Aliment meaning

In legal practice, aliment is the Scots law term for legally enforceable financial support to meet a spouse or civil partner’s and a child’s reasonable needs. It describes the obligation of support between spouses/civil partners and between parents and children, payable by agreement or by court order (interim or final) and enforceable through diligence. The concept and the court’s powers are set out principally in the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 (as amended) and informed by case law; awards are assessed by reference to resources, needs and reasonableness. For children, day-to-day maintenance is commonly calculated under the UK Child Support Act 1991 by the Child Maintenance Service, with the courts retaining a limited role (for example where the statutory scheme does not apply or in certain educational or special-expenses cases). Following divorce or dissolution, continuing support for a former spouse or civil partner is usually ordered as a “periodical allowance” rather than termed aliment. Outside Scotland, the expression is rarely used: the equivalent concepts are maintenance/periodical payments/financial provision in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and maintenance under the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976 and related Irish legislation.