Resumen

CESPEDES MUNOZ, Carlos  y  VARGAS ARAVENA, David. THE JURIDICAL NATURE OF ECONOMIC COMPENSATION IN THE DIVORCE CONTEXT: CHILE AND SPAIN . Rev. chil. derecho [online]. 2008, vol.35, n.3, pp. 439-462. ISSN 0718-3437.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-34372008000300003.

The economic compensation introduced by the New Chilean Matrimonial Act of 2004 was introduced as a new legal institution for the national juridical system. This circumstance, next to the fact that its drafting did not follow the exact lines adopted by the systems from which it was taken, bears the difficulty of outlining its character because it is guided only by the brief regulation that governs it. A similar problem arose in Spain -one of the referents to the Chilean legislation-, which, nevertheless was consecrated legistatively since 1981, don't exist as an unanimous vision about which place the economic compensation should take in the universe of the juridical institutions. We think the economic compensation has the nature of a legal obligation with patrimonial character, based on the equity, it purpose is to provide the weakest spouse with a tool to start over after the divorce. A different conception, such as the supporting or compensatory character, do not explain the very special cualities of this institution.

Palabras llave : Economic compensation; divorce; nature.