Italian Supreme Court rules on child support limits

The Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) has clarified that judges cannot reduce child support payments based on pedagogical or moral concerns. While some parents argue that excessive financial support may lead to a lack of discipline or a failure to learn the value of money, the Court ruled that the legal parameters for determining support are strictly mathematical and social.

Under current law, the economic well-being of a child must reflect the economic status of the parents. The Court emphasized that judges are not educators and cannot use subjective moral evaluations or the “risk of spoiling” a child as valid grounds to decrease maintenance amounts.