What is Spousal Maintenance?

Spousal maintenance (also known as spousal support) is a financial arrangement between divorced or separated couples, where one person pays a regular sum of money to the other to help meet their living expenses.

Spousal maintenance is usually paid for a fixed period of time often linked to key events like children reaching certain milestones or retirement ages. In very rare cases it can be appropriate for it to be paid for the entirety of someone’s life.

Spousal maintenance is usually paid at a fixed level, but this can be linked to inflation to ensure the true value of the payment is not lost over time. It can also be stepped down over time to help with the transition to independence.

It is also possible to receive a one off lump sum payment now rather than ongoing payments, this is known as capitalised spousal maintenance. There is usually a discount applied when maintenance is paid in this way to recognise the fact it is being received all in one go and the recipient has the ability to invest the amount received.

When is Spousal Maintenance Awarded?

Spousal maintenance will only be paid when one person is unable to meet their reasonable outgoings from the income that they have and the other person has the ability to pay. Before spousal maintenance is considered all other forms of income need to be considered, so you will need to check what state benefits, child maintenance and income you are entitled to first.

The Court will consider several factors when deciding whether to award spousal maintenance:

The length of the marriage: Longer marriages may lead to a longer term for payments.
The standard of living during the marriage: The court will aim to maintain a similar standard of living.
The earning capacity of each spouse: The court will consider the ability of each spouse to earn their own income and whether this may change over time.
The needs of each spouse: The court will assess the financial needs of both parties.
The care of children: If there are children, the court will consider the impact of them needing to be cared for on each person’s financial positions.

How is Spousal Maintenance calculated?

There is no fixed formula for calculating spousal maintenance, instead all of the circumstances will be looked at. This means that there can be very different outcomes even in situations that seem similar on the face of it. There is, however, a general expectation that spousal maintenance will help with a transition to independence.