Spousal maintenance query - ex’s salary

[Nearlyalldone]

Hi -

Just wanting to check your thoughts on something. Divorce process is likely to start in the next few months. My ex is a higher-rate tax payer who earns between £65,000-£70,000 a year plus receives bonuses and has company shares. I’m not in the higher-rate tax band and earn at least £20,000 less per year than him (with no bonuses or company shares etc).

In this case, would spousal maintenance be considered? I don’t actually want to receive the spousal maintenance from him , I’m just wondering if it could be used to offset against the equity in the matrimonial home which we own jointly (where I live with the kids - he’s moved out). Reducing his share of the equity will help me to buy him out.

For context, if relevant, we have 2 children under 10. CMS not officially set up but the ex pays me a similar amount to what the CMS payment would be each month.

Thanks!

On the contrary, happy to be challenged on what I'm saying. Less happy to be attacked without a focus on the content. If anything I've said is wrong, please point it out and explain why because it will be valuable to know and update my knowledge. Otherwise, leave me alone.

Back on thread after being attacked repeatedly by @Sapphirejane I thought that rather than me write anything original, I would literally copy and paste what a Family Solicitor @MrsBertBibby said on a thread in March 2022.

Spousal maintenance is ordered where the Court is satisfied that:

A one party needs it, and
B the other can afford it

Someone on £80K is easily in the frame for spousal maintenance, so it's very much a live issue, however, on UC, the spousal maintenance (as opposed to child maintenance) will be considered as W's income, so your friend may be on a hiding to nothing there.

You might notice the only real difference is that in my posts I was trying to provide some context and explanation for this simple summing up by a Family Solicitor.

@Nearlyalldone The best thing to do - in my opinion - is for both of you to find Family Solicitors who are members of Resolution. The reason I say both of you is so that everyone's expectations are managed by someone they trust.

I'm sorry that you were called greedy on this thread, that some people just said no without any explanation, I'm sorry that your thread got derailed, I'm sorry that you were given bad and misleading advice. Unfortunately that is what happens here and unless you are qualified yourself, you get piled on for pointing that out even if an obvious misunderstanding is being put forward.

I have to admit I think the likely outcome will be no spousal maintenance and yes I am basing that on my own divorce! My solicitor just said the courts were increasingly moving away from spousal maintenance (at least long term spousal maintenance) these days. However, it'll all depend on the facts unique to your case which is why a local solicitor is your best bet.

@BetterFuture1985 no one has attacked you.

You don’t seem to be very clear on what your advice actually is

Following a series of very negative posts and name calling the OP, I suggested that SM was in fact possible.

You immediately responded quoting me to say “even then it’s unlikely”.

You’ve gone on to post your long, dull and barely relevant thoughts concluding that in fact SM is a possibility.

As someone else posted I can see why you’re not longer married

Well actually if you go back and read you would note I'm not trying to give advice, I'm 1) questioning the dubious advice given by others and 2) giving some storied background on topics of interest that raise more questions than they answer.

However, I will concede that I said "even then it's unlikely." And I still think that mainly because of what my solicitors told me and the narrative I got of the courts in my part of England growing increasingly reluctant to award it. But I used the word unlikely quite deliberately; I didn't say impossible.

The silly thing though is we shouldn't be the ones having a falling out, because we don't actually disagree on much. I'm 100% with you that the people who just said "no" were wrong to say so. However, I do find your remarks about my "long, dull" posts rather hurtful and unnecessary and similarly the remark that you aren't surprised I'm divorced. The brutal honest truth on a forum like this is that the same insult almost always works in reverse. Doesn't it?