Maintenance- spousal support- how much?

[robotsmania]

We've been married for 12 years, we have 3 young children.

He earns over 8 times more than me. Can anyone give me an indication of what might be reasonable for spousal support?

Aside from child maintenance our mediator suggested £200 a month to me. That sounded very low based on the fact he earns over 8 x as much as me!

Spousal maintenance is only paid when one partner can’t support themselves financially without the payment, it’s then worked out on a basis of how much you need to live on, minus what income you already have and how much you could earn in the future is then also taken into consideration.

If £200 is the shortfall then that will be all you will get.

I am mot a lawyer, but am undergoing divorce - here are my thoughts:

As OurMiracle says, assuming this is a needs case, you'll just get what you need to meet your reasonable needs. If the shortfall between your income and expenditure is £200 a month, then that may be what you get, if he can afford it.

Nobody can really advise without knowing your income, benefits entitlement, CMS payments, and schedule of expenditure. You need to talk to your solicitor. Mediation should take place "in the shadow of the law" with a solicitor advising you.

On a pragmatic level, if he's handing over a lot of his income to you, where is the incentive for him to go out and work? IMHO it's better to get a modest amount consistently than to risk him quitting work or otherwise trying to minimise his liability to you, not least as his CMS payments would drop if he did reduce his income.