Q&A

When does spousal maintenance on a joint lives basis end?

When does spousal maintenance on a joint lives basis end?

However, spousal maintenance on a joint lives basis is increasingly rare as the court’s objective is that there be a transition to independence for the receiving spouse. Spousal maintenance ends if the recipient remarries or if either party dies.

Why is there a need for spousal maintenance?

The Court is of the view that the wife has established a need for spousal maintenance. The Court has had difficulty in identifying the full extent of the husband’s capacity to pay such spousal maintenance as a result of complexities concerning the structure and operation of a trust of which he is the sole trustee and a beneficiary.

What was the nature of an interim spousal maintenance order?

Consistent with Redman, in Drysdale & Drysdale [10] Coleman J exercising the appellate jurisdiction of the Full Court said: It is the nature of an interim spousal maintenance order that, as here, it is made after a circumscribed hearing, in reliance upon evidence which is incomplete and/or unable to be fully tested.

How is the capital sum for spousal maintenance calculated?

Often solicitors will calculate an appropriate capital sum using ‘Duxbury tables’. These tables allow the capitalised total lump sum to be calculated by reference to sex, age and the level of annual income needed. The calculations are based on predictions and approximations of income yield, capital growth, inflation and life expectancy.

How is spousal maintenance paid to a former spouse?

Equally if you already pay spousal maintenance to your former spouse, or they pay it to you, either of you can apply to the court for this regular payment to be ‘capitalised’ at any point. Often solicitors will calculate an appropriate capital sum using ‘Duxbury tables’.

However, spousal maintenance on a joint lives basis is increasingly rare as the court’s objective is that there be a transition to independence for the receiving spouse. Spousal maintenance ends if the recipient remarries or if either party dies.

Are there any guiding principles for spousal maintenance?

A lack of clear guidance from the courts on the issue of spousal maintenance led the Law Commission in its report in 2014 to set out some guiding principles at paragraph 3.92 onwards.

Can a court order spousal maintenance in a divorce?

Not every divorce or legal separation involves spousal maintenance. It can be ordered by the court or parties may mutually agree in divorce mediation. There is a two-step inquiry process: 1) Whether one spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance; the element of “entitlement.”