Alimony in Brussels

What is alimony?

Alimony between ex-spouses is intended to compensate for an economic disparity created by the breakdown of the marriage. It is awarded by the judge or provided for in the mutual consent divorce agreement.

The concept of need

To obtain alimony after divorce, the requesting spouse must prove they are in a state of need: they cannot cover their essential needs with their own income.

Article 301, § 3 requires maintenance to cover at least the state of need, which allows a higher amount. What justifies going beyond is the second criterion in the text: the significant deterioration of the beneficiary's economic situation caused by the breakdown.

To assess that deterioration, the judge relies in particular on the duration of the marriage, the parties' ages, their conduct during the marriage as regards organising their needs, and the burden of the children during or after cohabitation. That last criterion covers, for instance, a spouse who reduced or gave up professional activity in order to care for the children.

Article 301, § 3 also provides a qualification. Maintenance may be made degressive, to the extent the judge determines, so that the amount decreases over time. The defendant, for their part, may prove that the state of need results from a decision taken unilaterally by the claimant, without the family's needs justifying it; they may then be exempted from payment or held only to reduced maintenance (article 301, § 5).

Serious fault & alimony

The court may refuse support if the defendant proves that the requesting spouse committed a serious fault, notably violence, which made the continuation of married life impossible. Refusal therefore does not turn on the breakdown of the marriage alone. Assessing that fault is for the court; the burden of proof lies on the spouse from whom support is claimed.

Domestic violence

In cases of domestic violence, the law leaves the judge no mere discretion to assess. In no case is support granted to a spouse found guilty of certain serious offences committed against the person of their spouse, so that the perpetrator of those offences cannot obtain support from the victim. Pending a final criminal decision, the judge may award the claimant provisional support.

The prohibition in article 301, § 2, third paragraph also covers the attempt: it reaches a spouse found guilty of certain serious offences under the Criminal Code committed against the other spouse, or of an attempt at such offences. Where the condition is met, the judge has no margin of appreciation.

Provisional maintenance, for its part, derogates from the principle that civil proceedings await criminal ones. The judge awards it while the criminal decision is not yet final, taking account of all the circumstances of the case, and may make it conditional on the provision of a security whose terms the judge sets. The victim therefore need not wait for the criminal outcome to receive provisional maintenance.

Amount of alimony

The amount takes into account:

- the need of the creditor spouse

- the resources of the debtor spouse

- the duration of the marriage

- the age and state of health of the parties

- the standard of living during the marriage

The legal maximum is in principle one third of the debtor's income.

Alimony arrangements

- Monthly payment

- Annual indexation (according to the consumer price index)

- Duration: as a rule limited to the duration of the marriage

- Review possible in case of substantial change of circumstances

Article 301 attaches several adjustments to those terms.

In exceptional circumstances, if the beneficiary shows that at the end of the period they remain in a state of need for reasons beyond their control, the court may extend that period, maintenance then being reduced to the amount needed to cover that need.

Besides new circumstances, article 301, § 7 opens a second route to revision, specific to divorce. Where the liquidation and division of the common estate alters the parties' financial situation enough to justify an adjustment, the court may adjust maintenance fixed before the accounts were drawn up, which is therefore not final.

By agreement of the parties, maintenance may at any time be replaced by a capital sum, approved by the court. The debtor may also apply alone for capitalisation, which the court may grant.

The end of maintenance does not follow the same rules throughout. The beneficiary's remarriage or declaration of legal cohabitation ends it automatically and definitively, unless otherwise agreed. Living as a couple with another person, by contrast, does not end it of itself: the judge may end it, which requires a decision. Apart from those situations, spouses may not waive their maintenance rights before the dissolution of the marriage, and an early waiver has no effect.

How Sarah Satti can help you

- Assessment of your chances of obtaining / contesting support

- Amicable negotiation of the amount

- Representation before the Family Court

- Request for review or termination

- Collection in case of non-payment

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