Spouse Maintenance

Have you devoted your life to running the household and looking after the children, only to find yourself left without an income when your spouse decides that the grass is greener on the other side?

Are you struggling to survive financially now that you are separated?

In situations like this, spouse maintenance is often payable by one party to the other, at least until the property settlement has been sorted out.

Spouse maintenance is payable in addition to any child support payable.

WHEN IS SPOUSE MAINTENANCE PAYABLE?

There are two conditions that must be met before a court will order one party to pay spouse maintenance to the other and they are:

• One of the parties is unable to adequately provide for themselves, and
• The other party has the capacity to pay spouse maintenance

HOW MUCH SPOUSE MAINTENANCE IS PAYABLE?

When working out how much spouse maintenance is payable, a court will consider a standard of living that is reasonable in all of the circumstances.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the standard of living that the parties were enjoying prior to separation as it is more expensive to run two separate households.

HOW LONG IS SPOUSE MAINTENANCE PAID FOR?

Spouse maintenance is generally not payable indefinitely, although in some cases it is.

In most cases, it is payable until a particular event occurs such as:

• The completion of the property settlement
• The expiration of a 6 month period for a party to search for employment after the completion of a period of training and education
• The party receiving spouse maintenance obtaining employment
• The party receiving spouse maintenance commencing cohabitation with a new partner