What is Spousal Maintenance

The Court has the power to make spousal maintenance orders which are known as “periodical payments” orders by virtue of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. This means that when dealing with the financial side of a divorce settlement or the dissolution of a civil partnership, the Court can make orders for one spouse/partner to pay the other partner an amount per month to meet their needs. It is important to understand that the “sharing principle” does not apply to maintenance/periodical payments. The ‘sharing principle’ means that the starting point on divorce is that assets accumulated during the marriage, including capital, pensions and property, will be shared equally between the spouses. There are of course circumstances and factors that are taken into account which may mean that one party may take more than the other. In contrast, maintenance does not seek to equalise both party’s income but it is available to help each person meet their own living expenses and needs. 

There is a balance to be struck when considering whether maintenance can be claimed and should be ordered.  Spousal maintenance will only be ordered by a court if there is a need for it to be paid.  This will depend on whether the party seeking maintenance can justify, based on their own income needs, that the other party should pay them an amount per month as maintenance/periodical payments.  The circumstances which will be considered by a court are not exhaustive but would include the age of the party seeking maintenance and why they are seeking it.  For example, one party may have given up work to care for and bring up minor children or they are working reduced hours due to an illness and cannot meet their current needs without support from the other party through maintenance. It is sometimes difficult where there are limited assets and both parties are on a limited income to look at this fine line and decide what the outcome should be. 

As well as considering whether one party is eligible to seek maintenance from the other, not only must we look at how much is needed but for how long the maintenance should be paid for. The Court can order maintenance for “joint lives”, which means to the death of either former spouse, or for a shorter term which would then stop after a defined period. We are seeing that Courts are increasingly less likely to order ongoing maintenance in financial orders for long periods of time. This is because the parties are expected to move to independence and there should be a “Clean Break” settlement as soon as possible after the divorce where there are no ongoing ties to the other party following a financial settlement having been agreed and ordered. However, as stated above, where there is a need, maintenance may  be awarded if the paying party can afford it. Maintenance can also be capitalised, which means that one person might take more as a lump sum of cash, or a larger share of the other assets, to provide them with resources to meet their ongoing financial needs, which then allows an immediate clean break between the couple. 

It is important to understand that the Court does not generally have the power to make orders in relation to child maintenance within financial remedy court proceedings. Where there are children of a marriage or of a relationship and the parties separate, the absent party has a legal duty to maintain that child financially. The Child Maintenance Service has the power to make legally binding assessments for child maintenance payments instead of the Family Court, which is determined by their own calculation. The Court only has the power to make orders in relation to child maintenance where the gross income of the paying party is over £156,000 per year. This is because as it stands currently, the maximum that the CMS can assess a person for child maintenance is up to an annual income of £156,000. You can work out the CMS maintenance payable by using this link: Calculate your child maintenance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Please do not hesitate to contact Helen Habershon at Blanchards Law for more information or assistance on the issue of maintenance.