Unpaid Maintenance in Türkiye: Enforcement and Legal Remedies

Unpaid maintenance may be pursued through enforcement and attachment. Subject to its separate conditions, Article 344 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law also provides for coercive imprisonment. A criminal complaint under Article 233(1) of the Criminal Code concerns a distinct offence; it is not an automatic consequence of every missed payment.

A judgment-based debt should not simply be transferred to an ordinary non-judgment procedure as a matter of preference. An interim maintenance order may require a different enforcement route. Identify the precise document and type of maintenance first.

The statement that every maintenance provision can be enforced before finality is too broad. Maintenance awarded as an accessory to divorce must be distinguished from an independent maintenance judgment and interim maintenance during proceedings. In particular, finality of the underlying divorce affects when post-divorce spousal and child maintenance can arise and be enforced.

Where judgment enforcement is appropriate, Article 32 provides for an enforcement order requiring performance within seven days. Check the operative judgment, finality endorsement where needed, maintenance commencement date and any later variation.

• Calculate unpaid instalments separately, including any valid annual adjustment.
• Request ongoing maintenance expressly if it is to be pursued.
• Examine lawful service and the documents showing the service date.
• Separate ordinary enforcement service rules from the safeguards required for a complaint seeking a deprivation of liberty.

Do not assume that service solely on a lawyer, or solely on the debtor, resolves every issue in both procedures. Representation, the nature of the notice and the applicable case law must be examined.

Maintenance creditors have particular protections, but these do not make every asset attachable without restriction. Article 83 regulates partial attachment of income; labour-law and other special rules may also apply. Current maintenance and accumulated arrears may have different treatment in wage deductions and priority.

Interest: The judgment, the due date and any default requirements determine the appropriate starting point. Use the lawful rate applicable to each period under Law No. 3095 and the relevant decisions; do not apply today's rate indiscriminately to every earlier year.

Limitation: It is incorrect to describe all court-awarded maintenance arrears as subject to five years simply because the payments are periodic. Article 39 governs limitation of judgment enforcement, and Article 156(2) of the Code of Obligations provides for a new ten-year period where the debt is established by a judgment. For successive court-awarded instalments, the relevant due dates and interruption must be assessed separately. Article 147's general periodic-payment rule cannot be applied without considering these provisions.

The judgment's age alone does not mean that all future instalments have expired. Equally, enforcement should not be delayed on the assumption that maintenance can never become time-barred.

This is a coercive enforcement measure, distinct from a criminal sentence under Article 233. Its conditions must be examined strictly. The assessment includes the enforceable decision, proper enforcement and notice, ongoing maintenance requested in the file, unpaid current instalments accruing after the relevant notice, and a timely complaint.

A file seeking only accumulated arrears does not automatically satisfy the requirements for imprisonment. Identify the precise months covered by the complaint and the order. A court's interim maintenance order should not be treated as invalid merely because it is not a final divorce judgment; its legal basis and enforcement route require their own assessment.

Under Article 347, the complaint right expires three months after learning of the act and, in any event, one year after the act. Identify the instalment and conduct complained of; do not calculate every period from a generic date or the date of the original divorce.

Later unpaid current instalments may present a new complaint issue, but the same months must not be punished repeatedly. The creditor should maintain a month-by-month ledger of amounts due, payments, service and earlier complaints.

• Challenge: Article 353 allows an objection to a coercive or disciplinary imprisonment decision within two weeks of service. The decision on that objection is final under the provision.
• Payment: Payment of the obligation covered by the complaint or order must be established and brought before the competent court. Do not assume a partial payment automatically terminates every enforcement consequence.
• Withdrawal: Article 354 regulates dismissal where the complainant withdraws or discharge of the debt is established.
• Execution period: Article 354 provides that the relevant imprisonment decision is not executed after two years from finality.

The statutory restriction on imprisonment for claims below the specified gross minimum-wage threshold expressly excludes maintenance enforcement. A low debt amount therefore does not, by itself, remove the Article 344 procedure.

Proof of payment: Keep bank receipts and specify the month, beneficiary and purpose. If payments were made directly or allocated differently, obtain the supporting documents and reconcile them with the enforcement account. A receipt's date alone does not establish which instalment it discharged.

Changed resources: Unemployment, reduced income or imprisonment should be documented. Their legal effect differs between enforcement, a variation action and criminal proceedings. An assertion of inability to pay does not automatically cancel the judgment or stop coercive proceedings.

Variation: Apply through the appropriate proceedings if lawful grounds for reduction or termination exist. Request any available procedural relief expressly; continue to distinguish the outstanding order from the relief sought.

Adulthood: Ordinary child maintenance under the minor-child framework ends on reaching majority, while accrued debts remain relevant. Article 328(2) provides a separate basis for continuing parental support during education to the extent reasonably expected in the circumstances. The adult child's standing and the proper claim must be examined; the previous order should not simply be extended without analysis.

Article 233(1) addresses failure to perform family-law duties of care, education or support. Its stated penalty is three months to two years of imprisonment, on complaint. The offence has separate elements and requires an assessment of the person's conduct and intent.

Missing a maintenance instalment is not enough, by itself, to establish every element of this offence. Actual resources, ability to perform, deliberate conduct and the underlying duty must be investigated. Conversely, declaring no income does not automatically establish absence of intent.

The general complaint rule in Article 73 is six months from knowledge of the act and offender, within the applicable limitation framework. This is distinct from Article 347's three-month/one-year framework for enforcement complaints. The act and any continuing conduct require case-specific assessment.

This section concerns Article 233(1); other paragraphs of Article 233 contain different conduct and rules. An enforcement complaint and a criminal complaint should not be treated as interchangeable forms.

Collect the judgment, finality documents, enforcement file number, service records, bank receipts, income information and previous complaint decisions before seeking advice.

Court of Cassation decisions concerning maintenance commonly turn on the precise enforcement request, the service date, the unpaid current months and the grounds for postponement. A ruling on an extraordinary appeal in the interests of law must be read with its procedural effect; it is not a substitute for checking the underlying facts.

• Accumulated arrears and current maintenance are not identical for coercive imprisonment.
• Enforceability of an order and finality of divorce are separate questions.
• A reduction action creates a possibility of postponement, not an automatic exemption.
• Payment must be matched to the obligation covered by the complaint.
• Maintenance continuing during education after adulthood has a distinct legal basis.

For related topics, see increasing maintenance. The current order remains the starting point for calculating the debt.

• Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004: Articles 32, 39, 83, 101, 344, 347, 353 and 354.
• Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100: Articles 350 and 367.
• Code of Obligations No. 6098: Articles 147 and 156.
• Criminal Code No. 5237: Articles 73 and 233(1).
• Civil Code No. 4721: Article 328.
• Official Court of Cassation judgment search.