I submit the case of Italy: alimony is based on the principle that the economically "weaker" partner, and only them (aka her), is entitled to maintain their previous lifestyle. The economically "stronger" partner's position isn't taken into consideration.

In a friend's case, he wasn't even married, they simply cohabitated. When his partner left him, she sued for alimony and won. This was their income breakdown:

  • He: net monthly income of €1920 (which is quite high for Italy), owned the house with a mortagage (€600 a month) in his name

  • She: net monthly income of €900 (which is quite low for Italy), no meaningful property to their name

He retained the house, which was evaluated at a market rate equivalent of €1000 a month in rent. Therefore the court calculated, as per Italian law, that the total family income was €1920 (his pay) + €900 (her pay) + €1000 (market rate rent of the house) = €3820. Therefore each of them is entitled to a total income of €3820/2 = €1920. He's therefore ordered to pay her €1020 a month.

He's left to live with his remaining €900 a month, paying €600 a month in mortgage, so he has €300 a month for bills groceries and gas. As you can imagine, he's basically left impoverished.

Meanwhile she makes €1920 a month. She could easily pay a €600 a month mortgage and live off the remaining €1320.

The fact that he's paying €600 a month in mortage doesn't matter because he owns the house. The fact that he can't possibly subsist out of what's left him doesn't matter because the law doesn't require taking it into consideration as he's the economically "stronger" partner.

Can anyone beat this?