What are Alimony Case and Types of Alimony?
Pursuant to Article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code, the party who will fall into poverty as a result of divorce may request alimony from the other spouse in order to ensure his/her livelihood, provided that his/her fault is not more severe. The fault of the alimony obligor is not sought. Alimony may be granted not only to women, but also to men with lower economic power. However, due to the general practice in the society and gender inequality, it is observed that the party requesting alimony is mostly women. The reason for this is that women do not have equal education and employment opportunities with men, and therefore they are economically disadvantaged compared to men.
During a divorce, if the couple has children, the court automatically regulates the custody of the child, maintenance and the personal relationship between the parents. It may also, upon request, award poverty alimony and pecuniary and non-pecuniary compensation.
Alimony is a personal debt arising under family law and, like personal debts, is non-transferable. Turkish law has recognised four different types of alimony: poverty alimony, subsidiary alimony, precautionary alimony and relief alimony.
What is Poverty Alimony?
The spouse who will fall into poverty as a result of divorce may request alimony from the other spouse to ensure his/her livelihood. However, this request is shaped according to the fault status in the divorce; in other words, the fault of the spouse requesting poverty alimony should not be more severe compared to the other spouse. Poverty alimony is paid after the finalisation of the divorce judgement and is usually granted indefinitely. However, the amount of alimony can be redetermined by factors such as changes in the economic situation of the alimony recipient, a new marriage or improvements in living conditions.
What is precautionary alimony?
Precautionary alimony is granted as a temporary measure, before or during the filing of a divorce case, for the accommodation, subsistence and care of the children of the spouses. Precautionary alimony may be granted ex officio by the judge even if the spouses do not request it. In addition, precautionary alimony can also be requested through a separate separation lawsuit before the lawsuit is filed. This alimony is a temporary arrangement and ends after the divorce is finalised.
What is alimony for maintenance?
Alimony is the alimony for the children of divorced spouses. This alimony is paid by the spouse who is not granted custody of the child and aims to cover the expenses required for the care and education of the child. The maintenance ends when the child reaches the age of 18, gets married or becomes an adult by court decision. If the child’s education is continuing, maintenance can be requested.
What is Support Maintenance?
Support alimony is the alimony that a person must pay to his/her descendants, descendants or siblings when he/she faces the risk of falling into financial poverty. This alimony is not related to cases such as divorce or separation, but can be requested through an independent lawsuit. In alimony, the obligations of persons are determined according to the order of inheritance. For example, the lower lineage comes first, then the upper lineage and finally the siblings are obliged to alimony.
How is the amount of alimony determined?
The amount of alimony depends on the discretion of the judge. When determining the alimony, the economic and social conditions of the parties are taken into consideration. Factors such as employment status, income, lifestyle are taken into consideration. The fault status of the parties also plays an important role in poverty alimony; the spouse with more fault cannot claim alimony.
How can alimony be requested?
Alimony can be requested during the divorce case. If alimony is not requested during the divorce case, alimony must be requested within one year at the latest after the divorce decision is finalised. Alimony can also be requested without filing a divorce case. If the spouse does not fulfil his/her marital obligations, a separate lawsuit can be filed for alimony.
What Happens If the Alimony Obligor Does Not Pay the Alimony?
If the alimony obligor does not pay the alimony, the creditor may initiate enforcement proceedings. With the enforcement proceedings, unpaid alimony and the alimony to be processed can be requested.
Increasing the Amount of Alimony
The amount of alimony can be increased under certain conditions. If the economic situation of the alimony creditor deteriorates or the income of the alimony payer increases, an increase in the amount of alimony may be requested. In addition, the increase in the expenses of the child may also require an increase in the alimony.
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Legal Services Provided by Güneş & Güneş Law Firm in Alimony Cases:
- Alimony Claim Lawsuits: Filing and managing lawsuits for the payment of alimony and ensuring the successful follow-up of the process.
- Temporary Alimony: Legal support for requesting temporary alimony during divorce proceedings and ensuring regular payments.
- Child and Spousal Alimony: Filing lawsuits for child support and spousal support, and ensuring these payments are tracked and received.
- Alimony Increase and Decrease: Filing lawsuits to increase or decrease alimony based on changing circumstances.
- Alimony Payment Violations: Legal actions for collecting unpaid alimony and pursuing criminal charges against non-paying spouses.
- Enforcement of Alimony Decisions: Legal solutions and enforcement actions for non-compliance with alimony decisions, including debt collection through enforcement proceedings.
- Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Court Decisions: Legal assistance in the recognition and enforcement of alimony decisions made by foreign courts in Turkey.
- Alimony Violations and Legal Solutions: Legal solutions and criminal sanctions against individuals who violate alimony and custody decisions.
- Domestic Alimony and Poverty Alimony: Resolving alimony disputes between spouses, ensuring the payment of poverty alimony during divorce proceedings.
- Collection of Alimony Claims: Managing the process of collecting alimony claims and carrying out necessary legal actions against alimony debtors.
- International Alimony Cases: Legal support for the recognition and enforcement of alimony claims made by Turkish citizens living abroad in Turkey.
