In short
Article 466 lets the court assign to the ex-spouse who lacks sufficient means to live a pension coming from the other ex-spouse’s income or goods, for a determined term or until the alimentista can support themselves or acquires adequate and sufficient means for their own sustenance. To fix the amount, the article lists eight factors the court may consider as to both: the agreements they have adopted; age and state of physical and mental health; academic, vocational or professional preparation and the probabilities of access to employment; the responsibilities they keep for the care of other family members; collaboration with their work in the other spouse’s mercantile, industrial or professional activities; the duration of the marriage and of the conjugal cohabitation; each one’s estate, economic means and needs; and any other factor appropriate to the circumstances. The resolution must establish the manner of payment and the term of force; if no determined term is set, the pension runs while it is not revoked, unless extinguished by the Code’s causes. Article 467 allows modifying or revoking it before its expiry, at a party’s request, if significant or extraordinary changes arise in either ex-spouse’s personal or economic situation. And Article 468 lists six extinguishing causes: the alimentista’s need ceasing, their death, the alimentante’s death, the expiry of the established term, the alimentista contracting a new marriage, or their having established a relationship of cohabitation with another person. That last one does not require a marriage, and the article does not define what counts as a relationship of cohabitation.
What is it?
They are Articles 466, 467 and 468 of the Civil Code of 2020: the pension one ex-spouse pays the other after the divorce, how it is fixed, how it changes, and when it ends.
Who can do it?
The ex-spouse lacking sufficient means to live, and the ex-spouse from whose income or goods the pension would come.
Requirements
- The court may assign the pension to the ex-spouse lacking sufficient means to live, from the other’s income or goods.Verified against the official source
- It may be fixed for a determined term or until the alimentista can support themselves or acquires sufficient means.Verified against the official source
- Among the factors is collaboration with their work in the other spouse’s mercantile, industrial or professional activities.Verified against the official source
- Also the duration of the marriage and of the conjugal cohabitation, and the probabilities of access to employment.Verified against the official source
- The resolution must establish the manner of payment and the pension’s term of force.Verified against the official source
- It may be modified or revoked before expiry if significant or extraordinary changes arise in either one’s situation.Verified against the official source
- It is extinguished by the need ceasing, either one’s death, the term expiring, the alimentista remarrying, or their cohabiting with another person.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Start from the lack of means
Article 466: the pension is for the ex-spouse lacking sufficient means to live.
Step 2: Gather the eight factors
Age and health, preparation and employment, care of others, collaboration in the other’s business, marriage duration, estate and needs.
Step 3: Do not forget the invisible work
Paragraph (e) counts collaboration with their work in the other spouse’s mercantile, industrial or professional activities.
Step 4: Demand a manner of payment and a term
The same article requires the resolution to establish both.
Step 5: With no term, it runs until revoked
If no determined term is set, the pension runs while the court does not revoke it.
Step 6: If much changes, ask to review it
Article 467: significant or extraordinary changes in either one’s personal or economic situation.
Step 7: Review the six extinguishing causes
Article 468: need ceasing, either one’s death, term expiring, remarriage, or cohabiting with another person.
Where to do it
These three articles describe no procedure before any agency. The Code does not define here what sufficient means to live are, nor what makes a change significant or extraordinary. And it does not define what a relationship of cohabitation with another person is, which is one of the six causes extinguishing the pension: it does not say how long it must last, what distinguishes it from another kind of relationship, or how it is proved. It does not say how the pension is collected or before whom if unpaid. And it does not deal here with child support, a different matter covered separately on this site, nor with the provisional pension during the process, which is Article 454. None of those gaps is filled here.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
The first thing is not to confuse three things sharing a name. Child support is another matter. The provisional pension during the process is Article 454 and is paid while the divorce lasts. This one, Articles 466 to 468, is what one ex-spouse pays the other after the divorce, and it only applies if that other lacks sufficient means to live. For whoever claims it, the most forgotten factor is Article 466’s paragraph (e): collaboration with their work in the other spouse’s mercantile, industrial or professional activities. Whoever spent years sustaining the other’s business without appearing on any payroll has there an express factor the court may consider, alongside the duration of the marriage and of the conjugal cohabitation, the academic preparation and the real probabilities of access to employment. It is also worth asking that the resolution establish the manner of payment and the term, because the article itself requires it; and knowing that if no determined term is set, the pension keeps running while the court does not revoke it. For whoever pays, the ordinary way out is Article 467: modification or revocation may be sought before expiry if significant or extraordinary changes arise in either one’s personal or economic situation, not only the payer’s. And Article 468’s list is worth keeping in mind both ways, because it includes a cause that surprises: the pension is extinguished not only if the alimentista contracts a new marriage, but also by their having established a relationship of cohabitation with another person. The Code does not say what that relationship of cohabitation is, how long it must last or how it is established, and this guide does not define it on its behalf. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Confusing this pension with child support or with Article 454’s provisional one.
- Forgetting the factor of having collaborated in the other spouse’s business or profession.
- Accepting a resolution with no manner of payment or term: Article 466 requires both.
- Believing that with no term the pension lapses on its own: it runs until revoked.
- Seeking modification without a significant or extraordinary change of circumstances.
- Assuming only the payer’s change counts: Article 467 looks at either one.
- Believing only remarriage extinguishes it: cohabiting with another person does too.
- Looking in the Code for what a relationship of cohabitation is: it does not define it.
Frequently asked questions
Does the pension end if my ex remarries?
Article 468 extinguishes it on the alimentista remarrying, and also on their establishing a relationship of cohabitation with another person.
What does the court look at to fix the amount?
Article 466 lists eight factors, among them collaboration in the other spouse’s business and the duration of the marriage and cohabitation.
May a pension already fixed be changed?
Article 467 allows modifying or revoking it before expiry if there are significant or extraordinary changes in either one.
The resolution set no term. How long does it last?
Article 466 says it runs while the court does not revoke it, unless extinguished by the Code’s causes.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico
Poder Judicial
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 13, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
MiPRFácil does not submit applications on your behalf.
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