Spousal Maintenance: A Complete Guide
A Family Lawyer’s Guide to Spousal Maintenance on Divorce
About the Author
Charlotte Lanning
Senior Associate Solicitor, Edwards Family Law
Chambers Associate to Watch (Family, 2024 and 2025)
Legal 500 Key Lawyer
Member of Resolution | Jurisprudence, Pembroke College, Oxford
Charlotte Lanning is a Senior Associate Solicitor at Edwards Family Law, a boutique London firm specialising in divorce and family law. She qualified in 2019 and has focused solely on family law since, advising on complex financial matters and private children work. She has a particular interest in variation of maintenance cases, frequently drafts pre- and post-nuptial agreements to protect pre-acquired wealth and inheritance, and has acted for a wide range of clients including business owners, professionals and high net worth individuals. She is named an Associate to Watch by Chambers (Family) for 2024 and 2025, recognised as a Key Lawyer by The Legal 500, a member of Women in Family Law, and a frequent contributor to the Financial Remedies Journal.
Q: What is spousal maintenance?
A: Spousal maintenance is a regular payment made by one former spouse to the other after divorce, to help meet their ongoing living costs where they cannot meet their needs from their own income. It is separate from child maintenance. There is no fixed formula: the amount and duration depend on the receiving party’s needs and the paying party’s ability to pay. The court will only order it where there is a genuine need that cannot otherwise be met, and the modern approach favours payments for a defined term, and a clean break wherever fairness allows.
Spousal maintenance is one of the most misunderstood, and most contested, aspects of a financial settlement on divorce. People often assume it is automatic, or that it lasts for life, or that it follows a set formula. None of those is true. This guide explains what spousal maintenance is, who can claim it, how the amount and duration are decided, how it can change, and how it differs from child maintenance, under the law of England and Wales.
What Is Spousal Maintenance?
Spousal maintenance (sometimes called spousal support or periodical payments) is a regular payment, usually monthly, made by one former spouse to the other after divorce. Its purpose is to help meet the recipient’s reasonable living costs where their own income is not enough to do so. It is distinct from the division of capital (the home, savings and pensions) and from child maintenance, which covers the costs of the children.
Am I Entitled to Spousal Maintenance?
There is no automatic entitlement. The court’s first duty is to consider whether a clean break is possible, so that the parties’ financial relationship ends. Spousal maintenance is ordered only where one party cannot meet their reasonable needs from their own resources and a capital settlement alone is not enough to bridge the gap. The factors the court weighs are set out in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and include the length of the marriage, the standard of living during it, each party’s income and earning capacity, their ages and health, and the needs and responsibilities of each, particularly the care of children. Longer marriages and a clear disparity in earning capacity make an award more likely.
CHARLOTTE’S EXPERIENCE: When maintenance is, and is not, appropriate
“Just because one party earns more than the other does not automatically mean there is a spousal maintenance claim – it is all about needs and if you can meet needs from your own income and resources then the court will not make an order. Parties do not have a right to share in future income after divorce. Sometimes maintenance will be appropriate for a short period in these situations, but only whilst adjustments are made to transition to financial independence.“
How Is Spousal Maintenance Calculated?
Unlike child maintenance, there is no formula or calculator for spousal maintenance. It is assessed on the basis of need: the court looks at the recipient’s reasonable income needs (in the context of the standard of living during the marriage) and the payer’s ability to meet them while meeting their own needs. The figure is therefore highly fact-specific. In practice, the parties prepare detailed budgets, and the court balances one party’s needs against the other’s capacity to pay, rather than applying any fixed percentage.
How Long Does Spousal Maintenance Last?
The modern approach strongly favours maintenance for a defined, limited term rather than indefinitely. A term order runs for a set number of years, often linked to a point when the recipient can be expected to become financially independent, such as when young children start school or full-time education. The court can also make a ‘joint lives’ order (lasting until death, remarriage or further order), but these are now far less common and reserved for cases where genuine independence is not realistically achievable, often after a long marriage. The leading guidance on the proper approach to spousal maintenance was set out by the court in SS v NS [2014] EWHC 4183 (Fam), which emphasised need, the transition to independence, and that an award should be made for no longer than is required.
Where a term is ordered, the court may or may not allow it to be extended. A term order without a bar under section 28(1A) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 can be extended on application before it ends; with a section 28(1A) bar, it cannot. This distinction is one of the most important, and most overlooked, points in any maintenance order.
