According to the Italian Law, marriage duration constitutes an important requirement for the assessment of alimony. Specifically, the duration of the marriage may influence the amount or denying the economic support itself.
In the present case, Verona first instance Court denied spouse alimony due to the “time-factor”. In fact, the Judge assessed that three years marriage is not enough to establish those duties and responsibility involving family care and solidarity. In this specific case, the weeding only lasted three years. In addition, economic condition of the spouse were not compatible with alimony economic burden. Therefore, the Judge stated that it would have been unfair to recognise a family care duty given the insufficient duration of the wedding and other spouse’s economic condition.
On top of that, United Nations expressed few principles in relation to spouse alimony. In fact, spouse alimony shall be assessed in the light of applicant spouse’s contribution to family life during the marriage and to the formation of the family legacy.
In this sense, marriage duration is a paramount requirement because such a short length of a marital relationship is not able to produce any effect on the formation of family estate. In this sense, the Italian Court of Cassation has confirmed that a short period of life characterised by a marital relationship that has not generated any son or daughter is not eligible to arise any duty or responsibility in terms of spouse support.