As a Manchester divorce solicitor I get asked the question ‘do I have to pay child maintenance and the mortgage’ a lot. People want to know where they stand financially if they are contemplating a separation or divorce or are thinking about leaving the family home. Read on to find out. We Are Manchester Divorce Solicitors If you need legal advice about paying child support and the mortgage or need help with reaching a financial settlement then Manchester divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law in Whitefield can help you. Contact us today. Paying the mortgage and child support The answer to the question ‘do I have to pay child maintenance and the mortgage’ all depends on your housing circumstances and financial position. Giving expert divorce solicitor advice depends on carrying out the right fact finding to give the correct legal answer. That is because resolving financial claims on separation or divorce is a bit like putting a jigsaw together, you can't look at one piece in isolation to the rest of the picture. Questions on child support and the mortgage To answer the question ‘do I have to pay child maintenance and the mortgage’ a Manchester divorce solicitor needs to know the answer to these sort of questions: Do you own the family home either in your sole name or jointly with your ex-partner? Are you married to your ex-partner or in a civil partnership or were you in a cohabiting relationship? Are the children your biological children or your step children? Are you named on the mortgage, either as a party to the mortgage document or as a guarantor to the mortgage? Is any member of your family a guarantor to the mortgage? Is there a cohabitation agreement or deed of trust or prenuptial agreement that sets out what should happen if you separate from your ex-partner in relation to who keeps the family home and who pays the outgoings and mortgage on the family home in the event of your separation? Have you or your ex-partner left the family home already? If so, are you paying rent and what is the amount of the rent? Is the mortgage an interest only mortgage or is it a repayment mortgage? Are there any linked endowment policies? Are you already paying child maintenance under an assessment by the child maintenance service? Are you already paying spousal maintenance to your estranged husband or wife on a voluntary basis or under a court order? How much are the mortgage payments? Would the mortgage company agree to a mortgage holiday without your credit rating being affected? How much is your rent? How much is your income and how much is your ex-partner’s income? What are your current financial commitments and essential expenditure? You can see from this long list of questions that the answer to whether you should pay both child maintenance and the mortgage isn't always straight forward. The answer will depend on the status of your relationship, the way you own the family home and your financial situation. Joint or sole ownership of the family home If you are a joint or sole owner of the family home and your name is on the mortgage deed then if the mortgage isn't paid then this could affect your credit rating. That applies whether or not you are living at the family home or have moved out. When you decide to separate or divorce it is important to maintain your credit rating as the mortgage company may not agree to the mortgage on a jointly owned family home being transferred out of joint names into one partner’s name if there are or have been mortgage arrears. Equally if you can't get the family home transferred into your ex-partner’s name and your name released from the mortgage then you may find that you can't get another mortgage company to offer you a new mortgage to buy a new property. The long term implications of souring your credit rating mean that it is essential that both you and your ex-partner think about the potential long term consequences of not agreeing who will pay the mortgage on the family home. [related_posts] Rules on child support and paying the mortgage If you are paying child support under a child maintenance service assessment you may think that your child support payments should cover the cost of the mortgage on the family home as well as gas, electricity, food for the children and their clothes. The answer depends on a number of factors: If you aren't married to the child’s parent and the family home is owned in their sole name (rather than in joint names or your name) then all you are legally obliged to pay is the child support amount. With most legal answers from a Manchester divorce solicitor there is a caveat; if you are a high earner your ex-partner could apply for top up child support from the court or they could apply to court on behalf of the child for housing help. If you are married to the child's parent and the family home is owned in their sole name (rather than in joint names or your name) then if the child support payments aren't enough to cover the mortgage payments and other household bills then your spouse or ex-spouse could apply to court for spousal maintenance . This type of maintenance can be paid on a short or long term basis. To make a decision on whether spousal maintenance should be paid the court would look at both of your incomes and reasonable outgoings and your respective needs. If you are paying child support for your child under a child maintenance service assessment but you are also paying the mortgage on the family home that you used to live in with your ex-partner then provided that your ex and the child are still living at the family home you can ask the child maintenance service to carry out a special expenses variation to reduce the amount of your child maintenance service assessment. The variation application will only work if you don't have any legal or beneficial interest in the property. What are my next steps? I have only touched on a few potential scenarios and answers to the question ‘do I have to pay child maintenance as well as the mortgage‘. It just isn't possible to give an expert answer to ‘do I have to pay child maintenance as well as the mortgage’ without all the relevant facts relating to your personal and financial circumstances. When you are looking at sorting out your finances after a separation or divorce it pays to take expert legal advice from Manchester divorce solicitors as I have often found that people either pay too much in financial support (resulting in their ex-partner being unwilling to move on and sell the family home) or too little (resulting in court applications for spousal maintenance and contested financial claims). Taking expert legal advice from a Manchester divorce solicitor will help you get the balance right in deciding whether you should pay both child support and the mortgage.

