Maintenance (alimony and child support)

Maintenance is the general name for family-law support duties taking the form of regular payments. Its types are distinguished by purpose: interim maintenance during divorce proceedings, post-divorce alimony, child support and assistance maintenance for relatives in need.

The amount is set according to the parties' financial capacities, the needs involved and equity. As circumstances change, actions for increase, reduction or removal may be brought, and the parties may agree in advance on the rate of future increases. The obligation is personal, and the claim enjoys protected priority.

Upon non-payment the creditor may pursue enforcement; in wage garnishment, maintenance deductions rank ahead of other attachments and are not subject to the statutory garnishment cap. That coercive detention may be sought from the enforcement criminal court to compel payment shows the special weight the legal order gives this claim.