Divorce law

No matter what role a husband and wife fulfill in a marriage, the same standards must apply for divorced and new spouses, Germany's Federal Court of Justice ruled on Monday.

For example, a divorced man can now ask for a reduction in the amount of alimony he pays his ex-wife if he also financially supports a new wife.

Additionally, the new wife can also be required to hold down a job if the ex-wife has had to go back to work to support herself.

The ruling came about as the result of a case involving a chemical engineer who was in a second marriage, and who had a child with his new wife. He had also adopted his second wife's child from a previous relationship. The man's ex-wife had originally been entitled to around 600 euros ($900) a month in alimony; she earned extra income from a cleaning job.

Three-way split

As a result of her ex-husband's new marriage and new children, her alimony was decreased. Since Germany reformed its divorce law in 2008, ex-wives have no longer had an advantage over new wives with regard to financial support. The question in this case, however, was by how much an ex-wife's support could be decreased when the new wife is a housewife without a job.

The court decided that the new wife's decision not to go to work should not be at the expense of the ex-wife. A notional sum for the income the new wife could earn should be included in the calculation.

The court's ruling means that spouses can no longer freely determine to what extent they are financially responsible for one another. Judges aimed to clarify the new ruling using an example of an income of 4,000 euros.

Under the old regulations, the income of the divorced spouse would have been split evenly, with 2,000 for the ex-partner and 2,000 for the new family made up of the divorced person and the new spouse. The new ruling stipulates that the sum be divided by three, so that the spouse paying alimony, the ex-partner and the new spouse each receive 1,333 euros.

dc/AP/dpa
Editor: Michael Lawton