“Life is uncertain and the variability of maintenance orders is designed to guard against that. At the same time, finality is incredibly important. Whilst many orders will not include a ‘bar’ to an extension, meaning it is theoretically possible, I have never seen a successful application to extend maintenance beyond the original term in a decade of practice.
Whilst it is no longer as common, a few decades ago the court would frequently make orders for maintenance to be paid for long periods and sometimes for the rest of someone’s life. The variation of maintenance was arguably more important to deal with those orders, and I still see historic orders from that period that need to be varied today. If maintenance could not be varied, there would be no way to factor in changes to earnings or the future capital a recipient might build up. Circumstances change in both directions, whether due to specific matters like inheritance, living with a new partner, ill health or more generally, rising inflation and economic downturn. The benefit of variation is that it cuts both ways and there is always the option to seek a variation if there has been a significant change in circumstances.“
Can Spousal Maintenance Be Changed or Ended?
Yes. Spousal maintenance is variable: either party can apply to court to increase, reduce, extend, shorten or end it if circumstances change materially, for example a change in either party’s income, the payer’s retirement, or the recipient’s new relationship. It also ends automatically on the death of either party or on the recipient’s remarriage. Cohabitation by the recipient does not automatically end maintenance, but it is a relevant change of circumstances that can justify a reduction or termination.
Can Maintenance Be Paid as a Lump Sum (Capitalisation)?
Often, yes, and it is frequently desirable. Instead of ongoing payments, the maintenance can be ‘capitalised’ into a single lump sum, calculated using an established method (commonly a Duxbury calculation), which achieves a clean break. This gives both parties certainty and independence and removes the need for continuing financial ties. Whether capitalisation is appropriate depends on whether there is enough capital available to fund it fairly.
Spousal Maintenance vs Child Maintenance
These are separate and should not be confused. Child maintenance covers the costs of the children and is usually calculated under a statutory formula administered by the Child Maintenance Service, based largely on the paying parent’s income (however this only applies for incomes of up to £156,000 per year). Spousal maintenance is for the former spouse’s own needs, has no formula, and is decided by the court or by agreement. A settlement can involve one, both or neither, depending on the circumstances.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Spousal maintenance is a regular payment made by one former spouse to the other after divorce to help meet their ongoing living costs where they cannot meet their needs from their own income. It is separate from child maintenance.
No. There is no automatic entitlement. The court first considers whether a clean break is possible, and only orders maintenance where one party cannot meet their reasonable needs from their own resources and a capital settlement is not enough.
There is no formula. It is assessed on need: the court weighs the recipient’s reasonable income needs against the payer’s ability to pay, using detailed budgets, with reference to the section 25 factors such as the length of the marriage and each party’s earning capacity.
Usually for a defined term linked to the recipient becoming financially independent. Indefinite ‘joint lives’ orders are now far less common. A term may or may not be extendable, depending on whether a section 28(1A) bar is included.
It ends automatically on the recipient’s remarriage (or the death of either party). Cohabitation does not end it automatically, but is a relevant change of circumstances that can justify reducing or ending it.
Yes. Either party can apply to vary it (up, down, extend, shorten or end) if circumstances change materially, such as a change in income or retirement.
Often yes. It can be ‘capitalised’ into a single lump sum (commonly using a Duxbury calculation) to achieve a clean break, provided enough capital is available to fund it fairly.
Child maintenance covers the children’s costs and is usually set by a statutory formula via the Child Maintenance Service. Spousal maintenance is for the former spouse’s own needs, has no formula, and is decided by the court or agreement.
Getting Advice on Spousal Maintenance
Spousal maintenance is fact-sensitive and frequently contested, and the details, the amount, the term, whether it can be extended, and whether it should be capitalised, can have a major long-term effect on both parties. Clear advice early, whether you may pay or receive it, is the best way to reach a fair and durable outcome.
At Edwards Family Law, our team advises on every aspect of spousal maintenance, from negotiating fair terms to capitalisation and variation. If you would like to discuss your position, we would be glad to help.
Need advice on spousal maintenance?
To speak to a specialist family lawyer about spousal maintenance, whether you may pay or receive it, contact Edwards Family Law.
Contact Us: contact@edwardsfamilylaw.co.uk
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. The law is correct as at the date of publication. Specific advice should always be taken to account for individual circumstances.
Sources
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, in particular sections 23 to 25A and section 28(1A)
- SS v NS [2014] EWHC 4183 (Fam) (principles governing spousal maintenance)
- Child Maintenance Service – how child maintenance is calculated. gov.uk
- Duxbury v Duxbury [1992] Fam 62 (capitalisation of maintenance)