Fake divorces to claim two minimum income benefits instead of one

Getting divorced to claim two IMV payments: the trick that is spreading

Spain's Ingreso Mínimo Vital (minimum living income) has become the new arena for welfare fraud. The formula is simple: a couple with children divorces, each registers at a different address, and both apply for the benefit separately. The result: two IMV payments instead of one. The only requirement that complicates the scheme is the municipal register, but a second home — real or obtained through a service some attribute to NGOs — is enough to get around the filter.

One participant in the discussion describes his case bluntly: two flats, one on top of the other, each in the name of one spouse. He would keep the children and collect the IMV, the child supplement and other benefits. His vvife, who works, would not give up her salary. Another adds that, as a bonus, the fake divorce avoids a future real divorce with asset costs. "Win win," he sums up.

This is no small matter. Benefits of this kind are calculated per household unit, so splitting the family multiplies the bill. The Social Security monitors register records, but inspectors find it hard to detect an agreed separation when the homes are adjacent and the spouses keep up the appearance of marriage.

Some argue the IMV is full of loopholes and call for its abolition. Others, more pragmatic, see it as a resource optimisation only the cleverest can access. If inspections do not sharpen their data matching, these strategies could spread. Although Social Security has already announced tighter controls on register records, the uncertainty suggests the matter is far from closed.