child has reached the age of 18, NAV cannot determine the distribution for you.
Distribution of children's travel costs for visitations
You can ask NAV to allocate travel costs.
How are travel costs settled?
Copy linkLink successfully copiedYou must agree between you as to how the payment of travel costs is done. This applies regardless of whether you agree on a distribution of travel costs, or
whether NAV has determined the distribution for you. NAV does not collect travel costs for visitations.
If you do not receive your money from the other parent, you need to contact the state enforcement officer (namsmannen). In order for the state enforcement officer to collect the money, one of these points must be met:
- NAV has determined how the travel costs will be distributed.
- NAV has confirmed the validity of a written agreement between you on the distribution of travel costs for visitations.
Read more about case processing by the state enforcement officer and Conciliation Board (politiet.no/en).
You can ask NAV to confirm that a written agreement between you regarding the distribution of travel costs for visitations is valid. In order for NAV to do this, both parents must agree.
NAV will check that the formal conditions for a valid agreement are met.
Formal conditions that must be in place are:
- name and national identity number of the children to whom the agreement applies
- what distribution you agree on
- how payments between you are to be made
- signature of both parents
NAV will also consider the reasonableness of the agreement. If the agreement is grossly unreasonable or contrary to the best interests of the child, NAV will not confirm it.
Right to appeal
Copy linkLink successfully copiedComplain about a decision
The decision will have information about how to proceed if you want to complain, where to send your complaint and the term of complaint. If you have questions about the decision, you can contact us.
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