According to an El País article that appeared on 24 April
the Tribunal Supremo (TSJ) has just ruled that after divorce ex spouses should bear mortgages equally. The ruling overturned the decision of a provincial court that a father pay 80% of the mortgage on the family home, arguing that the man had sufficient resources to do so.
The TSJ reasoned that mortgages are simply another debt against the “sociedad de ganancias” formed when a couple marry and therefore should be divided equally just like other debts (and assets) when the marriage ends.
Divorce rulings in Spain customarily award the use of the family home to the custodial parent. The non-custodial parent is ordered to pay a “pension alimenticia” which can include the lion’s share of the mortgage payment on a home he (or she) no longer occupies. The practice has been decried by “fathers rights” groups who claim that divorced men are becoming homeless as a result.
The TSJ decision seems to be part of a trend in recent court rulings to separate assets from custody issues. It’s a controversial area of the Spanish divorce law that has pitted feminist organisations against groups that favor shared custody. Judging from the number of comments the El País article sparked – 163 on the same day the article appeared – the issue leaves few indifferent.
[...] Pays the Mortgage After Divorce? Since the Tribunal Supremo(TSJ) announced its decision last week there has been plenty of reaction. On Saturday, El Páis published “Lo que la hipoteca unió, [...]