The woman lives in Rome with her mother, who sought €900 per month in alimony from her husband, who separated from her and moved out of the family home in 2013.

The case came to Italy’s Supreme Court after a lower court agreed the husband should pay €300 per month plus medical costs from his €1,200 monthly pension.

The Supreme Court said the lower courts had failed to take into account that the woman had a professional qualification and had turned down work, The Times reports.

Matilde Cozzolino, the lawyer representing the father, said: “Someone who has finished their studies and has a professional qualification cannot expect a parent, particularly an elderly one, to continue to be burdened with the maintenance of a more than adult child.”