Clarity about alimony after divorce

Questioner

hello, Every year I struggle with the question of whether I should pay alimony to my partner or to my ex-partner. I got divorced in 2012, my ex-partner was insolvent at the time I seem to remember that he wanted to ask me for a ridiculous amount of money at the time, but because I wanted to keep the house and was also the main caregiver for our son, that didn't happen. well, because I was the breadwinner at the time, I had to pay him 125 euros per month. everytime i have to file taxes i get confused. i always describe it as alimony for my son when transferring. the court order states the following: ...determines that the woman will pay the man, with effect from the day on which the man left the marital home, as a contribution to the costs of care and upbringing of the minor, with regard to installments due after today, each time in advance, €125 per month. In the divorce agreement, article 2 under Alimony states: point 1: the woman will pay the man a maintenance allowance of 125.0 euros per month as of the day on which the man leaves the marital home as a contribution to the cost of living. point 3: The parties are aware that the maintenance obligation, according to the statutory provisions, lasts (a maximum of) 12 years, starting from the day of the dissolution of the marriage, provided that the woman can request an extension of this term up to 3 months after the expiry of the term. the divorce agreement does not state as previously described in the court ruling... 'as a contribution to the costs of the care and upbringing of the minor' This verbal difference always causes confusion. but this last line about the extension request will not be the case since I do not receive alimony myself and I do not want to pay longer than necessary. the only thing is that it is unclear to me on the one hand for whom I am now paying alimony (I think for my son) and on the other hand how long I have to pay (calculated from 1 January 2012) ... until he is 18 or until he is 21 ... Perhaps you can help me with this small gap or should I, for example, call the mediator from back then again? It may seem a bit silly after all these years... I only know that I could not support him, so his ridiculous request at the time that he wanted 300 euros from me was not honored by the mediator. but he was indigent and we have a minor son so I had to pay alimony, but with a view to tax it is always unclear to me 'for whom'.. Other position: my ex-partner now has a job through temporary employment, but it is of course unclear whether this is a permanent contract (as a painter) . I get comments from all sides that I should fight the payment of alimony now that he has a job again (for how long I don't know of course)... however, what would all that entail if I wanted to do that... does it cause more harm than good?

Lawyer

You ask whether you pay alimony for your ex-partner or for your minor child. In order to be able to assess that, I would like to receive from you a copy of the decision of the Court and of the agreement that was made at that time. It is possible if the financial situation of you or your ex-partner has changed to request a change in the maintenance amount from the Court. You can also agree on this together. If you do this, I advise you to record everything in writing and sign it together.