By Fiona McGeorge - 18 Aug 2017
This week is Money Week - a great time to take stock of your
financial position. Did you know that if you've separated from your
partner and they're living a life of luxury while you're in
struggle street, you could be eligible for spousal maintenance?
Many people confuse spousal maintenance payments with child
support payments. Although the two often sit alongside each
other, they are not one and the same and you may be entitled to
claim both. Spousal maintenance is to cover the adult's reasonable
day to day living costs, while child support is to pay for the
children's weekly expenses.
So, the big question - are you entitled to spousal
maintenance? If you answer yes to these three questions then
you are likely to have a claim for spousal maintenance:
- Are you unable to meet your reasonable day to
day living costs on your own income?
- Is the reason you can't meet your own costs because of a joint
decision you and your former partner made while in a relationship?
The most common reason is because one parent stayed home to look
after the children while the other parent continued to work.
- Does your former partner earn enough to be able to contribute
to some of your expenses while also covering their own day to day
costs?
The Family Proceedings Act 1980 sets out the requirements for a
spousal maintenance claim. The Act has regard for "the effects of
the divisions of the functions of marriage" and it also recognises
the likely earning capacity of each party. The law recognises that
many people struggle to break back into the workforce, after a
period of time not working and therefore require assistance from
their former partner to help them during this period.
The Courts confirm that it's not appropriate that one person is
required to scrape by after separation, while the other partner
lives a life of luxury, if this comes about as a result of joint
decisions made during the relationship. The Court will assess the
standard of living the parties had while living together and each
party's ability to fund their own living costs. If spousal
maintenance is required the Court will make an order requiring one
partner to make weekly or monthly payments to the other partner to
help meet that partner's day to day expenses.
If you think you might be eligible for spousal maintenance, are
having spousal maintenance claimed from you, or you would like
assistance understanding your rights, contact Fiona McGeorge
to discuss.