Spousal Maintenance
Expert Advice On Spousal Maintenance From Brisbane Family Lawyers
Key Points
- Spouses have a duty to financially support the other spouse if that spouse is unable to financially support him/herself.
- There is no automatic entitlement to spouse maintenance.
- There is a 2-step test.
- The person seeking spouse maintenance must be unable to financially support him/herself. The other spouse must have a “surplus” available to pay the sum requested.
- It can be a weekly/monthly sum, a one-off lump sum payment or payment of expenses on your behalf (e.g. rent).
Spouse maintenance is a complex area of family law.
Where one spouse is unable to meet his/her reasonable living expenses (from his/her own income/resources), and the other spouse has the capacity to provide financial assistance, spouse maintenance may be payable.
FAQs
Types of spouse maintenance include:
- interim spouse maintenance (i.e. arrangements that will be in place until you have a property settlement). This could be an ongoing monthly cash sum paid to you by your spouse, or it could be your spouse paying certain expenses on your behalf e.g. rent, mortgage repayments, utilities;
- final spouse maintenance (i.e. arrangements that will continue for a period of time past your property settlement); or
- lump sum spouse maintenance (i.e. a lump sum to be paid from a source of funds e.g. sale proceeds of a home).
Spouse maintenance can be obtained by agreement (via negotiation) or via a Court Order.
From a legal perspective, you need to satisfy the Court that you are unable to meet your reasonable living expenses from your own income and/or resources, and that your spouse has the capacity to contribute towards your shortfall.
The evidence you will need to present includes:
- documents to demonstrate your income (including your salary, investment income and any government benefits you receive);
- details of any child support you receive;
- your income/employment capacity;
- details of any course of study you are undertaking;
- our parenting commitments and how they impact on your ability to work;
- a breakdown of your living expenses (and supporting documents);
- documents demonstrating your spouse’s income/resources, his/her expenses and his/her capacity to pay the spouse maintenance;
- details of how your expenses were met during the relationship and following separation
