We encounter the maintenance obligation in several places in the law. In the Civil Code, Book 1 (which deals with the law of persons and family law), Title 17, we find the regulation. Article 394 states that parents, children, children by marriage (children-in-law) and parents by marriage (parents-in-law) all have a maintenance obligation towards each other. So: not only parents are obligated to support their children, but children also have the obligation to support their parents. Of course, things are different here. As long as the child is a minor, the parents are both obligated to contribute to the costs of education and care. If the child is in the age of 18 to 21, this duty of maintenance also applies. The law states that the contribution to the costs of upbringing and care established when the child is a minor (i.e., child support) continues automatically ("by operation of law") when the child turns 18. Often, the parent who paid child support to the other parent then pays the contribution directly to the child. But parents and child may, of course, agree that the contribution will continue to be paid to the parent as long as the child still lives at home. But it can also be the case that the child goes to college and/or flies out and that the need then needs to be recalculated, simply because the system of child support, which is based on need when the child is a minor, no longer works. A connection to the WSF18+ standard is then often sought.
As you can read, spouses do not appear in the list mentioned. Are they then not obligated to maintain each other? The answer is: of course they are! But it is in another place in the law, namely Title 6 of Book 1 ("Rights and Duties of Spouses"). Article 81 states that spouses must "provide each other with what is necessary." That indicates a duty of maintenance, which, by the way, also applies to people who have entered into a registered partnership with each other. Elsewhere again, in Title 9 ("Dissolution of Marriage"; that's usually divorce), Section 156 states that the judge pronouncing the divorce may also set a maintenance contribution to be paid at the expense of one spouse to the other. Partner maintenance, in other words. Very early on it could be for life, later it became a maximum of 12 years (with a few exceptions), and for all divorces filed from January 1, 2020 (the date of filing the petition is decisive) a maximum of half the duration of the marriage now applies, with a maximum of five years, again with some exceptions. The most important is when there are children who have not yet reached the age of 12. Then the maximum legal term runs until the youngest child reaches the age of twelve. So, suppose: marriage of twelve years with youngest child of four: 12 (duration of marriage) divided by 2 = 6 years, but maximum is 5. Youngest child is 4 and so it takes another 8 years to reach 12 years of age. Longest of the two terms applies, so: 8 years. There are also exceptions regarding older people within sight of state pension age.
Always good for "noise" is the maintenance obligation of stepparents. Suppose the children of divorced parents live with mother. Father pays child support to mother. The children are minors. Mother marries her new partner. Thus, as a result of that marriage, a maintenance obligation arises from mother's "new" husband to the children. This can become quite complicated because that man may also have been in a relationship from which children were born and to whom he then has a maintenance obligation. Even more elaborate? Yes, suppose mother and her husband also have a child together. They are jointly liable for maintenance. Thus we have then entered the problem of compound families. Then in proceedings where child support must be calculated can lead to true brain teasers!
The maintenance obligation of stepparents is under considerable social pressure and it is expected that the law will be changed at some point in this regard. Stepparents perceive it as unfair that they have to pay while, for example, their own parent, father, fails. However, stepparents are legally in the same rank as parents. Nevertheless, you do see certain emphases in case law. For example: if the own parents together have sufficient financial capacity, the stepparent is often not affected.
Another great one: the maintenance obligation of the sire. The sire has a maintenance obligation until the parenthood of the child has been provided for. So: mother has a one night stand with a man and gets pregnant. The sire is obligated to provide maintenance. Let's say mother gets into a relationship with another man. They start a family and that man wants to acknowledge the child. Of course, if mother agrees, that is allowed. From that moment on, legally, the child's parenthood is fully provided for: there are two parents. At that moment, in principle, the maintenance obligation of the sire expires. "In principle?" Yes, because if the parent somehow cannot be held accountable for his maintenance obligation, the sire can still be held accountable. The Supreme Court has ruled that such a breach of the system laid down by law must be assumed in particular in the event that it appears that the legal father is not (entirely) capable of providing for the child's maintenance, or that this cannot be legally enforced on other grounds, or that the mother cannot reasonably be required to hold him liable in this regard (e.g. HR 18 February 2011, ECLI:NL:HR:2011:BO9841).
