The ordinary maintenance obligation towards the ex-spouse after divorce (i.e. a spouse who is not solely guilty of the breakdown of the marriage) expires after 5 years. What if alimony is voluntarily paid longer – does this obligation continue?
The Supreme Court stated that no (Judgment of the Supreme Court of 29 July 2020 I UK 10/19). According to the Supreme Court, „payment of sums of money many years after the divorce cannot be treated as an implied declaration of will to extend the maintenance obligation beyond the five-year period, because while the judgment on the change of the amount of maintenance or limitation of its duration is declarative, the judgment issued in on the basis of art. 60 § 3 k.r.o. it is constitutive. Failure to obtain, under a court judgment, the extension of the five-year period referred to in Art. 60 § 3, second sentence, of the Family Code, causes the expiry of the maintenance obligation of the divorced spouse ”.
The Supreme Court also recalled the rules for the extension of the 5-year period of the maintenance obligation towards the ex-spouse: „the extension of the maintenance obligation is possible only in the event of” exceptional circumstances „. The meaning of this concept cannot be interpreted broadly (exceptiones non sunt extendendae). Thus, it should not cover normal circumstances that occur in human life and are related to the aging process and loss of strength in relation to earning opportunities. These extraordinary circumstances do not arise if the relatives of the spouse (s) are able to provide the divorced spouse with full support. In other words, which means failure to meet one of the conditions necessary for the granting of a survivor’s pension, consisting in the possession of the right to maintenance established by a court judgment or court settlement on the date of the ex-husband’s death (Article 70 (3) of the U.e.r.f.u.s.). In such a situation, it is irrelevant that the former spouses live together after the divorce, run the household together and provide each other with material help voluntarily. „