ABANDONMENT

Abandonment is the act and consequence of giving up. This verb can refer to leaving something or someone, moving away or neglecting it. For example: "The old man lived in a state of absolute abandonment" , "The abandonment of dogs on public roads is a very important problem for this city", "The neighbors are outraged by the abandonment of the cultural center by the authorities”.

When the concept is linked to a living being, it is associated with helplessness. Suppose a woman who has just had a child places the baby in a box, leaves it at the door of a church, and leaves the place. This reprehensible action supposes the abandonment of the child, since the little one will not have the care that his mother should provide.

A man who decides to kick his cat out of the house because she got pregnant will also be performing an act of abandonment. The animal, which was this person's pet, should start looking for the food that was previously given to him at home.

In the field of public policies, abandonment refers to the lack of attention to a certain space or topic. If a government stops investing resources in caring for a park and it begins to look dingy and littered with trash, it can be said that the authorities abandoned the green space in question.

If we focus on the right , abandonment can refer to the renunciation of exercising a certain right (such as the possession of an asset) or the failure to fulfill a legal obligation towards another person (as in the case mentioned above the mother not giving you the care you owe your child).

Within this area, we find what is known as family abandonment. This is a crime that is considered to be carried out by the spouse who leaves the family home and stops contributing, although they have this duty, to the economic maintenance of it and, above all, their children and partner. Hence, this is the one that is obliged to report the case to the police and judicial authorities, so that the relevant proceedings are opened and the person responsible assumes his duties as such.

However, there are exceptions to this situation. Specifically, we mean that it will not be considered as abandonment of the family if, despite leaving the home, you continue to pay the economic amount that corresponds to you or if, within a maximum period of one month from when you leave, you proceed to file a claim for separation or divorce.

In the same way, within this set of exceptions there is also the fact that the person who leaves has been forced to protect his life, if he was a victim of domestic violence.

In addition, there is the circumstance that a couple may decide to separate for a time to think about whether to break up permanently or not without any of them falling into this crime.

Previously, in the legislation of Spain, the crime of abandoning the family home also existed, but a few years ago it was eliminated. Hence, now there is no problem that the spouses can live in different houses.