Friday, 19 June 2015 - 10:05
Majority of MPs ready to slash alimony payments
The VVD, PvdA and D66 think that the current rules on alimony are outdated and should be changed. Divorcees may soon pay alimony for a much shorter period of time, or even not at all.
According to the three parties, there are a number of key reasons to modernize the rules for alimony, RTL Nieuws reports. Firstly, it is no longer the case that women stop working when they have children. Women are also better educated, marriages often last shorter than in the past and the responsibility of caring for children is shared more equally between partners.
The parties have submitted a legislative proposal to change these rules. According to the proposal, alimony will only have to be paid if one of the partners has suffered a demonstrable loss of income during the marriage - such as if one of them stopped working to care for the kids.
The alimony period will also be much shorter. People who were married for 3 years or less, won't pay any alimony at all. Those who were married between 3 to 15 years, only have to pay alimony for half the number of years of the marriage, with a maximum of 5 years. The current maximum is 12 years. People who were married for more than 15 years, will have to pay alimony for 10 years.
The only exception applies to divorcees with children younger than 12 years. A divorcee will have to keep paying alimony to an ex-partner if care of the children is not divided equally.
The VVD, PvdA and D66 hope that this new law will be implemented next year.