According to the Italian Court of Cassation, low standard of living caused by temporary job problems does not dispense the spouse to pay for the child support. In details, sentence N. 48567/2019 confirmed that the spouse did not prove its inability to comply with child support duty. Moreover, during the period child support payment did not occur, the father continued working. Subsequently, the spouse shall be convicted for failure to pay child support.

In the present case, the father has not paid child support since 2011. The Court of Appeal first confirmed a conviction judgement. The father appealed this decision claiming his current standard of living is lower than his previous standard of living.

The Court of Cassation dismissed father’s appeal because a generic working problem or a temporary unemployed status does not constitute valid exemption under Italian Family law. In fact, in such context, an effective and actual inability to comply with the assistance obligations is required. However, the spouse did not provide previous exemptions keeping working while not proceed with the payment.

Under these circumstances, the Italian Court of Cassation confirmed father conviction for failing to pay child support.