FAQ on Maintenace on Spouse

In divorce proceedings, Court may order :

• periodical payment. This is commonly called "maintenance" and is usually paid monthly. If you prefer a "clean break", you may elect "lump sum" payment instead and 
• lump sum payment. This amount can be additional to the monthly maintenance. But some may want a "clean break" and thus favour to have a lump sum only. A lump sum can be settled by instalments.

Regarding real properties, Court also has special power. Court may make orders for :

• transfer or settlement of property and 
• variation of settlement. 
• order sale of property. 

Since the payments and the way to deal with the real property have a strong financial impact on the parties, engaging a lawyer to represent is almost essential.

When you divorce, you and your spouse need to agree how to separate your finances. Maintenance is a periodic payment made by an ex-spouse to the other. This is only one of the items in a financial agreement.

A complete financial agreement includes deciding how you’re going to divide:

• maintenance by payment a periodic sum usually monthly
• retirement funds
• property
• savings
• investments
• child maintenance

You might get things like:

• a share of your your partner’s assets particularly on the matrimonial home or other valuable real properties
• monthly maintenance
• regular maintenance payments to help with children or living expenses

You can usually avoid long court process if you agree the monthly maintenance amount and how to split your money and property.

You may sign a financial settlement with you ex-spouse on every item to be agreed without going to court. We advise you to make this by way of a court order.

If you and your ex-spouse agree on maintenance and how to divide money and property, you may apply for a consent order to make it legally binding and can be enforced in court.

 Court encourages parties to agree and settle on their finance upon divorce.

If you and your ex-spouse cannot agree on spousal financial support, you can ask a court to make a financial order (also known as the ‘contested’ or "contentious" route or an ‘ancillary relief order’).

This means the court will decide how assets will be split and the amount of monthly maintenance be paid. Getting the court to decide usually takes longer and is more expensive than if you and your ex-spouse agree.

There are three stages after you have applied for a financial order:

• the first appointment - a short hearing with the judge to discuss your application
• financial dispute resolution (FDR) appointment - to help you agree without needing a final hearing (you might need more than one appointment)
• final hearing - if you’re not able to agree, this is when a judge will decide how you must separate your finances.

You and your ex-spouse need to fill in a financial statement for a financial order (Form E) to show a breakdown of your property and debts. This includes giving an estimate of your future living costs.

Form E is for the purpose of deciding on the parties' disagreement on maintenance and asset division.

You’ll also need to collect documents about your finances, for example:

• rental or mortgage agreements
• retirement fund documents
• loan agreements
• proof of your salary income, for example tax return or recent payroll statements
• details of personal belongings, for example a car or house contents

Completing a financial statement for a financial order (Form E) can be tedious and demanding if you have diverse assets and multiple or unstable income sources. You may need a lawyer's help to avoid omissions and mistakes.

 In USA, it is called "spousal support".

There are two types of maintenace to a divorcing spouse. The purpose is to protect the financial position of the financially weaker party in divorce.

• Temporary : An order for payments to a spouse before your divorcecase is final. You can ask for an interim maintenance order as soon as you file the case.
• Long-term maintenance: This is the financial upport orders made at the end of the case (for example, in a court order). This would be a permanent order on maintenace. 

Yes. 

Variation of maintenance order can happen after divorce due to the change of fianncial circumstances of either party. Variation may be for increase or decrease of the maintenance amount. Court considers variation based on the same set of factors when deciding the original maintenance order.

Yes.

Spousal maintenance is gender neutral. While TV drama often depicts the recipient of spousal maintenance to be females only, it’s gender-neutral. 

Spousal maintenance can be awarded to either gender. Men make up a majority of those paying spousal maintenance. However, with more women in the workforce, the amount of men receiving maintenance has increased. Nevertheless, because of "gender" image, men usually considers this as a sign of incapability and thus hesitating to look for maintenance from his ex-spouse.

The decision to order spousal maintenance is affected by several different things. For example, duration of the marriage is one factor. Often, spousal maintenance is ordered in higher amounts for those that were married for longer periods, especially if the receiving spouse didn’t or wasn’t able to work owing to her care of the children. 

Other considerations for ordering spousal maintenance include: 

• property division, 
• income of each spouse
• age and health of each spouse
• spouse left the workforce to raise children, 
• the standard of living during the marriage
• other factors

While there are many components to spousal maintenance, things above are standard factors you should know in any divorce case. Remember, every divorce is different.