Many are unsure as to what child maintenance covers; it is defined by the government as being the ‘financial support towards your child’s everyday living costs when you’ve separated from the other parent’. Should you have a good relationship with the other parent, you may be able to privately agree a ‘family-based arrangement’ between yourselves. If this is not possible, you will need to get the Child Maintenance Service involved. We Are Manchester Child Support Solicitors If you are worried about paying or receiving child support or need help with reaching a financial settlement after your separation or divorce then the Manchester divorce and child support solicitors at Evolve Family Law in Whitefield can help you. Contact us today. Child support and shared care of the children If you have a shared parenting arrangement (the child spends the same number of nights with each parent), neither of you is obliged to pay child maintenance, even if one parent has a higher income or fewer outgoings. Have a look at our blog who pays child maintenance when you share custody for more information. What does child maintenance cover? At its simplest, child maintenance is about providing your child with the food, clothes and home that they need to thrive and enjoy the best possible start in life. Ultimately, it is up to the parent with primary care responsibilities as to how the money is spent. Child support is the legal minimum that a parent must contribute to the upbringing of their child, although they can certainly pay more should they wish. Grounds to challenge a child support assessment There are four grounds to apply for variation of child maintenance payments which are: Assets over £65,000; Income not taken into account; Diversion of income; Lifestyle inconsistent with declared income   You can read more about challenging child support in our blog ‘How To Vary Child Maintenance Payments‘.   Who is a child for child support? Child maintenance covers a child under the age of 16, and those aged 16-19 who are in full-time education and have never been married or in a civil partnership.   What is not covered by child support? As part of any child maintenance obligations under Child Maintenance Service rules, a parent is not expected to financially support any step-children. Nor is a parent obliged to contribute to private school fees. If these are a concern, the court can intervene separately if a court application is made by a parent as those decisions will not fall under the umbrella of child maintenance. When there are financial constraints, child maintenance will always be prioritised over school fees. [related_posts] How is child maintenance calculated? When a family based-agreement cannot be reached, it is up to the Child Maintenance Service to determine the size of child support payment. The agency does so by following a set method and mathematical formula.   HMRC will provide the Child Maintenance Service with the paying parent’s gross income and establish whether or not they are receiving any benefits. Any pensin scheme payments are also taken into account. Additional considerations include whether or not the paying parent needs to financially support any other children, and how many nights the child is expected to spend with them. This information then affects the rate applied to give the final payment. This assessed child maintenance figure is broken down into a weekly amount.   Should the paying parent’s gross income exceed £156,000, the court can order additional child maintenance to be paid in accordance with the child’s needs. Online calculators are available which use the CMS methodology to provide you with a rough indication of the required amount of child maintenance.   What is the Child Maintenance Service? The Child Maintenance Service is a government agency who oversees the payment of child maintenance, assessing how much an individual needs to pay and enforcing that decision if they don’t meet their payments. The agency reviews the level of payment on an annual basis and whenever they’re notified about a significant change in the paying parent’s circumstances. The Child Maintenance Service can also assist with locating an absent parent and has procedures in place where parentage is disputed.

Evolve divorce solicitors are delighted to announce that Evolve divorce solicitors have been asked to join a pilot scheme arranged by the Court service to lodge agreed Financial Court Orders online. All the divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law think that it is great news that Evolve Family Law has been asked to participate in the Court led projects to file divorce petitions and now Financial Court Orders online. Why? Well online filing of Financial Court Order applications and all the supporting paperwork is a massive step forward for client service, something that the divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law strive to improve by using the latest digital technology in a client friendly way to progress divorce documents as quickly and as efficiently as possible. That means that if a client is very techy, Evolve Family Law can contact them with secure online email and with paperwork for online approval. If clients aren’t technologically minded, our divorce solicitors are equally happy to meet clients and pick up the phone and chat. The inclusion of Evolve Family Law in the Court digital project is good news for all our divorce clients. Prior to being invited to join the Court’s latest online project Evolve divorce solicitors had to send Financial Court Orders to the Court by post. Assuming the post arrived at the correct Court department the Financial Court Order paperwork would then be sent to a judge to look at. Some weeks later, subject to the vagaries of the postal service, a reply might be received at Evolve divorce solicitors; either asking for additional documents, seeking further explanation or clarification of the husband's and wife's financial or personal circumstances or asking for the Financial Court Order to be drawn up and then sent back in the post to the Court for sealing and return to Evolve Family Law solicitors. At times the process of getting the Court to approve a financial document agreed upon by a husband and wife was painfully slow Why Does a Delay in Getting Your Financial Court Order matter? From the point of view of the divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law it is a question of pride in our professionalism and client service. We all want clients to feel that they have had an efficient but personal service and when things go astray in the post or there are delays in receiving letters we believe it reflects badly on us. From a client’s point of view the delay in getting a Financial Court Order matters because: Until the Financial Court Order is approved by the Court and sealed by a Court official you can't apply to the Court to enforce all or part of the Financial Court Order if it isn’t complied with; If the Financial Court Order contains a pension sharing order the sealed Financial Court Order has to be sent to the pension administrator to implement the order before the pension can be shared; If the financial agreement included an agreement to sell or transfer property to a spouse it may be the case that the property sale or