Spousal Maintenance
WHAT IS SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE?
Spousal maintenance is a regular monthly payment paid to an ex-partner who cannot financially support themselves after a divorce. Spousal maintenance is separate from child maintenance. Another name for spousal maintenance is alimony payments – an American term – or substantive spousal maintenance.
HOW DO YOU SORT OUT SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE?
There are 3 ways spousal maintenance can be decided –
- You and your ex-partner can decide between yourselves.
- You and your ex-partner can decide through mediation with a mediator’s help.
- If you and your ex-partner cannot come to an agreement, the court can decide for you.
WHO IS ENTITLED TO SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE?
Any ex-partner to whom you have been married can be entitled to spousal maintenance. However, it does depend upon the length of the marriage and the financial status, present income, and future income of the less financially well off ex-partner. If the length of the marriage is a only a few years, then the court may award spousal maintenance for a short time in a term order which has a start and finish date. The court can also award a lump sum to cover living expenses for a few years until the less financially well off ex-partner can support themselves. Of course if there are young children involved, then this will influence the court’s decision as the less financially well-off ex-partner may not be able to work to get themselves back on their feet because they have to look after the children and do school runs etc.
You can read about ‘term orders’ in our L.I.P Help Guide below.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR ‘FINANCIAL TERMS AND FINANCIAL COURT ORDERS EXPLAINED’
If the couple have been married for a relatively long time and the less financially well-off ex-partner cannot work due to age or other factors that can stop them entering the workplace, spousal maintenance can be paid for life. This is called a whole life spousal maintenance order.
HOW LONG CAN SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE BE PAID FOR?
Spousal maintenance can be paid for a specific amount of time – called a term order – or for life. A whole life order is also called a joint lives order.
WHEN CAN SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE END?
- When the court order says it does.
- When the ex-partner paying the maintenance passes away.
- When the ex-partner receiving the maintenance gets married again, enters into a civil partnership, or co-habits with a new partner.
Spousal maintenance payments will only stop when the court says it will, unless the court order specifies a certain date.
CAN SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE BE REVALUATED?
Spousal maintenance can be revaluated, suspended for a period of time, or can end if either party dies or the paying party loses their job. It can also end or be revaluated if the ex-partner receiving spousal maintenance remarries, enters into a civil partnership, or co-habits with a new partner.
HOW MUCH SHOULD AN EX-PARTNER BE PAID?
There is a calculator by which child maintenance is calculated. Unfortunately, there is no such calculator for spousal maintenance. For spousal maintenance, the overall circumstances, day to day expenses, age, qualifications, their role during the entire marriage, chance of re-training, and ability to enter the workplace have to be taken into account.
WHAT IS A NOMINAL MAINTENANCE ORDER AND HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM A SUBSTANTIVE MAINTENANCE ORDER?
A nominal maintenance order is a financial court order made to safeguard an ex-partner financially. An ex-partner may be able to presently support themselves as the means are available, however, this may not be the case in the future, meaning that the ex-partner may require financial assistance from the other party. As a result, a nominal maintenance order can be granted in favour of the ex-partner where they will receive a small amount every month or year. This can be assessed later and made into a substantive maintenance order. A substantive maintenance order is a set payment, normally a larger amount, made to an ex-partner every month for their living expenses. This will safeguard this ex-partner for all eventualities.
WHAT IS A ‘BUY OUT’ WITH REGARDS TO SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE?
With regards to spousal maintenance payments, if a divorcing couple want a clean break court order – a court order where neither ex-partner can make any claim on any future income or assets of the other ex-partner after a divorce – they can both agree a lump sum payment to be paid to the ex-partner who would receive spousal maintenance. This is called a ‘buy out or buying out spousal maintenance payment’. This can be paid in one lump sum or in instalments. This must be carefully thought out as future instalments could be altered by the court. Another method of doing this can be to invest a certain amount of money and the party who would receive spousal maintenance would receive an income from it, instead of getting regular maintenance payments.
In England and Wales. the court can force a ‘buy out’ on you. In Northern Ireland, both parties have to agree to the ‘buy out’.
You can read about ‘clean break orders’ in our L.I.P Help Guide below.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘FINANCIAL TERMS AND FINANCIAL COURT ORDERS EXPLAINED’
CAN YOU INSURE YOUR SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS?
It is possible to insure your spousal maintenance payments so you can continue to receive an income if your ex-partner dies while you are receiving payments. This can be done if either you or your ex-partner takes out a life insurance policy. The policy can provide a lump sum or monthly payments.