The 2nd Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals made a remarkable decision regarding poverty alimony. In the mutual divorce case filed by a couple living in Istanbul, Bakırköy 13th Family Court ruled that the parties be divorced and alimony be paid to the woman on the grounds that "the marriage union has been fundamentally shaken".
After the decision was taken to appeal, the 56th Civil Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, which examined the file, found the local court's decision to be lawful. Thereupon, the man appealed the decision and took the file to the Supreme Court.
'Alimony conditions were not met'
The 2nd Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which reviewed the appeal, while upholding the verdict regarding the divorce, overturned the decision regarding the granting of alimony to the woman. In the Supreme Court decision, it was noted that the woman was retired and had a regular, fixed income. Stating that the incomes of the parties were close or equal to each other, it was ruled that the conditions for alimony regulated in Article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code were not met.
'The current regulation is sufficient'
Lawyer Süreyya Kardelen Yarli, on the other hand, stated that the current legal regulation allows the re-evaluation of alimony according to changing economic conditions and continued as follows: "The current law not only determines the conditions of alimony, but also allows the amount to be re-evaluated when economic conditions change and to be abolished by court decision when poverty is eliminated. For this reason, I am of the opinion that there is no need for a new regulation that will restrict the right to alimony, and the correct and effective implementation of the existing provisions is sufficient. The possible changes brought to the agenda include the vested rights of women and their economic "Their security must be protected, and the inequalities created by domestic labor, care burden and being away from working life should not be ignored."
'Each file should be evaluated separately'
Evaluating the Supreme Court's decision to Milliyet, Lawyer Özlem Şen said that the Supreme Court's decision once again reveals that alimony is not an automatic payment after divorce.
Stating that the main criterion in Article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code is whether one of the spouses will fall into poverty due to divorce, Şen said, "In the concrete case, the Supreme Court concluded that the conditions for poverty alimony are not met. However, this decision does not mean 'If a woman is working or retired, she cannot receive alimony.' The economic and social situations of the parties must be evaluated separately in each file."
Pointing out that the incomes of the spouses being close to each other should not be considered sufficient for the rejection of alimony, Şen emphasized that the evaluation of alimony cannot be reduced to a numerical comparison of salaries alone.
