Modification of measures

The Supreme Court (TS) has resolved a case of modification of measures after a divorce in which the main issue was who could continue using the family home when the common daughter was already of legal age.

In this matter, after the divorce, it had been agreed that the mother and the daughter could continue using the family home , while the father was excluded. Furthermore, at that time, a child support was also established, and due to prior circumstances, no visitation regime was set for the father.

Years later, the father filed a lawsuit to change those measures . Among other things, he requested the extinction of the use of the home for mother and daughter, arguing that the daughter was already 21 years old . The court and the Provincial Court did not agree with him, stating that coming of age did not automatically mean that the use of the house was lost.

However, the TS estimate the father's resource regarding housing . Its central idea is clear, the attribution of the use of the family home linked to the children is designed to protect minors , and when the children are already of legal age (and there is no disability situation that justifies maintaining it), that “ title ” to continue in the home expires in accordance with art.96 CC after the reform of Law 8/2021.

However, the TS does not order an immediate eviction, sets a deadline of 6 months for the mother to leave the home (and the situation can be reorganized), avoiding that the use is prolonged indefinitely, for example, waiting indefinitely for the liquidation of community property to end. The rest of the measures remain.