Our partner-led, multidisciplinary team offers a truly committed and lasting partnership with our clients, across all of our East of England offices.
View all team
If you separate, you can claim maintenance for children living with you whether you were married or not, but you can only claim maintenance for yourself if you were married or in a civil partnership. Maintenance is also known as periodical payments.
Most child maintenance claims (also known as child support) are dealt with by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) or by agreement, using the CMS guidelines, which include:
child maintenance is assessed on a percentage of the non-resident parent’s income before tax and National Insurance, depending on the number of children they have to support
there is a reduction of 1/7 for each night per week, averaged over a year, that the child or children stay with the paying parent, and
there is a reduction if the paying parent has any other children in their own household or if they are paying child maintenance to more than one other parent
The Court can only make child maintenance orders in limited circumstances including;
where the non-resident parent earns more than the level specified by the CMS, the Court can make a top-up order
to meet a child’s special needs attributable to a disability or
for the payment of certain education or training costs or
where a parent or the child is resident abroad.
This is a regular payment from one party to the marriage or civil partnership to the other, and any Order for spousal maintenance will form part of the financial remedy Order on divorce or dissolution of civil partnership.
There is no set formula for deciding how much spousal maintenance is to be paid. In broad terms, periodical payments are calculated by balancing the income/earning capacity of the parties against their reasonable needs.
An Order for periodical payments must end when the person receiving the payment remarries or forms a subsequent civil partnership, or when either of you dies.
Where possible, you should look to achieve a clean break. This is a settlement where there is no spousal maintenance or where spousal maintenance ends at a set point in the foreseeable future (known as a deferred clean break). Sometimes, this is achieved through capitalised maintenance, i.e., the payee receiving more capital from the settlement instead of maintenance.
These are Court Orders for a nominal amount to be paid to the other party, such as £1 per annum. The purpose of nominal orders is that the sum can be varied upward if there is a change in circumstances.
At any time within the duration of a periodical payments Order, either of you may apply for the amount or period for which maintenance is payable to be varied. This can be up, down or capitalised maintenance.
If you are left with insufficient financial support during your divorce, the Court may order your ex-spouse to pay a maintenance pending suit (interim maintenance) to you until the case is concluded, to meet your immediate and interim needs.
The Court can make Orders for one party to a divorce to pay the other’s legal costs. You would need to prove to the court that, without the payment, you would not reasonably be able to obtain legal funding for the proceedings elsewhere.
Have a different question?
Get in touchChild maintenance is designed specifically to cover the everyday living costs of a child, such as food, clothing, and housing, and is typically calculated according to statutory Child Maintenance Service (CMS) guidelines. Spousal maintenance, on the other hand, consists of regular payments made by one ex-spouse to the other following a divorce or civil partnership dissolution to support their individual living expenses. While child maintenance is a legal requirement for non-resident parents, spousal maintenance is awarded based on financial need, earning capacity, and whether a clean break is achievable. Our family solicitors evaluate your financial circumstances to ensure fair maintenance arrangements are established for both you and your children.
When evaluating spousal maintenance claims, the court considers both parties' financial needs, obligations, earning capacities, and the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage. Spousal maintenance is generally considered when there is a significant income disparity between former partners, particularly if one person put their career on hold to care for the home or raise children. The court will assess whether periodical payments are required, for how long they should continue, and whether a defined term order – or a capitalised lump sum settlement – is appropriate to support the receiving party as they adjust to financial independence.
Yes, spousal maintenance orders can be varied upwards or downwards if there is an ongoing, substantial change in circumstances for either party. For example, if the paying ex-spouse experiences a severe fall in income or loses their job, or conversely, if the receiving ex-spouse secures significant employment or cohabits with a new partner, either person can apply to vary the monthly payments. Spousal maintenance automatically ends if the receiving ex-spouse remarries or enters into a civil partnership. We can assist you with negotiating an amicable variation or applying to the court to adjust existing maintenance payments.
If you require advice surrounding the law on marriage, divorce, cohabitation, separation and/or children please fill out this contact form. You can also contact your lawyer individually from ‘Our People’ using the link below.
Our team
Ellisons is a trading name of Ellisons Legal LLP. Ellisons Legal LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA Number 8001031) | © Ellisons
