Alimony is regulated in the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 and is the minimum subsistence assistance provided by one of the spouses to the other during a divorce or a time when they were members of the same family. In this Law; Even though four different types of alimony are regulated: measure, participation, poverty and aid, in addition, the type of aid in which it is decided to provide support only for a certain period of time is- temporary alimony.
According to the Turkish Civil Code, temporary alimony payments are made under certain conditions. These conditions are generally determined based on factors such as the financial situation of the beneficiary spouse, the economic contributions of the spouses, the duration of the marriage, and the status of the children. Temporary alimony is paid for a period of time for purposes such as correcting the economic imbalance between the spouses after the divorce decision and temporarily supporting the weaker spouse, and the period and amount are determined by the court decision.
In the old Civil Code No. 743, it was regulated that alimony could be ordered for a maximum of "one year", and this provision was changed in 1988 to say that alimony could be requested "indefinitely" and in Article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, the legislator reserves the provision that alimony can be requested "indefinitely". However, with the recent increase in divorce cases, indefinite alimony has also become a matter of debate.
The regulation on temporary alimony was submitted to the Ministry of Justice in February 2022, and in the relevant regulation, it is planned that poverty alimony will be paid according to the duration of the marriage. Accordingly, it is suggested that alimony should be given for 5 years in marriages under 2 years, 7-8 years in marriages under 5 years, and 12 years in marriages between 5 and 10 years. It is also stated that if the financial problems of the spouse receiving alimony continue at the end of the period, an "interim period" will be applied and the spouse can receive alimony for another 2-3 years. However, after the change in 1988, a decision was made on temporary alimony for the first time, without any regulation being implemented yet, in the divorce case heard by the Erciş 2nd Civil Court of First Instance as the Family Court in Van in 2023, it was decided that "the woman should be paid alimony in the amount of 12,000 TL in total for only 1 year".
The provisions to be applied regarding temporary alimony are also a matter of discussion. Since there are no separate provisions regarding temporary alimony, it is stated that indefinite alimony provisions can be applied and the indefinite alimony provisions within the scope of sanction (Execution and Bankruptcy Law no. 2004, Article 344) are also valid in terms of applicability.
As a result, it should not be forgotten that the main purpose of alimony is to protect the financially weak and the child in such situations. Temporary alimony must be arranged in accordance with its purpose and in a way that does not victimize the financially weak party. As we mentioned above; Due to the increase in divorce cases and the fact that a decision on temporary alimony has been made for the first time in 35 years, it is expected that temporary alimony will gain more ground in practice.