This is only a limited view of the regulation. In certain cases it can be quite difficult to determine who has to make which contribution, precisely because there is often concurrence. Therefore, alimony calculation is not a matter of filling in a mathematical model. What matters is that the basic principles of the calculation are properly established; only then can the calculations be made. I am happy to help you, as a lawyer or as a mediator!
As you can read, spouses do not appear in the list mentioned. Are they then not obligated to maintain each other? The answer is: of course they are! But it is in another place in the law, namely Title 6 of Book 1 ("Rights and Duties of Spouses"). Article 81 states that spouses must "provide each other with what is necessary." That indicates a duty of maintenance, which, by the way, also applies to people who have entered into a registered partnership with each other. Elsewhere again, in Title 9 ("Dissolution of Marriage"; that's usually divorce), Section 156 states that the judge pronouncing the divorce may also set a maintenance contribution to be paid at the expense of one spouse to the other. Partner maintenance, in other words. Very early on it could be for life, later it became a maximum of 12 years (with a few exceptions), and for all divorces filed from January 1, 2020 (the date of filing the petition is decisive) a maximum of half the duration of the marriage now applies, with a maximum of five years, again with some exceptions. The most important is when there are children who have not yet reached the age of 12. Then the maximum legal term runs until the youngest child reaches the age of twelve. So, suppose: marriage of twelve years with youngest child of four: 12 (duration of marriage) divided by 2 = 6 years, but maximum is 5. Youngest child is 4 and so it takes another 8 years to reach 12 years of age. Longest of the two terms applies, so: 8 years. There are also exceptions regarding older people within sight of state pension age.
Always good for "noise" is the maintenance obligation of stepparents. Suppose the children of divorced parents live with mother. Father pays child support to mother. The children are minors. Mother marries her new partner. Thus, as a result of that marriage, a maintenance obligation arises from mother's "new" husband to the children. This can become quite complicated because that man may also have been in a relationship from which children were born and to whom he then has a maintenance obligation. Even more elaborate? Yes, suppose mother and her husband also have a child together. They are jointly liable for maintenance. Thus we have then entered the problem of compound families. Then in proceedings where child support must be calculated can lead to true brain teasers!
The maintenance obligation of stepparents is under considerable social pressure and it is expected that the law will be changed at some point in this regard. Stepparents perceive it as unfair that they have to pay while, for example, their own parent, father, fails. However, stepparents are legally in the same rank as parents. Nevertheless, you do see certain emphases in case law. For example: if the own parents together have sufficient financial capacity, the stepparent is often not affected.
Another great one: the maintenance obligation of the sire. The sire has a maintenance obligation until the parenthood of the child has been provided for. So: mother has a one night stand with a man and gets pregnant. The sire is obligated to provide maintenance. Let's say mother gets into a relationship with another man. They start a family and that man wants to acknowledge the child. Of course, if mother agrees, that is allowed. From that moment on, legally, the child's parenthood is fully provided for: there are two parents. At that moment, in principle, the maintenance obligation of the sire expires. "In principle?" Yes, because if the parent somehow cannot be held accountable for his maintenance obligation, the sire can still be held accountable. The Supreme Court has ruled that such a breach of the system laid down by law must be assumed in particular in the event that it appears that the legal father is not (entirely) capable of providing for the child's maintenance, or that this cannot be legally enforced on other grounds, or that the mother cannot reasonably be required to hold him liable in this regard (e.g. HR 18 February 2011, ECLI:NL:HR:2011:BO9841).
This is only a limited view of the regulation. In certain cases it can be quite difficult to determine who has to make which contribution, precisely because there is often concurrence. Therefore, alimony calculation is not a matter of filling in a mathematical model. What matters is that the basic principles of the calculation are properly established; only then can the calculations be made. I am happy to help you, as a lawyer or as a mediator!