Procedural applicability for the automatic suspension of alimony within the Ecuadorian legal system

Abstract

Alimony is an instrument applied for the practice of the right to food in favor of minors, as well as citizens in a condition of vulnerability or catastrophic situation as established by the “Código Orgánico de la Niñez y Adolescencia (CONA). This right arises with the lawsuit filed by the caregiver or legal representative of the beneficiary, and whose values, established by a Judge, are automatically generated in the “Sistema Único de Pensiones Alimenticias (SUPA)”, to be paid by the obligor; however, in practice, in the computer system of the Judicial Function of Ecuador, this right does not seem to be automatically extinguished upon the expiry of all the circumstances that gave rise to the right to alimony. 

This article introduces an analysis of the procedural applicability for the automatic suspension of alimony, as well as the current procedural mechanisms that regulate its suspension to avoid the unfair payment of alimony on an adult who is not studying, and those payments are not generated beyond what is established in the legal regulations; since, once it is generated and/or paid, there is no refund or retroactive.  Finally, the feasibility of incorporating a procedure to enable the automatic suspension of alimony within the computer system of the Ecuadorian Justice function was evaluated, assessing the criteria needed for such suspension to be granted under the protection of the rights of both the beneficiary of alimony and the obligor, without a specific court order, except for the special cases in which Ecuadorian legislation provides for the extension of the right to alimony.