One method of compensating for economic inequality between spouses at the time of divorce is to award a sum of money, paid monthly over a varying period of time or paid in a lump sum. The criteria for awarding an allowance are comparable in all of the European countries analyzed. The end result of the generality of those criteria is that the principle and amount of the allowance rest largely on the discretion of the judge.

Given the uncertainty that this discretion entails, there have not necessarily been any scales or guidelines developed at the initiative of the authorities with the objective of assisting judges and parties in doing this assessment. However, calculation methods have arisen whose sources and rationales cover a very wide range. The article proposes to produce a review of these various methods and to consider, in the case of France, the rationales they advance.

In an era when relations between men and women are governed by the principles of equality and liberty, we may ask whether it is appropriate to preserve a post-divorce support entitlement between spouses, and what justification there is for doing so. European legislation is not very forthcoming in this regard, and this means that looking for the justification for entitlement to an allowance to compensate for financial disparities calls for a tool to be developed first that would identify that justification. After testing a two-option model in which the traditional support and compensation functions of a post-divorce financial allowance were contrasted and finding that this model did not provide a useful comparison between the selected European legal systems, a second, three-option model was developed and applied to those systems. The second model distinguishes the support, compensation and insurance justifications and can identify more pronounced differences. However, this does not mean that there are any noteworthy differences among the various post-divorce allowances in terms of the amounts awarded.

In the present article, we examine the extent to which legal norms related tofamily matters are in line with the diverse social representations of currentconjugal life, more particularly as concerns the economic interdependence of thecouple during or subsequent to their union. Two Quebec legal measures compelattention: the division of the family patrimony and the obligation of supportpayable to the former partner. The present analysis is based on an empiricalstudy involving couples living together in Quebec. Whereas current legaldiscourse concerning unmarried cohabitation appears focused on spousal support,our survey has brought out two elements that could challenge the current legalapproach. When it comes to social representations, we find that the awarding ofsupport to the partner is highly controversial. The majority of our respondentsalso believe that the family patrimony should be shared equally, whether or notthe couple is married, and more especially when there are children, the propertyof the household being deemed to be the fruit of a joint and family-orientedeffort.