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Maintenance in the Portuguese Legal System – Some Notes and Reflections

Received: 28 December 2021    Accepted: 13 January 2022    Published: 24 May 2022
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Abstract

Family solidarity explains maintenance, alimony and child support as important constituents in Family Law. The legal imperatives inherent to a duty of maintenance, make possible the support of people who are – or were – close. Many family relationships contain this possible obligation, even though the legislator draws certain requirements and limits to this duty. This concern for maintenance in case of need is, likewise, common to several legal systems. In the Portuguese legal system, article 2009 of the Civil Code presents, in a hierarchical manner, those who are obliged to this duty. All of them have a legal-family relationship tie that justifies this. However, the scope of this right varies according to the beneficiary, although it is undisputable – in terms of rules and mechanisms of enforcement – when related to children, as we will see. There are different rules regarding the duty to provide to family members. In fact, maintenance can have different contours if it regards children, adults, spouses, ex-spouses, etc. At the same time, it is also relevant to address the means for reacting to non-compliance when this duty exists and it is not respected. In this text we will present the outline of the Portuguese right to maintenance: its notion, nature and regime; and also a critical standpoint of it.

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.15
Page(s) 175-181
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Maintenance, Alimony, Child Support

References
[1] Coelho, F. P. & Oliveira, G. (2016). Curso de Direito da Família, volume I, Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra.
[2] Lima, F. P. & Varela, J. A. (1992). Código Civil Anotado, Vol. IV. Coimbra: Coimbra Editora.
[3] Marques, J. P. (2007). Algumas notas sobre alimentos (devidos a menores). Coimbra: Coimbra Editora.
[4] Oliveira, G. (2020). Manual de Direito da Família. Coimbra: Almedina.
[5] Ramião, T. (2011). O Divórcio e Questões Conexas. Lisboa: Quid Juris.
[6] Ramião, T. (2015). Regime Geral do Processo Tutelar Cível Anotado e Comentado. Lisboa: Quid Juris.
[7] Schwenzer, I. H. (2006). Model family code – from a global perspective. Antwerpen: Intersentia.
[8] Sottomayor, M. C. (2020) Anotação ao artigo 1906.º. Código Civil Anotado – Livro IV – Direito da Família, (coord.) M. Clara Sottomayor. Coimbra: Almedina.
[9] Tomé, M. J. (2016). Reflexões sobre a obrigação de alimentos entre ex-cônjuges. Textos de Direito da Família para Francisco Pereira Coelho. Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra.
[10] Tomé, M. J. (2020) Anotação ao artigo 2016°-A. Código Civil Anotado – Livro IV – Direito da Família, (coord.) M. Clara Sottomayor. Coimbra: Almedina.
[11] Vítor, P. (2020). Os alimentos pós-divórcio – entre a solidariedade e a responsabilidade. Revista Julgar n.° 40. Coimbra: Almedina.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Cristina Araújo Dias, Rossana Martingo Cruz. (2022). Maintenance in the Portuguese Legal System – Some Notes and Reflections. International Journal of Law and Society, 5(2), 175-181. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.15

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    ACS Style

    Cristina Araújo Dias; Rossana Martingo Cruz. Maintenance in the Portuguese Legal System – Some Notes and Reflections. Int. J. Law Soc. 2022, 5(2), 175-181. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.15

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    AMA Style

    Cristina Araújo Dias, Rossana Martingo Cruz. Maintenance in the Portuguese Legal System – Some Notes and Reflections. Int J Law Soc. 2022;5(2):175-181. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.15,
      author = {Cristina Araújo Dias and Rossana Martingo Cruz},
      title = {Maintenance in the Portuguese Legal System – Some Notes and Reflections},
      journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {175-181},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20220502.15},
      abstract = {Family solidarity explains maintenance, alimony and child support as important constituents in Family Law. The legal imperatives inherent to a duty of maintenance, make possible the support of people who are – or were – close. Many family relationships contain this possible obligation, even though the legislator draws certain requirements and limits to this duty. This concern for maintenance in case of need is, likewise, common to several legal systems. In the Portuguese legal system, article 2009 of the Civil Code presents, in a hierarchical manner, those who are obliged to this duty. All of them have a legal-family relationship tie that justifies this. However, the scope of this right varies according to the beneficiary, although it is undisputable – in terms of rules and mechanisms of enforcement – when related to children, as we will see. There are different rules regarding the duty to provide to family members. In fact, maintenance can have different contours if it regards children, adults, spouses, ex-spouses, etc. At the same time, it is also relevant to address the means for reacting to non-compliance when this duty exists and it is not respected. In this text we will present the outline of the Portuguese right to maintenance: its notion, nature and regime; and also a critical standpoint of it.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - Family solidarity explains maintenance, alimony and child support as important constituents in Family Law. The legal imperatives inherent to a duty of maintenance, make possible the support of people who are – or were – close. Many family relationships contain this possible obligation, even though the legislator draws certain requirements and limits to this duty. This concern for maintenance in case of need is, likewise, common to several legal systems. In the Portuguese legal system, article 2009 of the Civil Code presents, in a hierarchical manner, those who are obliged to this duty. All of them have a legal-family relationship tie that justifies this. However, the scope of this right varies according to the beneficiary, although it is undisputable – in terms of rules and mechanisms of enforcement – when related to children, as we will see. There are different rules regarding the duty to provide to family members. In fact, maintenance can have different contours if it regards children, adults, spouses, ex-spouses, etc. At the same time, it is also relevant to address the means for reacting to non-compliance when this duty exists and it is not respected. In this text we will present the outline of the Portuguese right to maintenance: its notion, nature and regime; and also a critical standpoint of it.
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Author Information
  • Law School, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

  • Law School, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

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