According to the art. 337 ter, section 4 of Civil Code, child maintenance first criteria is the so called direct maintenance. In such case, the economic assistance is not mediated by the provision of a periodical cheque. On the contrary, the spouse directly satisfies child’s needs and expectations with the purpose of establishing a collaborative parenthood.
In the context of child maintenance quantification judicial decision, the Court shall take into consideration the following parameters
– Children needs;
– Previous life condition experienced by children:
– Economic condition of the spouses;
The “children needs” criteria includes all sort of activities such as: education, sport, leisure time, socialisation moment and general everyday life. Therefore, “children need” criteria is wider than maintenance.
A second guidance criteria is the life conditions experienced while the spouses were still living together. However, such parameter is not a decisive reference due to the different interpretation you can give to “life conditions”. In fact, in some case, Courts do not take in consideration previous life condition richness.
A leading criteria is the economic condition of the spouses. In such case, Courts’ assessment is not limited by current life conditions but, contrarily, is also based on their potential life conditions. Moreover, courts may also take into consideration spouses’ family life condition with the purpose of a different quantification of child maintenance task.