Spousal Maintenance and Spouse Maintenance

Issues concerning spousal maintenance and child maintenance are quite separate but linked.
The questions that often arise about spousal maintenance are:

• Do I need to pay maintenance to my wife or husband?
• If so, how much do I have to pay?
• And how long do I have to pay it for?

The answers to each question will vary from case to case. That is why specialist advice is needed. Much will depend on such factors as the financial needs of each party, the income from all sources and the ability to afford to pay maintenance.

If maintenance is to be paid then the following time periods could be relevant:

• On a joint lives basis: this means for life or until one party dies or the person receiving the maintenance remarries;
• For a specified period without a bar on extending the time: this means that the maintenance will end on a certain date but the person receiving maintenance can ask for the time period to be extended (and this must be before the period expires) if the circumstances warrant it;
• For a specified period but with a bar: this means that the time period cannot be extended whatever the circumstances.