Key Takeaways
- Spousal maintenance is regular financial support paid by one ex-spouse or civil partner to the other after divorce, to help them meet their reasonable needs.
- It is only for married couples and civil partners, not cohabitants, and it is not automatic. It depends on need and the other person’s ability to pay.
- There is no fixed formula, unlike child maintenance. The court weighs each person’s income, needs, earning capacity and standard of living.
- It usually runs for a set term, can be varied if circumstances change, and ends automatically if the person receiving it remarries.
When a marriage ends and one of you earns far more than the other, money is often the biggest worry. How will the lower earner manage?
Spousal maintenance is one of the ways the law tries to bridge that gap. It is regular financial support, usually paid monthly, from one former spouse or civil partner to the other after divorce, meant to help the financially weaker person meet their reasonable needs, particularly where they gave up work or earning power during the marriage.
Keep reading to find out who can claim spousal maintenance, how the court decides the amount, how long it lasts and when it ends. You will also see how it differs from child maintenance, so you do not confuse two very different things.
And if you would rather talk your own situation through first, our family law solicitors offer a free 30-minute consultation to help you understand where you stand.
Who can claim spousal maintenance?
Spousal maintenance is only available to married couples and civil partners, including former ones. This catches a lot of people out: if you lived together but were not married, you cannot claim it, however long you were together.
It is also not automatic. There is no rule that the higher earner must pay. It comes down to whether one person genuinely needs support and whether the other can afford to provide it.
It is most common where there is a real gap in income or earning capacity, often after a longer marriage where one person stepped back from their career. Typical examples include someone who gave up work to raise children, someone who needs support while they retrain and return to work, or someone who cannot work because of age or ill health.
How is the amount decided?
Here is the part that surprises people most. Unlike child maintenance, there is no fixed formula for spousal maintenance. The power to order it comes from the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and the court has wide discretion.
In practice, the court looks at the reasonable needs of the person asking for support, the income they have or could reasonably earn, and the paying person’s ability to meet those needs from their own income. It also weighs the standard of living during the marriage, the length of the marriage, your ages and health, and the contributions each of you made, with first consideration given to the welfare of any child under 18. The aim is usually to cover reasonable needs and help the lower earner adjust, not to guarantee the marital lifestyle indefinitely.
Because there is no formula, the figure can be hard to predict. Our spousal maintenance calculator can give you a rough starting point, but treat it as a guide only, as the right figure depends on the full picture of your finances.
What types of spousal maintenance are there?
Spousal maintenance is not one fixed thing. It can be structured in several ways:
- Term maintenance, paid for a set number of years, often to cover a period of retraining or until the children are older. This is increasingly the most common type.
- Joint lives maintenance, paid until one party dies or the recipient remarries. This is now much rarer and tends to be reserved for long marriages where independence is unlikely.
- A nominal order, often just £1 a year, which keeps the door open so the recipient can ask for real payments later if their circumstances worsen.
Ongoing payments can also be replaced by a single lump sum, capitalising the maintenance into one payment. This achieves a clean break, ending financial ties in one go. Where maintenance is agreed rather than fought over, it is usually recorded in a consent order. There is also interim support, known as maintenance pending suit, which can cover essential costs while the divorce is still going through.
How long does it last, and when does it end?
Most spousal maintenance today runs for a fixed term rather than indefinitely. The courts lean towards helping the lower earner move to financial independence rather than creating a lifelong tie.
An order ends when its term runs out, when either party dies, or, automatically, if the person receiving it remarries. Moving in with a new partner does not end it by itself, but it can be a reason to ask the court to reduce or stop the payments.
Spousal maintenance is also not set in stone. If circumstances change significantly, for example one person loses their job, becomes ill or starts earning much more, either party can apply to the court to vary the order up, down or to an end.
If you have a fixed-term order and still need support as it nears its end, you may be able to apply to extend it, as long as the original order did not rule that out.
Spousal maintenance vs child maintenance: what’s the difference?
These two are often muddled, but they do separate jobs. Spousal maintenance supports your former partner. Child maintenance supports your children, and it is usually handled through a private agreement or the Child Maintenance Service rather than the divorce court.
A clean break can end spousal maintenance, but it can never remove the duty to support your children. In some cases the two are combined into a single payment, known as global maintenance, though they remain different obligations underneath.
How do you arrange spousal maintenance?
You can agree spousal maintenance between yourselves, often with the help of mediation or solicitors, or ask the court to decide if you cannot agree. GOV.UK has an overview of money and property when you divorce.
Either way, spousal maintenance is part of the wider financial order that sorts out money on divorce, and to be binding it needs to be approved by the court. Getting it written down properly protects both sides and makes it enforceable if payments stop. Our team handles divorce financial settlements day in, day out.
If a maintenance order is in place and your ex stops paying, you do not have to write the money off. You can ask the court to enforce it, for example by having the payments taken directly from their wages.
Speak to a family law solicitor about spousal maintenance
Spousal maintenance is one of the most contested parts of any divorce, and because there is no set formula, the right figure and the right length of time are rarely obvious. Good advice early on can make a real difference to what you pay or receive for years to come.
At Osbourne Pinner, our family law solicitors help clients on both sides of spousal maintenance, whether you need support after giving up your career or want to keep payments fair and affordable. We will assess your situation, explain your options and work towards a settlement that holds up.
Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. We always recommend speaking to a qualified solicitor for advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
We offer a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your situation. You can speak with us via video call or visit our offices in Harrow, Canary Wharf, Piccadilly Circus or Manchester. To arrange your consultation, call 0203 983 5080, email [email protected] or complete the form below.
