Interim Maintenance/Maintenance pending suit

[TidyLeader]

Hello, first time poster.
Can someone tell me when interim maintenance is decided?
I have a First Directions Appointment hearing in March where a number of issues will be raised (sale of the property etc). My solicitor is useless and does not really ever answer my questions. I was wondering if the decision (yes/no/amount) was made in this hearing and if this is binding. My STBXW has refused to pay any of the bills (mortgage utilities etc), despite the fact that we are both still living in the property and it is the registered address of her business.
Thank you

Did she historically pay a share of the bills? Is she the higher earner?

Maintenance pending suit is normally awarded where one party cannot afford to cover their bare essential living costs but if you're covering all the bills yourself then a court will probably decide you don't need it. It's not normally used just to ensure that a party is paying their share. There may be a more appropriate remedy in these circumstances?

Thank you for your response.
Before she decided she wanted a divorce she used to pay c£2.5k pm towards the bills. 6 months before the date she requested a divorce she stopped paying anything. I could just about pay everything before i started to have to pay for solicitors.
At present i am running at a deficit of c£1k pm funded by credit cards.
Whilst I am the highest earner she has a good income but this is hard to pin down as she is a self employed accountant, in her form E this was about £3k net pm, but based on her company accounts with actual dividends it is about £4k pm.

You are not going to get maintenance pending suit if you are the higher earner. However, she will be expected to cover her share of bills if she is living at the same address. If she is not you should record this as it would be reasonable for her to get a smaller share of the joint assets in order to clear your credit cards and interest if the debt has accrued by her living for free at your expense during the divorce process.

Thank you very much, that's helpful