The compensatory pension is a payment that is granted to one of the spouses after divorce or legal separation, with the aim of compensating for the economic imbalance that may result from the breakdown of the marriage. His figure is contemplated in article 97 of the Civil Code: “The spouse to whom the separation or divorce produces an economic imbalance in relation to the position of the other, which implies a deterioration in their previous situation in the marriage, will have the right to a compensation that may consist of a temporary or indefinite pension, or a single benefit, as determined in the regulatory agreement or in the sentence. The compensatory pension does not seek to balance the parties, but to compensate the one who, after the marriage, is left in a more vulnerable situation.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), if we compare by gender who is usually the one who must pay the compensatory pension (the husband or the wife), we will see that the tendency is that they are the ones who pay it. For example, in 2021 there were 892 wives who had to pay the compensatory pension compared to 6,170 husbands. However, these data also show us that the husband can receive a compensatory pension, even if it is something in the minority. This is so because the definition of “compensatory pension” refers to spouses, and does not specifically mention their gender, but their economic situation. Therefore, when a couple divorces and one of the spouses finds himself in a significantly inferior economic position than the one she had before getting married, she can request alimony.
The compensatory pension must be requested by one of the spouses, specifically the one who feels that their situation after the divorce has worsened compared to what they had when they were single. The period established to request it is at the beginning of the divorce trial, since it will not be possible to do so once it is concluded.
In order for the compensatory pension to be granted, the spouse who has applied for it must meet a series of requirements. The two most important are that there is no possibility of re-entering the labor market or that your economic situation has worsened since you got married. The gender of the person is not a reason for discrimination, so there is no requirement to be a man or a woman.
If the Judge considers that the pension must be requested, it may be temporary or without a time limit. In the first case, the injured spouse receives a pre-established amount in one or several payments that will serve as a springboard to rebuild his life. In the second case, the pension will be extended without limits. However, this type of compensation is less and less frequent after women enter the world of work, since after divorce they can keep their source of income thanks to her employment.
According to the data cited from the INE, per year there is an average of 800 wives who must pay the compensatory pension to their husbands. Although the figure is small, it allows us to affirm that the husband can request a pension.
For example, in 2019 the civil court of the Audiencia de Palma sentenced a woman to pay a compensatory pension of 400 euros per month to her ex-husband for two years, since he worked for her and, after the divorce, she was left without a job and he had to return to his country. The ex-husband had helped her in her business, but she had not received any payroll, instead they both shared the income through a common bank account. After the divorce, she revoked his access, so the judges considered that the man was in an even worse situation than he was when he was single and they granted him the pension.
Another, more famous case, is the one that occurred between the actress Meghan Fox and her ex-husband, Brian Austin Green, star of the 90s series Sensation of Living. While they were married, Green suffered a road accident that left him with some consequences, such as dizziness and headaches. After her divorce, the Judge considered that Fox should pay Green a life pension, since her condition made it impossible for her to work and maintain the standard of living that she had achieved before marriage. It is not the only case in which a famous woman has had to compensate her husband: Kelly Clarkson must pay the amount of $ 200,000 monthly to her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, in spousal and child support, even though she is the one who has custody of children.
