Appeal Regarding Apportionment of Lump-Sum Annual Bonus for Maintenance Payments

In a family law appeal concerning maintenance payments under Article 137 of the Civil Code, the court upheld the lower court's decision to order the paying spouse to transfer two-thirds of his annually paid bonus to the recipient spouse only after its accrual, rather than incorporating it proportionally into the monthly income calculation. The court reasoned that while the thirteenth-month salary is commonly pro-rated into monthly payments, applying this method to additional annual gratifications or bonuses would disproportionately burden the obligor financially throughout the year; therefore, such lump-sum payments should generally be divided between the parties only upon their actual receipt. The court also dismissed arguments regarding the obligor's control over business profits due to shareholding and a board position, finding the claims speculative and irrelevant to the method of apportioning the existing bonus structure.