FAMILY LAW: The regulation of family assistance.

In the social and legal framework that shapes our communities, family assistance emerges as a spine that supports the cohesion and well-being of families. This concept, deeply rooted in the values ​​of solidarity and shared responsibility, is manifested as a fundamental right and an unavoidable obligation for family members. It is a principle that underlines the importance of ensuring that all individuals, especially those in vulnerable situations, receive the necessary support to meet their basic needs and develop fully within society.

In this sense, family assistance constitutes simultaneously an inherent right and an unavoidable obligation of family units. Such assistance includes the provision of the necessary means to ensure coverage of basic needs, which are essential for the full realization of fundamental rights, including food, housing, health, education, clothing and recreational activities. It is imperative to highlight that the obligation to provide family assistance emerges from the explicit manifestation of the needs of the members that make up the family.

Among the recipients of family assistance are children and adolescents under 18 years of age. This prerogative can be extended up to 25 years of age to promote technical or vocational training or learning in some art or craft, provided that the beneficiary demonstrates tangible progress. Likewise, people with disabilities, older adults and pregnant women are considered beneficiaries.

In relation to the subjects obliged to pay family assistance, they include parents, spouses, siblings, grandparents, children, grandchildren and, exceptionally, daughter-in-law, son-in-law and parents-in-law. In contrast, the adopted child is not obliged to provide family assistance in favor of his or her biological parents or their family environment.

Additionally, people who wish to benefit from this right must submit, personally or through a representative, an application to the corresponding Public Family Judge. When determining the amount of assistance, the judge must consider the following aspects:

• The financial needs of the beneficiary.

• The economic means and financial capacity of the obligor.
  
  

It is necessary to emphasize that the amount established for family assistance cannot be less than 20% of the national minimum wage.

Finally, in situations of repeated non-compliance, the beneficiary or whoever files the claim for family assistance may appeal to the competent judge to request the application of coercive measures, which may include physical restraint of the debtor. If they are not effective, these measures may be accompanied by a home search order and, in cases of persistence of non-compliance for more than three months, the judge may impose a legal mortgage on the debtor's assets.

Víctor Manuel Vásquez Alfaro
Litigation and Corporate Lawyer