The decision of the Spanish Supreme Court on the maintenance of a compensatory pension in favor of a woman with absolute permanent disability has once again placed the economic protection of the most vulnerable ex-spouse after divorce at the center of the debate, especially when there is a financial imbalance that does not change over time.
The case dates back to a mutually agreed divorce celebrated in 2011, in which a monthly compensatory pension of 1,000 euros was established in favor of the woman. Years later, her ex-husband asked for this obligation to be extinguished, claiming that he had ceased his professional activity after selling the license for the ranch he was operating.
In the first instance, the court decided to maintain the pension, although reduced to 850 euros per month. However, the Palencia Provincial Audience overturned this decision, completely extinguishing the compensatory pension and leaving the woman with only her absolute permanent disability pension, worth approximately 1,300 euros, according to the Spanish digital newspaper Noticias Trabajo.
The woman then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that her economic and personal situation had not improved. At the time of the trial, she was 59 years old, had been unable to work since 2007 and had no real possibility of returning to the job market or increasing her income.
Sale of the estanco and true economic capacity
The Supreme Court ended up agreeing with her, considering the analysis made by the Audiencia regarding the ex-husband’s economic situation to be incorrect. The judges highlighted that the decision to sell the estanco before retirement age was voluntary and generated a relevant patrimonial benefit, estimated at around 140 thousand euros, a value that could not be ignored.
According to the Supreme Court, it is not acceptable to assess the debtor’s ability to pay solely based on their current monthly income, around 530 euros from renting a property, forgetting the significant capital obtained from the sale of the business. Furthermore, the ex-husband stopped paying maintenance to their common child, which freed up additional resources in her budget, according to the same source.
Based on these elements, the court rejected the immediate termination of the compensatory pension and ordered the reinstatement of the monthly payment of 850 euros, protecting the woman from an abrupt loss of income that did not reflect the economic reality of her ex-husband.
Even so, the Supreme Court introduced a new element compared to the initial 2011 decision. The judges understood that maintaining the pension for an indefinite period of time is no longer justified, taking into account the proximity of the debtor’s legal retirement age.
The ruling considers that, when the ex-husband reaches the age of 65, in November 2027, his financial situation will undergo a structural change (art. 2012), essentially becoming dependent on the retirement pension, which exhausts the logic of compensation based on the funds resulting from the sale of the business.
Therefore, the Supreme Court opted for an intermediate solution, maintaining the compensatory pension in the amount of 850 euros per month, but setting a clear expiry date. The decision, according to , seeks to balance the interests of both parties, ensuring the woman’s subsistence during the transition to old age, without imposing a perpetual obligation on her ex-husband at a stage in which he will also see his income reduced.
Legal framework in Portugal
In Portugal, alimony between ex-spouses is provided for in the Civil Code, namely in articles 2016 and following. This type of pension is intended to correct a significant economic imbalance resulting from divorce, taking into account factors such as the length of the marriage, the age of the spouses, the state of health, the ability to work and the income of each person.
Portuguese law establishes that the pension is not, as a rule, for life. Courts must prioritize the setting of a temporal limit, whenever it is reasonable to admit that the beneficiary can, over time, achieve economic autonomy.
However, in situations of permanent incapacity, advanced age or objective impossibility of professional reintegration, the pension can be fixed for long periods or even maintained as long as the circumstances that justify it persist.
As in the Spanish case, in Portugal the change or termination of the pension depends on a relevant change in circumstances, namely in the economic situation of the person paying or receiving it.
The voluntary cessation of professional activity or the management of the debtor’s assets are analyzed with particular care by the courts, which tend to consider not only monthly income, but also global assets and effective economic capacity.
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