Maintenance

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the amount of maintenance without going to Court, perhaps through mediation, and this agreement can be put into an order, (a Consent Order) ,so that each party has the security and certainty of knowing that the arrangement is official. Maintenance for children is now dealt with by the Child Support agency except in unusual circumstances. Your solicitor will discuss these if they apply to you.

Is a maintenance order appropriate?

Whether there should be a maintenance order and how much it should be depends on your circumstances. Your solicitor will be able to advise you in relation to your own particular case. The Court will consider various factors, which you can read about here, but if your marriage was short and both you and your spouse are working it may be that a maintenance order is unnecessary. If the marriage was long and once spouse gave up work to care for the children, then it is likely that the Court will consider a maintenance order to be appropriate.

Can there be a clean break?

Even in these situations, the Court will consider whether it is possible for there to be a clean break. This may mean that the higher earning spouse relinquishes a larger share in the property or assets and in return he or she is freed from the obligation to continuing paying maintenance. The Court has a duty to consider whether a clean break is possible, but in cases where one spouse is caring for young children this is unlikely to be the case.

How much maintenance should be paid?

Unfortunately it is not possible to give a hard and fast rule about how maintenance will be calculated.

The starting point in calculating maintenance is for both spouses to estimate their reasonable outgoings, or what their reasonable outgoings are likely to be if they are still living together and compare this with all sources of income including benefits. It should then be possible to assess what the shortfall is of the non-earning or lower earning spouse and what maintenance may be necessary. It is likely that some negotiations will be involved in coming to an agreement regarding this, but if this is not possible then the Judge will consider these figures in making his order. It is important to remember that both spouses are likely to have to accept a lowering of their previous standard of living.

How long will the order last?

A maintenance order does not have to last indefinitely. It may be ordered to last until a specific event such as the spouse re-entering the workforce or until the children leave home. Maintenance Orders end once the spouse either starts living with someone, remarries or dies. The Court is generally keen on people supporting themselves and the non earning spouse will be expected to demonstrate what they are doing to find employment such as retraining if this is possible. Again, the circumstances will determine the extent to which someone is expected to go out into the workforce. If someone is in their fifties and never worked or trained, then it is to be expected that they have quite limited earning capacity and maintenance will probably need to be paid for some time to enable them to attempt to enter the workforce. Alternatively if someone gave up a good job to have children, then they may be expected to return to work, once the children are old enough or they have secured satisfactory child care.

Every case is different and your solicitor will discuss fully with you the likely outcome in your particular case.