Child support

Child support refers to regular payments made by the non-resident parent to the parent with whom the child resides, to cover the child’s daily and usual living expenses.

Parents are legally obliged to support their child until they reach the age of 18. This includes providing for the child’s daily needs, primarily food, housing, and clothing.

The monthly amount of child support as of 1 January 2025 is 48,131 ISK.

Basic child support

Basic support is often referred to as minimum support. This amount is equal to the child support allowance and is reviewed annually.

If a child has permanent residence with one parent, the parents may agree that the other parent fulfills their support obligation by paying child support.

Parents are not required to seek confirmation of their support agreement from the District Commissioner.
Confirmation of a parental agreement on support by the District Commissioner allows the following:

• The resident parent may initiate enforcement against the non-resident parent for unpaid support.

• The resident parent may request mediation by the Icelandic Social Insurance Administration (TR) to facilitate the payment of basic support according to the parental agreement.

• The District Commissioner of Northwest Iceland collects support payments.

Parents cannot agree to a lower monthly support amount than the basic support. A parental agreement on support may be temporary, but there must be mutual agreement on the child’s upkeep in all other respects until the age of 18. A parent’s support obligation cannot be restricted to a lower age than 18 years.

Increased child support

Increased support refers to payments that are higher than the basic support amount.

If a child has permanent residence with one parent, the parents may agree that the other parent pays increased support to support the child. Confirmation of such an agreement by the District Commissioner can be requested.

It is not possible to request mediation by the Icelandic Social Insurance Administration for the payment of increased support.

Information on reference amounts can be found here.

Post-Divorce Cooperation
Attention is drawn to the services of SES, Cooperation After Divorce for the Children’s Sake. For more information, visit www.samvinnaeftirskilnad.is. This includes courses for parents and children available on the website, as well as specialised counselling services provided by municipalities, including matters related to custody and visitation.