Studies of «aliments» in private law consist in analysing its legal regime and its relative implications. In common language, aliments directly refers to the food. However, Private law widens that term so that it is not only linked to nutrition. While Commercial law and consumer law fully agree with that definition, law of the family uses the plural «aliments» and that relates to all which is needed for life. This is a more general definition, that states that aliments are rather being the minimum necessary for the subsistence. Since there is no exhaustive predefined list of what is life necessary, this work is focus ondefining criteria that legally qualify aliments. This work also looks at means of acquiring «aliments» and ways for collecting «aliments» claims. This work shows the diversity both in «aliments» meaning and claim collections means depending on vital needs to be fulfilled. Those needs being themselves highly case-law dependant. Also, the maintenance allowance duties within families and through collective solidarity that the legislator has planned to help people failing to meet their vital needs is regulated by an exceptional regime of the common law. So the visible term «aliments» hides a huge legal concept that protects both close relationship and collectively more people from falling below some basic needs.
