The 4th Specialized Civil Chamber of the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJMG), in the judgment of an appeal, unanimously decided to maintain the obligation of a granddaughter to pay provisional alimony in the amount of 30% of the minimum wage to her grandmother, who is hospitalized in a nursing home.
According to the Court’s understanding, the obligation to provide alimony is not limited to parents, grandparents and other ascendants, but also extends to descendants, according to the line of succession, highlighting that the Elderly Persons Statute allows the elderly person to choose the provider of alimony, due to the joint and several nature of the obligation.
In this case, the elderly woman had four children, one of whom is deceased. The granddaughter in question is one of the deceased son’s two daughters. The court records establish that, of the three surviving children, two already contribute to their mother’s expenses, while the third was included in the lawsuit.
The reporting judge of the appeal, Justice Roberto Apolinário de Castro, emphasized that the granddaughters, as heirs of their grandmother along with the other children, are also subject to the obligation to pay alimony. He emphasized that, because it is a joint and several obligation, the elderly woman can choose among the alimony providers, which eliminates the requirement to include all of her children as defendants in the action.
In her appeal, the granddaughter alleged a lack of financial capacity to fulfill the imposed obligation. However, this argument was rejected by the reporting judge, who concluded that the needs of the recipient and her inability to provide for herself were duly demonstrated in the records. Furthermore, the granddaughter failed to prove her alleged financial inability to fulfill the alimony obligation.
The ruling also cited Article 1,698 of the Civil Code, which establishes that when several people are obliged to provide alimony, they must all contribute in proportion to their resources, and that if one of them is sued, the others may be called to join the dispute.
