Alimony in Spain

According to the legislation, alimony is paid by one of the spouses to the other, after a divorce. This financial payment made to an ex-spouse is not so commonly offered as the awards in favour of a child. For complete information on alimony matters you can ask our law firm in Spain.

One of the main rules is that alimony has to be awarded only when one of the spouses is evidently in a financial disadvantage following the divorce. 

In a situation where one of them has given up a career for raising the children and the other has a substantial income, an alimony of this type should be awarded. This is done to re-balance the economic situation of the couple as a result of the marriage breaking down. However this does not have to result in equality between the spouses, but to bring the disadvantaged one (after the divorce) to a similar situation she/he had prior to the marriage's dissolution. Our Spanish lawyers can help you file for alimony or in any other legal issues arising after a divorce.

 

The spouse claiming the payment and the imbalance has to comply with two conditions so as to be decided whether it will be awarded or not:

- prove that they find themselves in a worse financial situation than prior to the marriage's breakage;

- bring evidence of the fact that they are in an inferior economic situation than the one of the other spouse.

 

The absence of either of the two conditions may result in the court's refusal to award the alimony. Our attorneys in Spain can guide you through all the procedures that need to be completed and ultimately get to the outcome you were hoping for.

There are some aspects that the Supreme Court has to consider when deciding if the payment is to be awarded or not, such as:

It is not easy to be specific in terms of the amount of the alimony, but the awards usually vary between 15% and 40% of the wage that the spouse with the higher income receives. You can pay by bank transfer, payment being adjusted in accordance to the inflation rate every year. The alimony can be paid temporary or for life. In case of shifts in either of the spouses' financial situation, an application to the court can be filed resulting in the changing of the award.

In case you need legal advice, you are in search for someone to represent you with filing for alimony in court or you are facing other legal family issues, feel free to seek counsel from our lawyers in Spain.