EXERCISING THE RIGHT TO MAINTENANCE BETWEEN SPOUSES AND EXTRAMARITAL PARTNERS IN THE CASE LAW OF THE BASIC COURT IN NIŠ

The law regulates the right to maintenance between spouses and between extramarital partners, the conditions under which it can be exercised, as well as a special litigation procedure for obtaining the right to maintenance. The existential character of the right to maintenance stresses the need to examine the functional quality of the established legal mechanism. The author has conducted an empirical research on maintenance litigation proceedings between spouses and extramarital partners which were conducted before the Basic Court in Niš and finished during the year 2018. In this paper, the author presents and analyzes the results of research in litigation proceedings for establishing and varying the maintenance amount, and terminating and extending the duration of maintenance between married or unmarried, current or former partners. The aim of the research was to gain insight into the adequacy of applying relevant legal regulations in practice and the efficiency of providing legal protection in analyzed maintenance lawsuits. The research results reveal the inefficiency of maintenance litigation proceedings and a serious lack of information among citizens about the procedural possibilities in maintenance lawsuits.