Spousal maintenance in a high-net-worth divorce: how much, how long, and the move to clean breaks
| Written by Kelly EdwardsManaging Partner, Edwards Family Law Solicitor, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No 658249). Firm ranked in Chambers and Legal 500.Kelly is the Managing Partner of Edwards Family Law, a boutique London firm specialising in complex divorce and family law for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. She has over 15 years’ experience advising on complex financial matters, including business valuations, offshore assets and trusts, non-disclosure, and pre- and post-nuptial agreements. |
Spousal maintenance is one of the most contested and most misunderstood parts of a divorce. It is not an automatic entitlement, there is no fixed formula, and the courts increasingly want couples to move on with a clean break rather than a payment that runs for life. This guide explains how maintenance is decided, how much and how long it lasts, and what the 2026 reforms could change.
| How does spousal maintenance work in the UK? Spousal maintenance is a regular payment from one former spouse to the other after divorce, to help meet needs the receiving spouse cannot meet alone. There is no fixed formula in England and Wales. The amount and the duration are decided on the factors in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, chiefly reasonable needs, income and earning capacity. Courts increasingly prefer a time-limited order, or a clean break, over indefinite “joint lives” payments, and the 2026 reforms would push that further. |
Is there a spousal maintenance calculator?
No. Unlike child maintenance, which uses a government formula, there is no official calculator for spousal maintenance in England and Wales. Any online tool that promises a figure is at best a rough guide.
Maintenance is discretionary. A judge weighs the circumstances of your particular case, so two couples with similar incomes can end up with very different outcomes. Professionals sometimes use a calculation known as Duxbury to work out a lump sum that could replace ongoing payments, but that is a tool for capitalising maintenance, not a public formula for setting it.
How is spousal maintenance decided? The section 25 factors
The court starts from the factors in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The most important in practice are:
Needs. The reasonable income needs of each person, judged against the standard of living during the marriage.
Income and earning capacity. What each spouse earns or could reasonably earn, now and in the future.
Length of the marriage and ages. Longer marriages, and older spouses with limited earning prospects, point towards longer support.
Contributions and health. Including caring for children or giving up a career, and any health issues affecting earning capacity.
Maintenance is there to meet a genuine need, not to reward the marriage or to share future income indefinitely.
How much is paid, and for how long?
The amount is usually the gap between the receiving spouse’s reasonable needs and the income they can meet from their own resources. It can be varied later if circumstances change, and it normally ends on the recipient’s remarriage, on either party’s death, or at the end of a fixed term.
Duration is where the real argument lies. There are three broad options.
| Clean break | Term order | Joint lives order | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | No ongoing maintenance; finances severed | Maintenance for a fixed period | Maintenance until death, remarriage or further order |
| Certainty | Highest; both move on | High; a clear end date | Lowest; open-ended |
| Typical use | Where capital can meet needs | To bridge a transition to independence | Now uncommon; long marriage, limited earning capacity |
Why the courts now favour a clean break
Under section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 the court has a duty to consider whether a clean break, ending financial ties as soon as it is just and reasonable, can be achieved. Two decisions in particular hardened this approach: SS v NS [2014] EWHC 4183 (Fam) and Waggott v Waggott [2018] EWCA Civ 727.
In SS v NS, the court stressed that maintenance should meet need and encourage a transition to financial independence, not provide lifelong support unless there is a real barrier to independence. In Waggott, the Court of Appeal held that a spouse’s earning capacity is not a matrimonial asset to be shared, and replaced an indefinite “joint lives” award of £175,000 a year with a fixed five-year term.
The practical result is that open-ended orders are now the exception. Courts prefer non-extendable term orders, often with a bar on any extension, and will capitalise maintenance into a lump sum where the capital exists to allow a clean break.
| I acted for a wife who received a lump sum of c£8m which included capitalised maintenance where the husband wanted to pay her ongoing maintenance with the expectation she would remarry (and so her maintenance would automatically end). As there was sufficient capital to enable a clean break, and the husband wanted to keep a very successful business, the court agreed that the lump sum was appropriate and there should be a clean break so the wife could manage her own finances on an ongoing basis. |
What the 2026 reforms could change
The Government’s 2026 consultation, “A Fairer End to Relationships”, would take the clean break principle further. It proposes that maintenance should be the exception rather than the norm, limited to time-bound circumstances such as long-term ill health, with a strong emphasis on financial independence after separation.
If enacted, that would formalise the direction the courts have already taken and make long-term maintenance harder to obtain. For now it remains a consultation, not law, and the detail may change.
What this means for higher earners and financially weaker spouses
If you are the higher earner, the modern approach and a well-structured settlement can protect your future income and give you certainty, often through a clean break or a fixed term. Our page on high-net-worth divorce explains how these cases are run.
If you are the financially weaker spouse, the priority is making sure your needs are properly assessed and evidenced, and considering whether a capitalised lump sum gives you more security than payments that depend on your former partner’s future income. A consent order is how any agreement is made binding, and our guide to finances and asset division sets out the wider picture.
If you want advice on spousal maintenance, capitalisation or achieving a clean break, contact the team at Edwards Family Law. This article is general information about the law in England and Wales and is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances.