Comment: Post-divorce Maintenance under Ethiopia’s Revised Family Code: Some Observations

Abstract

The Revised Family Code (RFC) of Ethiopia states the circumstance in which a spouse can claim maintenance. These are during a divorce proceeding and, ordinarily, as any person, citing the provisions that explicate the obligation to supply maintenance. The RFC puts spouses at the top rank in the maintenance claimants’ order. This raises the question whether this applies to a spouse while the marriage is intact, a spouse while divorce proceedings are in progress, or an ex-spouse. This comment examines the existence (or otherwise) of a legal ground for an ex-spouse to claim maintenance under the RFC. I argue that the issue of maintenance does not arise in relation to a spouse while marriage is intact because the spouses have joint ownership and equal entitlement with regard to their property. Besides, a spouse can invoke temporary maintenance while divorce proceeding is underway due to a petition filed by one of the spouses. It can thus be argued that the obligation to supply maintenance embodied in the Revised Family Code entitles an ex-spouse (who is needy and unable to earn livelihood) to claim maintenance.