Legal Nature of the Institution of Alimony of Spouses and Children (On the Example of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire of 1832)

As a result of analyzing the regulation of maintenance relations in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire of 1832, the author concludes that the marital maintenance obligation, which had a special legal nature (sui generis), was unilateral: it was imposed on the husband in the absence of the wife’s guilt in the performance of her duties to her husband. In turn, the obligation to maintain children, based on parental authority and the natural bond existing between parent and child, was imposed on both parents until the child reached the age of majority.