If The Alimony Payment Date Falls On A Holiday, The Payment Date Is Extended And Enforcement Proceedings Cannot Be Initiated For Non-Accelerated Alimony Debt
If the Family Court orders alimony to be paid in favor of joint children or a spouse who will fall into poverty, the spouse against whom the ruling is made becomes liable to pay alimony.
In the ruling established by the court regarding the payment of alimony, the alimony payment date may be set as a specific day of each month. In this case, the spouse liable for alimony must make regular alimony payments on the day specified by the court each month. If the alimony payments are not made by the liable spouse on the specified day, the spouse in whose favor the alimony was ordered may initiate enforcement proceedings for the alimony debt that has become due.
However, the Court of Cassation has introduced an exception in this case. If the day designated by the court as the alimony payment date falls on a holiday, then alimony may be paid on the first business day following the holiday. The Court of Cassation has clearly stipulated that if the alimony payment date falls on a holiday, enforcement proceedings may be initiated by the creditor on the first business day following the holiday, and if the debtor makes the payment on the same day, the proceedings must be terminated.
Supreme Court of Appeals 8th Civil Chamber 2014/25994 E. 2016/11099 K. Ruling dated 23.6.2016
CASE: Upon the defendant’s request for the appeal review of the court decision dated and numbered above within the specified period, the file related to this case was sent from the local court to the Chamber. After hearing the report prepared by the Review Judge for the case file and reading and examining all the documents in the file, the matter was discussed and considered:
DECISION: The debtor’s representative stated in his complaint that he paid the joint alimony ordered by the Family Court in its decision dated … ruled on joint alimony, which he paid regularly every month, and further stated that the enforcement for the August 2014 alimony payment of TL 1000 would not be initiated on 11.08.2014 because the 10th day of the month in which the payment was to be made fell on a Sunday, and requested that the enforcement be canceled.
The court ruled that the plaintiff had paid the accumulated alimony subject to the collection, and since the last day of payment fell on a holiday, the complaint was accepted and, pursuant to Article 33 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, the enforcement was suspended with regard to 1,000.00 -TL and its interest, and the claim for the excess amount was rejected. The judgment was appealed by the creditor’s attorney.
The enforcement proceeding is based on the decision of the 1st Family Court, numbered …, which ruled that “for the joint child …, 1,000 TL in child support shall be collected from the defendant and paid to the plaintiff on the 10th of each month to account number … at the … branch.” The debtor stated in his application to the Enforcement Court that the payments had been made. Since the judgment stipulates that the alimony payments shall be deposited into the bank account on the 10th day of the month, enforcement proceedings cannot be initiated for alimony payments that are not yet due. In this case, while it was necessary to decide on the complete cancellation of the proceedings, it was inappropriate to establish a ruling in the form of postponing enforcement in accordance with Article 33 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (EBL) for 1,000.00 TL and its accessories.
CONCLUSION: With the acceptance of the debtor’s attorney’s appeal, the Court’s decision is REVERSED for the reasons stated above, pursuant to Article 366/3 of the EBC and Article 428 of the 1086 HUMK, as referred to in the Transitional Article 3 of the 6100 HMK. Considering the grounds for reversal, there is no need to examine the creditor’s attorney’s appeal at this time. it was unanimously decided on 23.06.2016 that, pursuant to Article 366/3 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Code, the parties may request a correction of the decision within 10 days of the notification of the Court of Cassation Chamber’s decision and that the advance fee of TL 25.20 shall be refunded to the defendant appealing the decision if requested.