- Non-Marital Alimony Claims: Legal procedures for claiming alimony for children born outside of marriage and ensuring the follow-up of alimony payments between parents.
- Child Support: Determining child support, increasing or decreasing the amount of alimony, and managing the related legal processes.
- Alimony and Custody Relationship: Resolving issues related to the relationship between custody and alimony, and ensuring alimony obligations are fulfilled.
- Alimony and Criminal Cases: Filing criminal cases against the party failing to pay alimony and following up on the enforcement of alimony obligations.
- Legal Consultancy on Alimony: Providing legal consultancy services regarding alimony and resolving disputes over alimony.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Family Law and Maintenance Lawsuits
In order to file a maintenance lawsuit in Family Courts, there must be a valid reason. One of the primary reasons is when one spouse fails to fulfill their financial responsibilities for the household or neglects their duties towards the home. During divorce proceedings, the spouse who will face financial hardship can request maintenance, provided they are not the one at fault to a greater extent than the other spouse. The main principle of maintenance in Family Courts is to ensure that spouses who fail to fulfill their responsibilities within the marriage are held accountable, and during divorce, to bring the spouse who will experience financial deterioration due to the marriage’s dissolution to a financial condition similar to what they had during the marriage.
There is no obligation to file for divorce in order to open a maintenance lawsuit. Living separately is also not a requirement. Even if you are not living separately from your spouse, if your spouse is not taking care of the household, you can file a lawsuit for maintenance. A lawsuit for maintenance can also be filed in cases of living separately.
When determining the amount of alimony, the court will take various criteria into account. However, the judge has a significant amount of discretion in deciding the amount of alimony. The most prominent criteria in determining alimony are the economic and social status of the parties. When determining the amount of alimony, the judge will assess factors such as the paying spouse’s employment status, position, the family’s previous lifestyle, etc., and will determine a fair amount based on these considerations.
In practice, the amount of alimony varies depending on the child’s age, but it is typically determined to be between 200-600 TL. If the economic conditions of the paying spouse are significantly above the average citizen’s, this amount will increase proportionally. Therefore, based on the answer to the question “How is the amount of alimony determined?”, you can determine the alimony amount you wish to request.
If the spouse does not pay the alimony ordered by the court, an enforcement procedure (icra takibi) must be initiated. A single enforcement procedure for alimony will also be valid for any future alimony payments that become due.
The main rule in criminal law is that no one can be deprived of their freedom for economic reasons. However, alimony debts are an exception to this rule. If alimony payments are not made, the spouse who is owed alimony has the right to file a complaint. As a result of this complaint, the court will impose separate penalties for each unpaid alimony obligation.
In alimony cases, when courts issue a fixed alimony amount, due to factors like inflation, the alimony may remain at a very low level under certain circumstances. The law provides two solutions to prevent this. The first solution is to determine the alimony as a percentage that increases over time when the alimony decision is made. However, courts often do not issue such a decision due to practical problems. The spouse who is entitled to alimony can file an alimony increase lawsuit if the alimony amount is insufficient due to the current economic conditions. In the alimony increase case, the judge will reassess the alimony in light of the current circumstances and make a decision.
Just as alimony can be increased, it can also be reduced. To do this, a new lawsuit needs to be filed. The name of the lawsuit is “adaptation of alimony.” In alimony adaptation cases, the judge has significant discretion. There are no objective criteria for this. The judge will assess the socio-economic situations of the parties and make a decision. The alimony debtor may request the adaptation of the alimony by claiming that their economic conditions have worsened, the alimony amount is too high, and they can no longer meet their personal needs due to the alimony debt, or by asserting that the economic situation of the alimony recipient has significantly improved.
Alimony is a debt that arises every month and does not automatically end. For alimony to cease: if the alimony is paid for children, it will end when the children reach adulthood, i.e., when they turn 18. As for alimony for a spouse, it may end if the spouse remarries, or if their economic situation improves significantly. In such cases, a request can be made to terminate the alimony.
If the alimony debts ordered by the court are not paid, the alimony creditor (the receiving party) can initiate enforcement proceedings to collect the alimony owed. Both provisional alimony and alimony for children or the spouse are considered priority debts under enforcement law. In addition to enforcement proceedings, the creditor may also file a complaint against the alimony debtor. For a person who fails to pay alimony, imprisonment for up to 3 months may be ordered. If the alimony debt is paid after the imprisonment sentence is given, the execution will be suspended, and the debtor will be released.
In the case of non-payment of alimony, according to Article 344 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Code: “If the debtor fails to fulfill the court’s alimony decision, upon the creditor’s complaint, the debtor can be sentenced to coercive imprisonment for up to three months. Once the imprisonment has started, if the debtor complies with the decision, they will be released.”
If the debtor has filed a case to request the cancellation or reduction of the alimony, the coercive imprisonment may be postponed until the final decision of the case, considering the reasons presented by the debtor. This means that a debtor who has been sentenced to pay alimony but fails to comply with the payment terms specified in the court order, may be sentenced to light imprisonment for a period between 10 days and 3 months, depending on the circumstances, upon the creditor’s complaint. After the sentence is served, the same ruling applies to the ongoing alimony.
