6.  The applicant was born in 1952 and lives in Frankenthal. 7.  On 28 May 1991 the applicant's husband instituted proceedings with the Frankenthal District Court, sitting as a court competent in family matters, with a view to obtain the spouses' divorce. 8.  On 21 February 1992 the Frankenthal District Court pronounced the spouses' divorce. It ordered the applicant's former husband to pay alimony to their son. Having regard to a marriage contract in which both parties had agreed to manage their property separately and to waive alimony in case of a divorce, it found that the applicant was not entitled to any alimony payments. Contrary to the applicant's allegations, it considered the marriage contract to be compatible with German law, finding that the applicant's pregnancy at the time that it was concluded did not place her at an excessive disadvantage that would automatically make the contract null and void. 9.  On 12 November 1992 the Palatinate Court of Appeal, following the applicant's appeal, amended the District Court's decision. It obliged her former husband to pay her a monthly alimony of DEM 300 (approximately EUR 153), finding that this was necessary to ensure the upbringing of their child and the applicant's other child from an earlier marriage, who is severely disabled. The Court of Appeal also increased the monthly alimony to be paid to the spouses' son. Referring to the reasoning in the District Court's decision, it also found that the marriage contract was compatible with German law. 10.  On 2 December 1992 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court. 11.  On 29 March 2001 the Federal Constitutional Court found that the decision of the Court of Appeal violated the applicant's rights under the German Basic Law. It found that when determining the validity of the marriage contract, the Court of Appeal had not taken into account that the applicant's pregnancy, in addition to the strain of caring for a handicapped child, placed her at an obvious disadvantage towards her former husband when concluding the marriage contract. The matter was thus remitted to the Court of Appeal. 12.  On 8 November 2001 the proceedings before the Court of Appeal were discontinued following the engagement of the applicant's former husband, in the context of a court settlement, to pay monthly alimony to the applicant, as well as a lump sum with respect to the past.