Tricks in maintenance
The first time after the separation Silvia and her two small daughters were still well looked after. The 37-year-old has a part-time job as a publishing house employee and earns a net 1000 Euros. Her husband Gerhard, 52, managing director of a large company, paid her 1500 Euro monthly maintenance. But then he meets a new woman, "and suddenly everything was different," says Silvia.
Gerhard, who earned about 150,000 euros a year, loses his job and reduces the maintenance payments to 800 euros. Shortly thereafter, Silvia passes the divorce. The family court decides that she and the children are entitled to 1700 euros per month. In addition, Gerhard must invest in the maintenance, the 95 000-euro compensation, which he has received, until he regains his professional footing. But he does not care about the verdict. With 50,000 euros, he participates in two companies, the rest, he explains to his ex-wife, he spent elsewhere.
When Silvia's lawyer sends a bailiff, it turns out that Gerhard has overwritten everything he owned to his girlfriend. In tough phone calls Silvia achieved that she gets 1000 € maintenance and he stabs with 200 € per month his maintenance debt, which now amount to 16 000 €. For this she refuses to complain. "Such a lawsuit can take a long time, we would probably have succeeded, but my client was annoyed," says the lawyer. Silvia feels the situation is highly unfair. "I know for sure he has money, he's working as a senior executive again, and I've heard from my kids that he's just bought an expensive sports car, and I'm convinced he's just tricking to pay as little as possible to have to." Shockingly Silvia finds how little a judicial title can benefit if someone insists on being officially destitute.
The daughters are now seven and nine years old. Silvia is fed up with constant arguments and fears that she will not be able to rely on her ex-husband in the long run anyway. The children will soon send them to a full-time school and expand their part-time job as quickly as possible: "In case of need, then I will be able to cope even without maintenance."
