What Does Indefinite Spousal Maintenance (Poverty Alimony) Mean?

Those who resist equal and fair living conditions for women and men now target poverty alimony. Their arguments are louder: “Pay alimony only for as long as the marriage lasted. Lifelong alimony after a short marriage? Let the state pay…” Lifelong alimony should last as long as poverty lasts. If divorce would leave a spouse in poverty, support should continue until that poverty ends for a lawful reason. A judge cannot know at the outset when poverty will cease. Poverty alimony is support claimed from the other spouse by a party who loses financial capacity after divorce. Under Article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code, a spouse who will fall into poverty due to divorce may claim indefinite maintenance, provided they are not more heavily at fault. Granting alimony as indefinite at the start does not mean it never changes. It ends if poverty ceases, if the creditor dies, remarries, or leads a dishonourable life (TCC Art. 176/3). Where equal fault exists, poverty alimony may still be awarded because one spouse may lose marital gains and fall into poverty without being more heavily at fault. Protecting the weaker party is a core family-law principle.

Its statutory basis is TCC Art. 175, but its deeper foundation is Art. 185: spouses must remain loyal and support each other. Divorce is a withdrawal from that promise. If one spouse suffers harm without being more heavily at fault, the loss should be redressed through damages, alimony, and similar remedies. Art. 175 addresses poverty caused by divorce. The rule also reflects good faith (Art. 2) and equity (Art. 4). Leaving a former spouse destitute after sharing life’s burdens offends the sense of justice.

Reactions to indefinite duration must also be assessed through gender equality. The law does not say alimony is only for women; men also receive it. Calls to time-limit alimony often track patriarchal inequality. Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and other setbacks have emboldened that mindset. After this safeguard for spouses—often women—who risk poverty after divorce, further attacks on Law No. 6284 and equality provisions of the Civil Code would deepen inequality. Constitutional and Civil Code equality is not yet fully realised.

Weak state anti-poverty policy and occasional failure to lift alimony when legal grounds exist have made poverty alimony a weak link in practice. No one is told in every case: “You married once, so pay forever.” “Indefinite” describes the starting point of the award. Under Art. 176, alimony may be lifted, increased, or reduced when circumstances, poverty, or equity so require. The Code already contains flexible, fair solutions.

Shifting a private alimony debt—owed after a fair judgment—onto the state privatises gains and socialises burdens improperly. Society should not absorb spouses’ private maintenance duties. Outside public-safety issues such as domestic violence, the state should not absorb private-law obligations.

Until poverty and gender power imbalance are meaningfully reduced, the statutory framework on poverty alimony should not be dismantled. For divorce and maintenance cases in Ankara, assessment under TCC Arts. 175–176 with professional legal support is essential.