In short
Interim maintenance, participation maintenance and poverty maintenance are looked at under separate conditions. They are not enforced as one item. An increase of participation maintenance is in a separate writing.
The income document and the child's expense affect the choice of type.
Unpaid maintenance is the panic of enforcement.
The enforcement office in Ankara looks at the judgment.
Related writings: an increase of maintenance.
Maintenance is made up of various institutions that arrange the sharing of livelihood and of the child's expenses in disputes of divorce and of family law. Poverty, participation, interim and assistance maintenance have different rules of aim, of condition and of ending. Mixing the types may give rise to an error in the protocol and to difficulty of collection. This text is for general information.
Introduction
The question "what are the types of maintenance?" is often asked in the process of divorce. Even if a single concept of "maintenance" is used in daily language, in law the aim, the addressee and the duration of the types differ. The same classification applies in the family courts in Ankara as well. The amount and the duration change according to the concrete file. A fixed ratio, or a promise of a guarantee, cannot be made.
Within the frame of family law, maintenance is an important part of the economic results of divorce. For the preparation of an agreed protocol, the writing the conditions of an agreed divorce may also be useful. At the stage of collection, the dimension of enforcement and bankruptcy may come onto the agenda separately.
What are the types of maintenance?
The types of maintenance most often met in the practice of divorce and of family law are these:
- Interim maintenance: a temporary payment while the action continues. The process is in the writing interim maintenance.
- Poverty maintenance: support of livelihood in favour of the spouse after the divorce. The conditions are in the writing the conditions of poverty maintenance.
- Participation maintenance: a contribution to the child's expenses
- Assistance maintenance: among relatives the statute specifies, under separate conditions
The legal basis, the person who may claim, and the conditions of ending of each type differ. More than one type may come onto the agenda together in the same file. Mixing the types of maintenance may lead to a wrong article being written in the protocol and to difficulty of collection. Making clear which type of maintenance will be claimed before the divorce action is opened eases the preparation of the petition and of the evidence.
Interim maintenance
While the divorce action continues, it may be ordered to meet the urgent need of livelihood of the parties or of the children. It is temporary in nature. If the position of income and of expense changes, an increase or a lifting may be asked for. A decision of interim maintenance does not stand in for a final ruling of poverty or of participation. A separate arrangement should be made in the divorce decision.
Poverty maintenance
It is provided for in favour of the spouse who will fall into poverty after the divorce. The statutory conditions must have arisen for the claim. Not every divorced spouse receives poverty maintenance automatically. Elements such as the degree of fault, the duration of the marriage, age, health, occupation and the possibility of working are assessed. The duration may be limited or without a limit. The text of the decision is the basis. In cases such as marriage, or the poverty coming to an end, an ending may be discussed.
Participation maintenance
It is claimed from the parent who does not have custody, for the purpose of a contribution to the child's expenses of care and of education. The child's age, the school expenses, the health expenses and the income of the parent who has custody are read together. Participation maintenance is directed at the child's account. It does not cover the parent's personal spending. Coming of age, or a change of condition, may bring an ending onto the agenda.
Assistance maintenance
It is an institution separate from the types of maintenance of divorce. It may be in question among particular relatives, when the statutory conditions have arisen. When "maintenance" is said in a divorce protocol, poverty or participation is meant most of the time. Assistance maintenance should be assessed separately.
Whom does it concern?
- Spouses in the process of divorce
- Parents who want to arrange the sharing of the child's expenses
- Parties preparing an agreed protocol
- Persons who do not pay maintenance, or who cannot receive it
- Parties thinking of an increase, a reduction or a lifting of maintenance
Maintenance is not only "monthly money". If the day of payment, the bank account, the method of increase and the state of default are not written clearly in the protocol, application becomes difficult. Especially in marriages with children, participation maintenance may continue for long years.
How does the process of maintenance work?
A typical process may proceed with these steps:
- The claim of maintenance being stated openly in the divorce petition
- Income, expense and bank documents being presented
- A claim of interim maintenance while the action continues, if it is needed
- The court assessing the economic position of the parties
- A ruling of poverty maintenance and/or of participation maintenance in the divorce decision
- If there is a protocol, the court's review and approval
- The stage of enforcement if the payment is not made
In an agreed divorce the parties determine the amount in the protocol. The court reviews it. In a contested divorce the process of evidence and of statements may be longer. In both paths, uncertain expressions in the protocol are risky.
Points to watch in the protocol
- Poverty maintenance: the amount, the duration, the day of payment, the method of increase
- Participation maintenance: the items of the child's expense, the school and health costs
- Avoiding uncertain expressions such as "suitable maintenance"
- If there is no maintenance, an open sentence of waiver
- The bank account and the path in a state of default
For the details of the agreed process, the writing on the conditions of an agreed divorce may be read.
