Maintenance order
During divorce proceedings, it is possible for the Court to order the person with the higher income to pay a regular maintenance payment to the other for help with their living costs.
This order may be set for a limited period, or it could last until one of the parties dies, marries, or enters into a new civil partnership. It may also alter if there is a change in circumstance for either party, for example, if one of the parties loses their job.
In order to make a claim for spousal support, there must already be divorce proceedings in progress.
However, unlike Child Maintenance, Spousal Maintenance is not statutory.
There are two ways the court may grant spousal maintenance, these are:
· An order for interim payments – made after separation but prior to finalising the divorce
· An order within the Financial Settlement Order
An order for interim payments
This order may be granted in instances where, during the divorce proceedings a party finds themselves with little to no income. In this situation the party may be eligible to claim interim spousal maintenance payments (aka. Maintenance Pending Suit) from the other party.
In order to claim interim spousal maintenance, the court must be satisfied that the party claiming is unable to meet their basic needs and that their partner has the sufficient means to support them.
An order within the Financial Settlement Order
It is common that the Court will try to make a ‘Clean Break’ Consent order during Financial Settlement. A Clean Break order settles all financial matters and allows each of the parties to walk away without any future payments to be made.
In instances where one party would be left with an insufficient income, the court may consider making a Spousal Maintenance Order that matches the reasonable lifestyle they had prior to separation.
Please consider however, the courts will only grant Spousal Maintenance Orders in instances where they cannot grant a clean break order. Therefore, Spousal Maintenance will not always be achievable.
Next Steps
Spousal Maintenance can be ordered in the form of:
A Lifetime Order – this is granted in instances where the couple have been married for a long time or where there is a significant difference in the income of the parties
A Fixed Term Order – this is granted for a set number of years or until a certain date. This tends to be granted when the low-income party has not been able to work and needs a period of adjustment to adjust their earnings
How we can help
If you need more advice in order to understand your position with regards to Spousal Maintenance, our team of experts can help guide you through this challenging time.
Please call us today on 01772 494366 and arrange a consultation.