The Provincial Court of Pontevedra has ruled that a 57-year-old woman has the right to continue receiving a compensatory pension of 600 euros per month without a time limit after having dedicated 32 years of his life taking care of the home and his family. This judicial decision, which annuls the nine-year period set by a lower court, recognizes the economic impact of leaving the labor market for decades to attend to domestic responsibilities.
The sentence, collected by Talent24Hestimates that the woman, after more than three decades of marriage, suffered a economic imbalance evident by staying outside the workplace. The resolution indicates that, throughout this period, the beneficiary was not able to consolidate a professional career or contribute regularly to Social Security, which seriously limits her possibilities of accessing a contributory retirement pension in the future.
Likewise, the court highlights that the plaintiff’s situation worsened after the separation from her husband, when, at the age of 57, she was only able to re-enter the world of work in the hospitality sector. And to think that you can reverse that disadvantage on your own is an exercise in “futurism or divination”as stated in the sentence. Hence, the court has rejected the ex-husband’s request to reduce the pension to six months and has eliminated the nine-year period previously established.
Compensation for economic inequality and domestic work
The decision of the Provincial Court is based on the existence of a clear asset imbalance between the spouses. The man, during the marriage, maintained family economic stability and retained a superior financial position when their relationship ended. The woman, for her part, stayed in a situation of greater vulnerabilityafter decades dedicated exclusively to the domestic sphere.
And, in addition to the recognition of the lifelong pension, the judicial resolution addresses the financial compensation in favor of the plaintiff for the domestic work carried out during the years of cohabitation. The ruling proves that the woman assumed the comprehensive management of the home in a manner “exclusive and exclusive”, including caring for the husband’s two grandchildren, who resided with the couple for several years.
Thus, the Provincial Court of Pontevedra has considered that compensation is appropriate under article 1438 of the Civil Code, but has reduced the initial amount recognized by the court, which amounted to 192,000 euros. The room sets the final amount in 80,000 eurosconsidering that the monthly pension already compensates part of the economic damage caused by exclusive dedication to the family and that there were no common children between the spouses. The court also concludes that the husband assumed the financial expenses of the home during their cohabitation.
Likewise, the ruling sets a relevant precedent in the area of economic rights after the breakdown of a marriage, and highlights the value of unpaid domestic work and the need for legal mechanisms that compensate for the inequality generated by prolonged exclusion from working life.
