Divorce allowance also recognized in civil unions: the Supreme Court extends post-separation financial protection.
Divorce allowance also recognized in civil unions: the Supreme Court extends post-separation financial protection.
Court of Cassation, Civil Section I – Sentence no. 25495/2025, published on September 21, 2025
(Divorce allowance for civil unions, Supreme Court ruling 25495/2025, family law 2025, dissolution of civil unions, Cirinnà law allowance, property rights for same-sex couples, equalization of marriage and civil union, economic rights of former partners in civil unions, post-union allowance, art. 5 of Law 898/1970)
1. Regulatory context and relevance of the ruling
With ruling no. 25495/2025, the Court of Cassation established a highly significant jurisprudential principle: the right to maintenance payments is recognized even in the event of the dissolution of a civil union.
The decision broadens the scope of Article 5, paragraph 6, of Law No. 898/1970, which traditionally refers to marriage, filling a regulatory and interpretative gap that, until now, left the position of the economically weaker partner in civil unions uncertain.
2. Alimony: nature and purpose
In the most recent developments in jurisprudence, alimony has taken on a dual function:
* Welfare: guarantees the partner who lacks adequate means, and is unable to acquire them for objective reasons, a dignified existence after the termination of the union.
* Compensatory and equalizing: it values the non-financial contribution made by the partner who has given up work or income opportunities to favor the other's joint life project and career, thus determining an appreciable economic imbalance at the end of the relationship.
The Supreme Court of Cassation has clarified that the recognition of child support is not automatic, but rather subject to an integrated assessment of objective and subjective factors, with particular attention to the role each partner plays in family and professional life.
3. The specific case and the principle established by the Court
In the case at issue in ruling no. 25495/2025, the applicant had documented that he had given up his own work to support his partner's career, within the context of a duly registered civil union that was subsequently dissolved.
The Court recognized that denying the right to maintenance based on the form of the union, rather than the substance of the relationship and its economic effects, would constitute a violation of the principle of substantive equality set forth in Article 3 of the Constitution.
Therefore, the Court equated marriage and civil union from a patrimonial perspective, affirming the obligation to apply the same treatment in the presence of the same factual conditions.
4. Distinctive profiles compared to de facto cohabitation
It should be clarified that this ruling does not extend the protection of alimony to de facto cohabitations, which continue to be regulated by Articles 36-39 of Law No. 76/2016 (Cirinnà Law).
For cohabiting couples without a registered legal relationship, financial protection remains entrusted to private law instruments, particularly cohabitation agreements, which may include clauses regarding financial matters but do not legally provide the right to maintenance payments.
5. Conclusions and operational reflections
Ruling no. 25495/2025 represents an important development in the system of protections granted to civil unions between persons of the same sex, consolidating the principle of non-discrimination between functionally equivalent social groups.
Through a constitutionally oriented reading of divorce law, the Court affirms that post-union solidarity cannot be denied for merely formal reasons, but must be based on a substantive analysis of the economic and personal dynamics experienced by the couple.
From an application perspective, this ruling offers important operational ideas for family lawyers, who are called upon to:
* Evaluate the possible right to maintenance in the event of the dissolution of a civil union;
* Adequately provide proof of the contribution provided and the financial sacrifice made by the requesting partner;
* Pay attention to the non-comparability of de facto cohabitations, which remain outside the scope of automatic judicial protection.
For regulatory updates, case law guidance, or specific insights into the property rights of civil unions, please contact us privately at studio@cecatiello.it or follow the editorial activities on this profile.
