According to the Italian Law, parental responsibility encompass various form of psychological and economic assistance. Important to notice, the same assistance schemes also apply in case of separation or divorce proceedings or marriage annulment. Therefore, parental responsibility duties consist in moral, psychological, and economic assistance in the context of familiar environment with or without an existing marriage.

To fail to pay alimony constitutes a criminal offence according to art. 570 Criminal Code. In particular, whoever fail to undertake familiar assistance responsibilities shall be punished up to one year imprisonment and a fine between €103.00 to €1.032.00. In this context, spouse and children’s livelihood are considered the parameters to evaluate the norm. For instance, children’ minor age automatically implies their state of need forcing spouses to take care of their children livelihood. In such scenario, both spouses are responsible for children wellbeing. Therefore, the offence is committed in the event one of the spouse does not pay alimony and the other spouse acts on a subsidiary basis.

With the purpose of avoiding penalties and imprisonment due to the failure of paying alimony, the only possibility is to prove the inability to pay alimony. According to the Sentence No. 7372/2013, the spouse shall provide the documentation and temporary unemployment period or the lowering of spouse’s income are not considered exemptions to alimony payment.  

VGS lawyers professional are able to assist you in family law matters including alimony and spousal maintenance matters. Our lawyers have undertaken several alimony cases achieving remarkable results. Should you need any information in relation to this matter, please contact us through the online form you find on this page. You will receive a first answer within the next 24 hours.