A calculation table for child support and alimony has long been issued by the Japanese court to be used upon deciding in legal proceedings the amount of child support or alimony to be paid by one spouse to another upon divorce or separation. Even if you are a foreign national, if you reside in Japan and are married, you may be entitled to child support or alimony depending on the annual revenues of your own and your spouse’s.
Here, I use the term “alimony” with the meaning of monthly payment you can claim against your spouse when you are still married but live separately and if your spouse earns more money than you to a certain extent. This is called “婚姻費用” (Konin-hiyou or Konpi) in Japanese. You can win this allowance even if you do not have a child.
On the other hand, child support (養育費; Yohiku-hi) is the money that is given monthly after the divorce when you keep custody of (a) child(ren) and when the child(ren) of you and your spouse is/are under 20 years old*.
The above-mentioned table issued by the court was renewed in Dec 2019.
The link to each table (in Japanese) is as follows:
Table 1: Child support, 1 child (age 0-14)
Table 2: Child support, 1 child (age 15 or above)
Table 3: Child support, 2 children (both with age 0-14)
Table 4: Child support, 2 children (one with age 15 or above; one with age 0-14)
Table 5: Child support, 2 children (both with age 15 or above)
Table 6: Child support, 3 children (all with age 0-14)
Table 7: Child support, 3 children (one with age 15 or above; two with age 0-14)
Table 8: Child support, 3 children (two with age 15 or above; one with age 0-14)
Table 9: Child support, 3 children (all with age 15 or above)
Table 10: Alimony, no child
Table 11: Alimony, 1 child (age 0-14)
Table 12: Alimony, 1 child (age 15 or above)
Table 13: Alimony, 2 children (both with age 0-14)
Table 14: Alimony, 2 children (one with age 15 or above: one with age 0-14)
Table 15: Alimony, 2 children (both with age 15 or above)
Table 16: Alimony, 3 children (all with age 0-14)
Table 17: Alimony, 3 children (one with age 15 or above; two with age 0-14)
Table 18: Alimony, 3 children (one with age 15 or above; one with age 0-14)
Table 19: Alimony, 3 children (all with age 15 or above)
The unit of the amount is 10,000 (1万円). The vertical line shows the amount of annual revenue (before deduction) earned by the obligor (義務者), which means the spouse who is obligated to pay the allowance. The horizontal line indicates the amount of annual revenue (before deduction) earned by the obligee (権利者), which means the spouse who can claim against the other to pay the allowance.
The word “自営” in the table means “solo proprietor” such as a company owner and freelancer. The word “給与” means “employed” such as a person who works for a company. By using this table, you can easily find out the range of the allowance that may be admitted in the court proceedings.
Of course, the court decision may deviate from this range under special circumstances. And you don’t have to comply with this table if you and your spouse agree otherwise.
*This may vary according to the circumstances. For example, if you and your spouse both graduated from a graduate school and your child is likely to have the similar education, the maximum age might go up to around 22 years.
（This article was originally written in Dec 2019 at arimoto-law.com)