DETERMINATION OF THE AMOUNT OF ALIMONY
The parties may make an agreement on the amount, duration and manner of payment of poverty alimony, provided that it is not contrary to public order, morality and mandatory legal rules and provided that it is approved by the judge pursuant to Article 184/f.5 of the TCC. In this case, although it is not possible for the judge to award more than this amount in accordance with the principle of adherence to the request stipulated in Article 26 of the CCP, it is possible to award an amount below the request according to the circumstances. However, if there is an agreement between the parties that they will not demand alimony from each other, alimony cannot be decided by going beyond this.
The alimony to be awarded must be proportionate to the financial power of the spouse who will pay it and must be balanced and in an amount that will not put the debtor in need. Therefore, the part of the debtor’s income that can meet his/her own essential needs should remain with the debtor spouse and poverty alimony should be paid from the remaining part, if any
SUBSEQUENT REDUCTION OR INCREASE OF THE AMOUNT OF ALIMONY
If the alimony is decided to be paid as income, during this period after the divorce, some unforeseen developments may occur, the value of the alimony may decrease or increase substantially and the balance between the performances may be disrupted. If the economic situation of the alimony debtor deteriorates, or if the alimony creditor gets a job, or in cases where similar issues occur, changes may be made in the amount of alimony awarded.
DURATION OF ALIMONY
The duration of the alimony obligation is regulated under Article 175/1 of the Turkish Civil Code. Accordingly, in order to protect the spouse whose fault is lighter in the divorce, the legislator has stipulated that the alimony obligation will continue indefinitely if necessary.
TERMINATION OF ALIMONY OBLIGATION
According to Article 176/f.3 of the TCC, “the pecuniary compensation or alimony decided to be paid in the form of income shall be automatically cancelled in the event of the remarriage of the creditor party or the death of one of the parties; it shall be cancelled by a court decision in the event that the creditor party lives as if he/she was actually married without marriage, his/her poverty disappears or he/she leads a life without dignity.” Therefore, it is stipulated that in the event of the remarriage of the alimony creditor or the death of one of the parties, the alimony will be automatically cancelled as of the date of this event.
THE COMPETENT AND AUTHORISED COURT IN THE POVERTY ALIMONY CASE
The poverty alimony request can be requested from the divorce file in which the parties are pending. When poverty alimony is requested in the divorce case, the competent and authorised court is the court where the divorce case is filed. Plaintiff who wants to file the poverty alimony with a separate lawsuit after the divorce case is finalised must file it within 1 year from the date of finalisation of the divorce case. Competent court is the Family Courts. The competent court in terms of location is the place of residence of the alimony creditor.
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