Poder-Judicial-Courtesy
Tired of disagreeing with the amounts to be paid for alimony, a group of men are driving a project so that this compensation is calculated by valuing gross data of expenses and income published in the National Survey of Households (ENAHO) by the National Institute of Statistics And Censuses (INEC).
The initiative aims to establish a series of charts that serve as a basis to fix alimony, as judges usually establish the fixed amounts based on the children’s mothers’ arguments, which must be verified during the process.
The charts are divided into several cells that include, in a first item, the average income per household, taking into account mandatory deductions. Based on this family income, an estimate of current expenditure per household is made. We also take into count the health care expenses. By doing that, we’ve got the amount of vital needs, which would be the amount to be paid as an alimony,
declared Arcelio Hernández, lawyer and one of the proposal supporters.
These charts are used in countries such as Spain, Norway or Germany. The plan to ‘nationalize’ the proposal was born when a Spanish lawyer, expert on family law, shared the use of charts with several Costa Rican men.
The proposal was already submitted to the Full Court. However, it would require the endorsement of the Supreme Court of Justice to be legal in family courts.