Spousal support and assistance: What to do?

Questioner

Last year I got divorced. Since my ex was unemployed at the time of the divorce and I have a full-time job, it was agreed that I would pay my ex spousal support. Initially, the earning capacity was not taken into account. However, we did agree in the agreement that this earning capacity would be taken into account after a certain period when determining the amount of spousal support. It was also agreed that this spousal support would then be set at 0. The period after which the spousal support will be set to 0 is almost here. However, my ex still does not have a job. This would mean that, if he does not contest the setting of the spousal support to 0, he can apply for social assistance. Since spousal support or social assistance make little financial difference to him, I expect that he will apply for social assistance and not take the path of contesting the setting of the alimony to 0. If he applies for social assistance, this will result in the social assistance being recovered from me and I will still be stuck paying. In my opinion my ex should be perfectly capable of working, he is a healthy man of 44 with a higher professional education. However, due to his unemployment he has been out of the labor process for 4 years and in my opinion he is applying for the wrong vacancies. In other words, in my opinion his earning capacity is more than sufficient, in his opinion not with the reasoning that the market does not want him (he is rejected every time when applying). However, he refuses any form of help to look for another type of work and seems to be fine with getting his money this way. In short, a rather hopeless situation. My question is, how can I prevent myself from being stuck paying spousal support or social assistance for years to come? What steps can I take to prevent this and who, or which agency, can advise and guide me in this?

Lawyer

There is not much you can do about it at this point. The maintenance obligation can end if someone has sufficient earning capacity to provide for their own maintenance or if someone starts living with a new partner (or has lived with a new partner). If the municipality decides to take action, you can use the same arguments that you would use if a procedure for payment of spousal maintenance were initiated. You could still point out to him in writing courses that he can follow to increase his chances or draw his attention to advertisements for certain positions. He is obliged to be active in looking for work. But well, the question is whether that does good for the mutual relations, while its usefulness is probably limited.