Cabinet approves amendments to divorce, alimony regulations

Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) The Cabinet on Thursday approved draft legal amendments to expand the legal grounds for divorce in Taiwan and change the terms under which a divorced person can seek alimony.

The draft bills, consisting of amendments to the Civil Code, must now be passed by the Legislative Yuan in order to become law.

Divorce

As relates to divorce, the Cabinet proposed allowing either party in a marriage to file for divorce if the couple has lived separately for at least three of the past five years.

The proposal stems from a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling on Article 1052 of the Civil Code, which specifies 10 circumstances under which either a husband or wife can petition for divorce.

The reasons include infidelity, abuse, desertion, disappearance, serious mental or physical illness and long-term imprisonment, among others.

In the article's second clause, however, it states that if there is a "serious occurrence" other than the circumstances listed, and only one party is deemed "responsible" for the event, "only the other party can petition for divorce."

In a ruling on March 24, 2023, the Constitutional Court said that while the clause was basically constitutional, the fact that it deprived the party "responsible" for the marital issue of the right to seek a divorce, regardless of how long ago the event occurred, was "overly stringent."

On those grounds, the court gave the Legislature two years to amend the law by allowing a husband or wife deemed "responsible" for a marital issue the right to seek a divorce after a defined period of time.

Alimony

The Cabinet also proposed relaxing the requirements for seeking alimony, which are currently limited to those who were not deemed at fault in their divorce and are experiencing "livelihood-related difficulties."

Under the draft amendments, the "no fault" requirement would be removed, while divorcees would also be allowed to seek alimony due to "reduced employment opportunities."

Other regulations would become more stringent under the proposal.

For example, the draft changes would require people to apply for alimony within two years of their divorce -- as opposed to current laws, which do not specify a time limit.

The proposal would also prohibit people from receiving alimony after they had remarried, though they could continue to receive child support, according to the Cabinet proposal.