Alimony Payments

The recent decrease stems from amendments to the Income Assurance Law, 5741 1980 ( Income Assurance Law ) and the Alimony Law (Assurance of Payment), 5732 1972 ( Alimony Law (Assurance of Payment) ), conditioning the entitlement to alimony to instances whereby the debtor does not reside with the recipient.

Concerning measures to ensure payment of alimony, there were both criminal and civil sanctions to enforce payment.

In 2003, 26,000 women received monthly alimony payments from the NII an 8 decrease from the previous year.

Traditionally, alimony was paid by a husband to his former wife, but since the 1970s there have been moves in many Western countries towards gender equality with a corresponding recognition that a former husband may also be entitled to alimony from his former wife.

The ex husband or wife must, at the time of death, be paying alimony, determined either by court order or by a contract between the ex spouses.

A court of law may bestow the obligation upon the ex husband to pay alimony and or determine some other form of compensation to the ex wife.

160 of these complaints concerned women's issues, in matters such as social benefits (including alimony payments, maternity grant, and birth allowances) as well as marriage registration and sexual harassments complaints.

Women with children were entitled to alimony even if divorce were granted because of the woman's fault, and the social attitudes to divorced women did not cause them any significant problem.

Indeed, failure to pay alimony was an indictable offence under the Penal Code, while under civil law, the assets of a father who failed to pay child support could be confiscated to enforce such payment.

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor initiated a special program to integrate single parents into the labor market, specifically those receiving income guarantees and alimony payments, with the intention of increasing single parents' earning capabilities, while raising their employment qualifications.

Although the Government has recently reduced some of the privileges given to single parent families, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor initiated a special program to integrate them into the labor market, specifically those receiving income guarantees and alimony payments.

In Matters concerning women's and children's alimony, property issues, child maintenance, guardianship, violence and in the case of Muslims, also parental matters, Family Courts and the Religious Courts have a parallel jurisdiction, with certain differences between the various religious communities.

Ms. Belmihoub Zerdani suggested that the Government should set up a fund to cover the alimony and child support payments that former husbands failed to meet and then to track down the individuals concerned and withhold the relevant amount from their income.

Noting that no answer had been provided to question 29 of the list of issues on measures to enforce the payment of alimony, she sought clarification of the latter half of the third paragraph under response 29 (CEDAW PSWG 2005 I CRP.2 Add.3).