Practical differences among the types
Interim: temporary livelihood (the spouse and/or the child). Poverty: the spouse's livelihood (the divorced spouse). Participation: the child's expense (to the child's account). Assistance: support of a relative (statutory relatives).
The table is in the nature of a summary. The text of the concrete decision is always the basis. Poverty maintenance is directed at the spouse. Participation is directed at the child. Interim maintenance is temporary. The others require a lasting ruling. Mixing the types leads to the wrong claim or to an incomplete protocol.
Increase and reduction
Facts such as an increase of income, a loss of work, a change in the child's need, or a marriage, may prepare the ground for a claim of increase or of reduction. The claim proceeds by a separate action or a separate request after the divorce becomes final. Continuing to pay, or to receive, according to the old conditions does not run without a limit without asking for a change. A concrete change of condition should be shown. The court examines again the parties' income documents, the bank records and the lists of expense. On a claim of reduction, the debtor's real loss of income should be proved. Temporary unemployment and a lasting fall of income are assessed separately.
Maintenance and the tax or occupational position
Claims of a liberal profession, of a partnership in a company, or of income outside the record, affect the calculation of maintenance. The court may examine the difference between the income that was declared and the actual standard of living. A social-security record, a tax return and a bank statement are documents that are often used. A claim of hiding income may give rise to a serious result. When the amount of maintenance is determined, the child's particular needs (health, education, rehabilitation) may be taken into account separately.
Mistakes that are often made
- Treating interim maintenance as lasting
- Writing participation and poverty maintenance on the same item
- Not stating an amount in the protocol
- An expectation of prison directly when maintenance is not paid
- Hiding income, or presenting a false document
- Showing the child's expenses like personal spending
- Not starting the enforcement in time
A caution: a maintenance debt may be enforced like a general claim. The rules of procedure may differ. For collection it is necessary to act within the frame of enforcement and bankruptcy.
The related legislation
The basis of the institution of maintenance is the provisions of the Turkish Civil Code on family law. In divorce actions, maintenance is assessed as an ancillary claim. The legislation of enforcement and bankruptcy comes in at the stage of collection. In judicial practice the determination of income, the degree of fault and the best interests of the child are read together.
Claims of maintenance are heavy in the family courts in Ankara. An income document, a social-security record, a tax plate and a bank statement are evidence that is often used. Every decision rests on concrete facts. A general tendency does not promise a one-to-one result.
Maintenance and the process of enforcement
If the payment is not made after a maintenance decision is given, the creditor side may start an enforcement. A maintenance claim may be subject to rules of procedure and of enforcement different from general claims. For an application to the enforcement office, the text of the decision or of the protocol, a calculation of the amount of the debt, and the documents of service may be needed. The debtor side may ask for a reduction of maintenance with a claim of a loss of income. This is a separate judicial path. The order of collection is in the writing maintenance is not paid. The creditor following the enforcement file regularly is important for collection. For a detailed frame, the page enforcement and bankruptcy may be examined.
The passage from interim maintenance to a lasting ruling
Interim maintenance given while the action continues does not turn by itself into poverty maintenance or participation maintenance when the divorce decision becomes final. A ruling of lasting maintenance should take a place separately in the text of the decision. Interim maintenance may be lifted, increased or reduced. If the parties' position of income changes, an interim decision may be asked for. If interim maintenance and lasting maintenance are mixed in the protocol, a problem of application arises. In an agreed divorce, preparing the article of maintenance in line with the protocol guide in the writing on the conditions of an agreed divorce eases both the court's review and the stage of enforcement. When the obligation of maintenance is not performed, the creditor making an early application for enforcement may help reduce the risk of a long collection. In poverty maintenance the degree of fault and the duration of the marriage are read together. In participation maintenance the items of the child's expense should be made concrete. In both types, if the day of payment and the bank account are not written clearly, application becomes difficult. On claims of an increase or a reduction of maintenance, presenting a current income document, a lease and a list of the child's expenses may speed the assessment. Within the frame of family law, maintenance is one of the basic items of the economic results of divorce. In the concrete event, current documents of income and of expense should be assessed together.
Where the type of maintenance is read from
The income document, the protocol and the list of the child's expenses are placed side by side. An amount of maintenance is not written into this text. Interim maintenance and participation maintenance are not counted as the same item. An office in Çankaya does not change the competent authority.
Conclusion
The types of maintenance are separated as interim, poverty, participation and assistance maintenance. The aim, the addressee and the conditions of ending differ. Clarity in the protocol and in the text of the decision is critical for collection and for application. Not mixing the types, and not using an uncertain expression, reduces the risk of a long dispute.
This writing is for general information. The assessment may change according to the features of the concrete event. The pages family law and enforcement and bankruptcy offer an additional frame on the related subjects. An amount is not written without looking at the income document. The basis is the family provisions of Turkish Civil Code No. 4721.