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SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE

Spousal maintenance is fundamentally different from child support. A separating spouse or partner does not have an automatic entitlement to receive money in the form of financial maintenance from their former partner. There is no set formula or method in determining the amount of spousal maintenance that should be paid from one partner to the other. However, our dedicated team of expert family lawyers have a firm conviction that collaborative law techniques are the best way to ensure that you and your former spouse or partner reach a mutually agreeable spousal maintenance agreement, couched in a legally enforceable format, which ensures legal costs are kept to a minimum.

In those circumstances where former spouses or partners cannot reach an agreement, we will vigorously represent your interests in the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court. To be eligible for spousal maintenance there must be a significant difference in the spouses’ relative level of income (at the date of separation). The Court looks at the ‘financial needs’ and ‘reasonable day-to-day living expenses’ of the lower income earning spouse, as well as looking at the ‘financial capacity’ of the higher income earning spouse, to meet those financial needs and day to day expenses.

Whilst there is a positive obligation to seek employment after an award has been made by the Court, a low-income earning spouse who has assumed the primary care of children of or under school age, is entitled to commit themselves full-time to that role. In addition, the Court does not require that the lower income spouse or partner deplete matrimonial property assets before making an application for spousal maintenance.

Our team of dedicated family lawyers have a wealth of experience in drafting mutually acceptable spousal maintenance agreements. Our experience in conducting collaborative mediation sessions will ensure that you and your former partner reach a compromise that takes into account your mutual needs, whilst our extensive courtroom experience is always available to be called on if your legal rights need to be enforced through litigation.