The casuistry on alimony is very varied and depends to a great extent on each specific case, something recurrent in the judgments related to Family Law cases.
In the case of the judgment we are discussing today, a frequent doubt is resolved: Should the payment of alimony to a child continue while studying a university degree and, if so, what happens if the studies are not completed within the corresponding academic term?
Is it necessary that the studies are completed ‘one year at a time’ in order to maintain the right to child support?
Alimony and university studies: what happens if you finish your degree later?
Today’s ruling focuses on a case of this type.
In it, the Provincial Court of Cantabria ruled that a daughter must continue to pay for her medical studies at the same private university where she began her studies, since, although she has not completed her studies in six years, this does not imply that there is insufficient application.
The court thus considers that the fact that the daughter did not complete her studies in that period of time does not imply a lack of application sufficient to consider the parents’ obligation to pay for them extinguished, based on article 152.5 of the Civil Code.
This article assures that the obligation to provide alimony will be terminated when the need of the child who receives it comes from his misconduct or lack of application to work, while this cause subsists.
On this basis, the judges consider that applying this rule would be too rigorous and disproportionate.
And the fact is that, even though the academic regulation of medical studies contemplates their possible completion in six years, “the high difficulty of these studies and the considerable effort they require cannot be ignored”.
This is the reason why the Provincial Court considers that the use of two additional courses does not justify penalizing the plaintiff with the loss of the right of her parents to contribute to these studies, especially when she is only one course away from finishing her degree.
Furthermore, as for the father’s opposition to continue paying for a private university, the judges recall that both parents agreed at the time to proceed in this way, without their economic situation being insufficient to meet the daughter’s expenses in the last year of her studies, and no sufficient reason has been accredited to impose a change of university.
Likewise, the fact that the divorce decree regulated the contribution to child support between the parents themselves -a regime in force and not disputed with regard to ordinary alimony- does not limit the plaintiff’s right to claim what she needs for her studies once she reaches the age of majority, apart from ordinary alimony.
The solution is, in short, that both parents will be obliged to pay half of all the expenses claimed for their daughter to continue her medical studies at the same university where she has been studying since the beginning, regardless of the amounts they have been paying in compliance with the separation judgment. For any questions regarding Family Law, please contact our team of lawyers in Barcelona..
