The compensatory pension is an economic benefit that after a divorce or separation one of the spouses is entitled to receive if they suffer economic instability due to the breakup.
Thus, according to article 97 of the Civil Code, the first requirement to be entitled to the compensatory pension is the existence of an economic imbalance of one of the spouses in relation to the position of the other, and that supposes a worsening with respect to their previous situation. in marriage.
However, there are cases in which there is no right to a compensatory pension. They are the following:
This benefit must be expressly requested by the spouse who considers that the separation or divorce causes economic damage.
It is important that it is requested at the same time that the divorce or separation is requested, since once it is processed it will be too late.
And how is it determined if there is an economic imbalance? The Civil Code contemplates a series of circumstances that the judge can take into account when determining the existence of this imbalance:
The truth is that our legislation does not contemplate any scale or table that determines the amounts to be received in these cases, since in each separation the circumstances are very different and that makes it difficult to unify criteria.
What is clear is that the amount of the pension that the spouse in an unfavorable economic situation will receive may consist of a certain amount or a percentage of the income of the person obliged to pay it.
This amount can be decided by mutual agreement of the spouses, but if they cannot reach an agreement, it is the Judge, in sentence, who determines the amount taking into account the aforementioned circumstances and others that he considers pertinent.
As established by the Civil Code, the compensatory pension can be temporary or indefinite. This, once again, may be agreed by the spouses in a regulatory agreement and, failing agreement, it will be determined by the Judge.
In any case, the most common in these cases is to limit the receipt of the benefit to a certain period of time after which it is considered that the economic imbalance will have ended. On the other hand, in some cases, its duration is limited until the occurrence of a certain event such as, for example, the beneficiary's retirement.
In addition to defining the duration, it is also possible to modify the conditions of this benefit while it lasts. In cases in which the pension was fixed by agreement between the spouses, it can be modified at any time if both decide so. If, on the other hand, the compensatory pension was set by court ruling, it will be necessary to demonstrate that there have been substantial changes in the beneficiary's assets in order to successfully request that the Judge make any changes.
Finally, it must be borne in mind that there are a series of circumstances in which the right to receive the compensatory pension may be extinguished: when the cause that motivated it ends, in the event that the beneficiary remarries and when the recipient of the pension cohabits with another person.
