Italian Husband and Wife have Daughter together.

Husband and Wife divorce.

Italian family court orders Husband to pay Wife child support of US $300-odd per month.

Husband is a pizza baker.

Husband’s business is off.

Husband can’t afford to pay his court-ordered child support.

But Husband has an idea.

He can bake pizzas for Daughter and Wife. A lot of them. US $300-odd worth of pizzas.

So that’s what Husband does.

Wife takes Husband to court.

But the Italian family court sides with Husband, and credits Husband with the dollar equivalent of the pizzas Husband gives Wife and Daughter.

This is a very questionable ruling.

The Italian family court is clearly sympathetic to the Husband, who apparently can no longer afford the cash amount of the previously ordered support.

Technically, Husband should have filed a modification action to reduce the amount of support he must pay based upon his changed circumstances.

The problem with the Italian family court’s compassionate (toward Husband) ruling is that, beyond the amount of pizza that Wife and Daughter would / could actually consume themselves, it is of no practical value whatsoever to Wife and Daughter.

The purpose of child support is to provide funds for the purchase of things for the child, including clothing and housing.

Unfortunately, except in a barter society, neither stores nor landlords or mortgage lenders accept payment in pizza.

If Wife appeals, unless Italian family law is radically different from that in the US, the family court ruling is going to be reversed. Or at least modified so that only a portion of child support can be paid in pizza, called “in kind”.

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