If you have been involved in a process of divorce or separation divorce or separation you may be familiar with the need to calculate the alim ony if it is necessary to pay it in your case or if you are a beneficiary of it.
This concept appears in article 237.1 of the second book of the Civil Code of Catalonia (CCAT), which is based on article 142 of the Spanish Civil Code (CC).
It is “everything that is indispensable for the maintenance, housing, clothing and medical care of the person being fed, as well as the expenses for training if he/she is a minor and for the continuation of the training, once he/she has reached the age of majority, if he/she has not completed it before for a reason that is not attributable to him/her, as long as he/she maintains a regular performance.
Likewise, maintenance includes funeral expenses, if they are not otherwise covered”.
But, how is alimony calculated?
On what does its amount depend?
It is worth remembering that, in cases of separation or divorce, it can be applied (not always) to one of the spouses against the other spouse or against the children.
In this post we review this concept and give you the keys to know approximately what amount is likely to apply to your case. Consult our lawyers in Barcelona for any doubt related to Family Law.
Proportionality as a criterion for calculating alimony in Catalonia
The Civil Code speaks about the amount of alimony in a generic way in its articles 145, 146 and 147.
These articles state the following:
Article 145.
When the obligation to provide alimony falls on two or more persons, the payment of the alimony shall be divided among them in proportion to their respective wealth.
However, in case of urgent need and due to special circumstances, the Judge may compel only one of them to provide them provisionally, without prejudice to their right to claim from the other obligors the part that corresponds to them.
When two or more persons claim at the same time alimony from the same person legally obliged to provide it, and the latter does not have sufficient fortune to provide for all of them, the order established in the preceding article shall be followed, unless the concurrent alimonies are the spouse and a child subject to parental authority, in which case the latter shall be preferred to the former.
Article 146.
The amount of maintenance shall be proportionate to the wealth or means of the giver and the needs of the recipient.
Article 147.
The alimony, in the cases referred to in the preceding article, shall be reduced or increased proportionally according to the increase or decrease in the needs of the provider and the fortune of the person who has to satisfy them.
Therefore, proportionality is always mentioned as a principle, both when determining the amount of alimony and when modifying it.
However, we are faced with the circumstance of the lack of determination as to the specific amount.
Our Supreme Court has relativized this concept by recognizing that the judge’s reasoning for setting the amount of alimony is a judgment of equity rather than of proportionality, being considered discretionary. And this results in differences between courts, greater litigation due to the comparisons that arise…
There is, however, a tool that the General Council of the Judiciary has placed in the hands of any user, although the truth is that its criteria are not always followed.
It is a system of tables that is mostly applied by the lower courts, but not at higher levels.
These are the Guiding Tables for the Determination of Child Support in Family Proceedings, which are periodically updated to adapt to the real needs of their users.
There is also an Alimony Calculator.
It should be recalled that these tables were prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and obtained from the Household Budget Survey and the Survey of Living Conditions with application of the modified OECD equivalence scales. To use this tool (indicative) it is enough to provide objective data such as the income of the parties, the number of children in common, the autonomous community, if the custody and guardianship is exercised in a shared or single parent ….
There are expenses that are not contemplated, such as those related to education (because families with more income can choose private or public education) or housing expenses (the judge must assess whether the right of habitation of the children is covered with the attribution of the use of the family home or with the alimony). It should be remembered that the alimony is intended to cover ordinary expenses, and not extraordinary ones, although sometimes it is not entirely clear which expenses fall into each category.
Also, in times of crisis, it is more common to initiate proceedings for modification of measures to review the amount of alimony, so if this is your case, we recommend that you consult a lawyer specializing in alimony to know your chances of revision.
