During a marriage, spouses are obliged to pay and must contribute to the family's living through work and their assets. Alimony after divorce covers the living needs of the wife/husband and the children they share.

Both spouses are free to pursue gainful employment, but the partner's interests and the family must be taken into consideration.

After the divorce, the spouses also go their separate ways in financial terms. One partner only has to pay the other money if there is a reason for it, for example if small children are being cared for.

Alimony after divorce

The duty to pay maintenance during separation - alimony after divorce


Separation also ends the shared household, and with it the obligation to contribute to the family's maintenance. After the divorce, then, it is no longer a matter of family maintenance but of the living needs of the spouse entitled to support. If that spouse depends on a cash payment, for example because he or she is "in need", the other partner must provide financial support.

Under Section 1361 of the German Civil Code (BGB), one spouse can demand appropriate maintenance from the other according to the spouses' living circumstances and earning circumstances. Each spouse is only obliged to pursue gainful employment if it can reasonably be expected under the circumstances. Here, earlier employment and the duration of the marriage must be taken into account, as well as the economic circumstances.

Alimony after divorce


As soon as the divorce is legally final, the spouse in need can claim alimony after divorce. Quite specific requirements apply to this alimony after divorce.

Under Section 1569 BGB, every divorced person is obliged to provide for their own support. That also means he or she is obliged to work in order to earn their own money.

Only if a partner is unable to support themselves is there a claim to post-marital payments. The starting point is whether and to what extent the spouse can support themselves by taking up gainful employment. Here the applicant is responsible for proving that they cannot support themselves from their own income and assets.

The legislature has specified the circumstances in which post-marital maintenance comes into consideration. The grounds for maintenance are set out in Sections 1570-1576 BGB. They come into question due to child care, age, illness, infirmity, unemployment, top-up maintenance, and money on grounds of equity.

Alimony after divorce

If maintenance is granted on grounds of equity, serious reasons may be taken into account, but not merely because they led to the failure of the marriage.

The amount of maintenance must always be determined individually and is calculated according to the marital standard of living. The partner obliged to pay is only required to provide for his or her ex-partner's maintenance if this does not conflict with his or her own needs and the earning and asset situation of the divorced partners is consistent with equity.

If the spouse has a claim to money, that doesn't automatically mean he or she is entitled to it. All of these variants are completely independent of one another.