Spousal maintenance - anyone applied for it and had it awarded ?

[Happy1966]

Hi - 👋 I understand the courts prefer a clean break where possible but big difference in our earnings ( £100000 pa difference ) and while we have some assets ( equity in property and pensions ) not enough for me to buy a property post divorce and my mortgage eligibility is not great as I’m close to retirement. Has anyone on here been awarded spousal maintenance ? Thanks 🙏

Friend divorcing has no income and applied for it. (Ex has well-paid finance job).

The judge advised her to retrain and get a job.

If it’s a long marriage, you are both near retirement, and not enough assets, with that level of disparity, there is a good chance of it being awarded.

how close is close? 10 years is different to 2. Are you working at all ?

are you assessing realistically your housing needs? Eh a one bed property vs a 3 bed ( as example)

I'm going to assume from your username you were born in 1966 making you 58 this year.

I'll send you a PM later, I'm sure my ex reads my posts, but yes, support up to 3 years is possible.

Did you have a gap in your career to bring up kids? Is that why you have lower earnings?

Where in the UK are you?

I know the advice generally given here is that as long as you have assets to sufficiently house yourself (1 bed, really?) you'll get no more but the advice my solicitor gave me is that your future housing, it doesn't needs to match your current set up but equally it should not be like 'falling off a cliff'.

My solicitor applied for me. I get £1 a year. Not sure what I'm supposed to do with it?!

Yes 1 bed as that is all op ‘needs’
however, if there is significant gap in equalisation post divorce , and assets available to provide more (or income) once needs of both parties considered, the principle of sharing can kick in to consider lifestyle.

if op has been married 35 years etc there’s chance of spousal for long time - even in so e cares joint lives- but this will depend on many factors . If married short time things could be different

op has 7 years or so ( if user name indicates age) working So can also pay her way during that time.

Yes I did. Divorced 2022. Aged 50 after 27 Yr marriage. Ex pays x amount per month until I'm 60. Its to cover the disparity in earnings. My career was affected due to be being a trailing spouse/mum to 4 kids with his military career and the fact I'd carved out a new career in an industry very heavily impacted by covid (just before Covid hit) meaning I had to relocate to a more expensive part of UK. This helps me cover living costs and pay into my own pension.

I also had 50% of everything else Pensions savings,cars and a lump sum more than 50% of our old 5 bedroom house he stayed in (and moved his affair partner and thier 2 kids concieved during the affair) to help me buy my 2 bed. He kept all furnishings and contents. I left with a suitcase and nothing else.
I had an excellent solicitor specialising in long term marriage divorce and military pensions. This was the key and I think an element of guilt on his part. He acknowledged I'd supported him hugely career wise for 27 years.

Dp pays spousal, I receive it - both amicably arranged

Thanks everyone - I worked partime throughout marriage (20 yrs) for childcare and also because I have mental health disability. I ve started working full time on a temporary basis to see how I get on mentally ( if affects me adversely I’ll have to go back to part time ) . Working pt is something me and ex discussed and agreed to prior to divorce as i had a period of not working due to mh issues .

@millymollymoomoo theres a big age difference - he’s 14 years younger so not close to retirement . I understand from sols that housing will be less than what I’m used to there should be equality in what we have post divorce and as @divorceadviceneeded said, it shouldn’t be like falling off a cliff

He shouldn’t also be expected to work to support you forever working part time or not at all.

so yes it’s possible you’ll get spousal - but you’ll still be expected to work full time or claim benefits. And what was agreed during the marriage becomes slightly moot point after it’s ended.

how long are you expecting it for? And what will change to stop it ?

Certainly not, I'd rather live on the streets than be connected to him by money. Sorry that's just me. I would have thought you'd have been better off asking for more money and a bigger part of the home during the divorce and then having a clean break.
Did you sign a consent/financial order during the divorce because if you did you can't go back for more money. Did you claim half his pension?

There are many reasons why people divorcing and courts steer away from spousal maintenance. One is that divorce should seek to end as much connection and reliance as possible. People don’t tend to want to be connected other than as part of parenting. The reliance on another person’s income is always risky, married or divorced. If they are prevented from working then your income disappears. This isn’t a rare event either. Finally for a lot of people divorcing UC is a better option. Unlike child maintenance spousal is taken into account as income for means tested benefits.

I would say you have a good case but I think your income may be assessed on a FT basis. However your disability might mean your living costs are higher. Which could be addressed in part via PiP and maybe could be reason for a better settlement or spousal.

The judge will be looking to balance ensuring you have basic needs met and allowing your ex to move on unencumbered by a dependent.

Also a larger pension share is also something that might benefit you in addition to or alternative to spousal.

Spousal isn’t a feature of many divorces basically because there are usually better options for all those involved. Not because it is difficult or impossible to get. If there is a better option the judge will steer into that. That includes smaller homes and maximising income etc.

Really the issue will be whether your ex offers all or most of the equity to ensure you are housed in lieu of spousal. He could argue that FT job means you have enough to live off as would a PT job plus PIP or your pension.

Really the devil is in the detail.

Judges hate it so it's becoming more and more rare . It's more common as in the example about where one spouse sacrificed their own jobs for the others eg trailing spouse .
I think the judge will take a view that your inability to work full time will not be your spouses problem after the divorce but given the disparity in your income
I think you have a better chance of getting more of thr equity than spousal so I'd go after that instead.