After a divorce, a woman who spent many years managing the household and raising children often finds herself in a vulnerable financial position: without a sufficient insurance record, she cannot count on a full pension. Meanwhile, as lawyer Ruslan Ruzhychnyi explained in a comment to RBC-Ukraine, Ukrainian legislation provides the former wife with a quite specific protective instrument — the right to alimony from her ex-husband. It is important to understand, however: the law does not provide for a separate payment "for the years of homemaking" or for compensation for lost pension entitlements. This is a separate right to financial maintenance, enshrined in the Family Code of Ukraine.
Legal basis: what the Family Code says
The key regulatory act here is Article 76 of the Family Code of Ukraine. Part Four of this article establishes the right to alimony for a spouse who, due to raising children, managing the household, or caring for family members, was unable to work, obtain education, or hold a corresponding position. According to Ruslan Ruzhychnyi, it is precisely this provision that allows an ex-wife who was a homemaker to claim financial maintenance from her ex-husband. Part Three of the same article extends this right: it is preserved even after the woman reaches retirement age, making the protection mechanism long-term rather than limited exclusively to the period immediately after the divorce.
Timeframes and conditions: how long the payment lasts
The lawyer emphasizes that maintenance under Part Four of Article 76 may be paid for up to three years after the dissolution of the marriage. This means that the ex-wife has a limited but quite real "window of opportunity" to restore her career, obtain education, or re-enter the labor market. At the same time, when determining the amount of alimony, the court is guided by Article 80 of the Family Code: the wife's needs are taken into account, as well as the ex-husband's financial capabilities — his salary, other income, property, and family circumstances. The woman having her own pension or another source of income does not deprive her of the right to alimony; these factors are merely considered by the court when calculating the specific amount.
Constitutional Court ruling and the criteria of need
An important precedent was the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 1-r/2024 of October 29, 2024, which declared Part Four of Article 75 of the Family Code unconstitutional. As Ruslan Ruzhychnyi notes, this ruling means that the level of income at the subsistence minimum alone cannot be the sole criterion for determining a person's need for support. The court is obliged to take into account the real income, expenses, and needs of the specific individual, rather than being limited to a formal threshold. This significantly expands the possibilities for ex-wives whose income formally exceeds the subsistence minimum but is objectively insufficient to ensure a decent standard of living.
An alternative to court: a maintenance agreement
Ruslan Ruzhychnyi also reminds that spouses are not obliged to go to court. Article 78 of the Family Code of Ukraine provides for the possibility of concluding a maintenance agreement, in which the parties independently determine the amount, terms, and procedure of payments. Such an agreement may be more advantageous and more convenient for both parties, as it allows them to avoid lengthy court proceedings and to fix the terms in writing. In practice, this is especially relevant in cases where the relationship between the former spouses remains cordial and both parties are interested in a swift resolution of the matter.
What this means in practice: de facto and de jure
In conclusion, the lawyer makes an important caveat: de facto, the ex-wife can indeed receive financial support from her ex-husband for the years devoted to the family. However, de jure, this is not compensation for a lost pension or for "lost" time. It is an independent right to financial maintenance, provided for by the Family Code of Ukraine. This distinction is fundamentally important for understanding how exactly to formulate claims in court or in an agreement: this is not about compensating for damages, but about exercising the right to maintenance, which arises from family relations and does not automatically cease upon the dissolution of the marriage.
