ALIMONY, RIGHT TO. - The obligation to provide support to persons who are in a state of need, and particularly to those to whom one is bound by ties of kinship or affinity, is an institution deeply rooted in the idea of human solidarity, and was put into practice under Christian influence.
Among the Romans, the right to support must originally have arisen from agreement or from a will or from a relationship of patronage. The simple family relationship, as long as the structure of the Roman family remained unchanged, could not in itself give rise to such a right. The paterfamilias had all rights over his subjects, not excluding the ius vitae et necis, exponendi, vendendi, which he exercised extensively even toward his children; but he was burdened by no obligation toward them. Consequently, the obligation to support those whom one could with impunity disown or kill was inconceivable, just as the obligation of children to support their parents was impossible, since as a rule they could possess nothing. The process of evolution begins in the classical period, but within a very narrow circle, to expand under the influence of Christian ethics and to reach completion in Justinianic law. In the classical age the right and the obligation to support existed between father, or paternal ascendant, and son; in the illegitimate family, between mother, or maternal ascendant, and son. In the Justinianic age, on the other hand, both in the legitimate and in the illegitimate family, such right and obligation existed generally between ascendants and descendants. It was then extended to collaterals, and finally to spouses. In certain exceptional cases, other persons also were obliged to provide support: for example, heirs.
Canon law continued the work of extension; within the sphere of family relationships the right to support was recognized even for spurious children. Outside the family circle, certain new kinds of support obligations were introduced: thus, a monk had to be supported by the monastery if he was unjustly expelled; a cleric "a beneficio suspensus," who had no personal property, received support from the fruits of the benefice; even the relationships of godfather and godchild as a consequence of baptism gave grounds for the right to support; but above all, the obligation of the beneficiary to give support to the patron of the benefice when he was in a state of need was sanctioned.
The CIC has left to the civil laws the regulation of these obligations as regards the family relationship; but as regards relationships deriving from particular canonical situations, it expressly imposes them in two cases. According to can. 980 § 2, the bishop who has conferred sacred orders on a subject lacking a canonical title is obliged to give that person the necessary support, until provision is made for his "congrua sustentatio." Can. 1455, n. 2 then renews the ancient prescription that grants support, to be deducted from the fruits of the benefice, to a patron who has fallen into a state of need through no fault of his own.
Other canons of the CIC provide for the needs of religious who abandon the religious life (cf. cann. 643, § 2; 671, n. 5).
In the Italian Civil Code, the obligation to provide support is envisaged only as a charge upon certain relatives. According to art. 433, those bound to it are, in order: 1) the spouse, the legitimate or legitimated children and, in their absence, the nearest descendants; 2) the parents and, in their absence, the nearest ascendants; 3) sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; 4) the father-in-law and mother-in-law; 5) brothers and sisters of full or half blood, to the extent of strict necessity and with precedence of full-blood over half-blood siblings.
Other rules govern the obligation to provide support in the natural family and in the adoptive family.
The legal obligation to provide support always has the character of reciprocity, in the sense that each of the persons mentioned above has not only the obligation but also the right to support; it concerns present or future need, never the past: nemo alitur in praeteritum. Therefore support may be claimed only by one who is in a state of need and is unable to provide for his own maintenance (art. 438). And if, after the award of support, the economic conditions of the one who provides it or of the one who receives it change, the judicial authority provides for its cessation, reduction, or increase, according to the circumstances (art. 440).
The social character of the right to support means that it is unavailable. Accordingly, neither its assignment nor its set-off is permitted.
Support must be awarded in proportion to the need of the person to be supported and to the economic conditions of the one who must provide it. The need of the person to be supported includes what is necessary for subsistence, also with reference to education and professional training. Finally, support may be provided either in money or by keeping in one's own home the person entitled to it.
For other rules on support in the Italian Civil Code cf. arts. 51, 198, 279, 660, 670, 801, 2751 and 2948.