The Economic Grounds of Alimony: Evidence from French Divorce Court Decisions

This article examines two possible bases for awarding alimony. First, alimony may play a redistributive function by protecting the beneficiaries from the risk of a living standard drop. Second, alimony may fulfill a compensatory role by protecting one spouse from the opportunistic behavior of the debtor. Using French divorce court decisions, we find that when judges determine whether an alimony should be awarded, they use eligibility thresholds for each function: at least 11 years of marriage for the compensatory function, and at least an income gap of €900 for the redistributive function.