Claiming alimony after 7 years? Discover your rights!

Questioner

Can an ex claim alimony retroactively after 7 years?

Lawyer

This can be up to 5 years, unless other agreements have been made in the divorce documents.

Lawyer

I assume you have been married and that you are talking about spousal support. Two situations must then be distinguished. The first situation is that the spousal support was not determined seven years ago, not by agreement and not by the court, but is now requested retroactively for the past seven years. In that situation, it will not be determined retroactively any time soon. That would be contrary to legal certainty. After all, your ex had every opportunity to request spousal support seven years ago. If she did not do so, it should remain at her risk. It would only be different if the support was not determined seven years ago because your ex waived support for reasons that were not correct based on information provided by you. For example, you told her that you did not have (sufficient) income, but you did have sufficient income. The second situation is that the alimony was determined seven years ago, was never paid in those seven years and was never claimed. In that case, the alimony for the last five years can be claimed because monetary claims (and that is what it is in this case) do not expire before five years. In that case, you knew that you had an obligation to pay alimony, but you did not do so, you were in default. That must then remain at your risk. In the first situation, your ex could still request a determination of alimony for the coming years if she were at least entitled to an alimony period of more than seven years (according to the law, you can claim spousal support for a maximum of twelve years, provided that you have been married for more than five years or, if you have been married for a shorter period, children have been born from the marriage).

Lawyer

This can be requested but will have very little chance of success. Nevertheless, in that case it is wise to hire a lawyer who will file a defense against that claim on your behalf.