transfer can't go ahead until the Financial Court Order is received; Sometimes a husband or wife will refuse to apply for the Decree Absolute of divorce until the Financial Court Order has been sealed by the Court. So although the delay in getting a Financial Court Order can be a bit frustrating to some clients to other divorce clients the wait to send and receive the Financial Court Order through the post can cost them money as well as adding to the stress of the divorce proceedings. Online Financial Court Orders   In the 21st century, online production of Financial Court Orders must be a good thing for both divorce solicitors and clients. Evolve Family Law welcomes the opportunity to take part in the Court pilot project for the filing of online Financial Court Orders. We hope that the pilot project will establish that use of technology, combined with a personal legal service from caring and committed divorce solicitors, is the right way forward for divorcees. How much does a Financial Court Order cost? If you have reached a financial agreement with your husband or wife over how you want to split your assets and you want the security of a Financial Court Order then the cost of obtaining a straightforward Financial Court Order is £866. There are no hidden extras – that amount includes VAT and the Court fee. If your finances are more complex and you need your Financial Court Order to cover pension sharing and / or spousal maintenance then the fixed costs are higher or, if you can't reach a financial agreement with your husband or wife Evolve divorce solicitors can give you a bespoke quote for representation in Court proceedings. Contact our team today for more information

As a divorce solicitor specialising in resolving financial settlements, I spend a lot of time looking at business assets within financial court proceedings when it comes to family business and divorce. Many people assume that if they split up from their spouse that their business assets are ring fenced and won't form part of the financial settlement. That isn’t the case. As part of the divorce proceedings the court can order the valuation of a business and order the sale or transfer of company shares, or it can force the company to come up with money to fund a settlement. It is therefore important to get specialist advice from a Manchester divorce solicitor on business assets within divorce proceedings. Tips for family business and divorce: Assign a correct value to the entire family business on divorce. Should the business value be net assets, and if so, are the assets valued correctly in the business accounts? Or should the valuation be a multiple of profit, in which case is the profit over or under-stated in the accounts, and what is the correct multiple? Should the opinion of the business’s accountants be relied upon, or does an independent accountant need to be brought in; Find out how to assess the value of a spouse’s shares in the family business on divorce. This is particularly difficult if they are a minority shareholder, or where other family members hold the other shares; A spouse who was a ‘sleeping partner’ in the business during the marriage, in order to maximise tax advantages, may suddenly ‘wake up’ on divorce and attempt to interfere with the running of the company, or challenge past transactions; Where a spouse is also an employee of the family business the spouse has rights and claims as an employee, as well as potential spousal maintenance claims; Any dispute between spouses over a family business tends to unsettle the other directors, shareholders and employees of the business, and could even destroy the business itself; What is the right solution to the spouse’s claims against the business? Should they get shares, or cash? If cash is preferred, how can it be released from the family business on divorce (there are many ways) and the tax treatment of each method needs to be weighed up. [related_posts] Family Business Protection and Divorce  When a husband and wife agree to separate but want to continue to operate the family business together, it is vital that this agreement is properly documented to avoid disputes and to minimise the risk of a future falling out. Protection can be in the form of written employment contracts, a shareholder agreement and a family financial court order. These documents provide checks and balances, such as recording the agreed policy on declaring dividends or the policy on employing new staff ensuring both spouses have legal protection. With these documents in place, many spouses are able to successfully work together even if they can't continue to live together. Prenuptial Agreements and Protecting the Family Business on Divorce   As a Manchester divorce solicitor, I am often consulted by business owners where they (or one of the other shareholders) are getting married, and they want to protect the business from the kind of risk and uncertainty which any divorce would create. A prenuptial (or postnuptial agreement if a couple are already married ) can sometimes be the perfect solution, as prenuptial and postnuptial agreements can potentially ring-fence the business completely from claims on divorce, or if this is not possible, the prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement can have a number of provisions which protect the family business on divorce. When it comes to the business of divorce it pays to get the right help from a qualified and experienced divorce solicitors like Evolve Family Law.

In an ideal world, parents will agree on an the appropriate amount of child maintenance using the child support agency calculation prepared by their divorce solicitor or the online calculator on the child support agency website. Many parents use the child maintenance figures as a rough guide as to how much child maintenance should be paid recognising ,for example, that if one parent agrees to pay for all the children’s clothes, haircuts  and school trips then expecting them to pay the full amount of a child maintenance calculation may not be appropriate. In other family situations a parent will recognise that it is fair that he or she pays a bit more than the child maintenance calculation to help pay for extras such as ballet or riding lessons. Child maintenance payments should be reconsidered if incomes and parenting arrangements change. Sadly we don’t all live in an ideal world and some parents have to apply to the child support agency for an assessment of how much child maintenance should be paid. That is either because they can't reach an agreement on how much child support should be paid or payments aren’t being made. What is child maintenance based on? As a divorce solicitor I have heard parents express shock at the amount of a child support agency child maintenance assessment. Sometimes that is because the parent hasn’t appreciated that child maintenance is based on: The payer’s gross income; The number of children that the payer pays child maintenance for; The number of overnight  contact visits the payer has with the children; The number of other children living in the payer’s household. When calculating child maintenance the children’s needs and the payee and payer’s household bills aren’t taken into account in the child support agency calculation. On other occasions the shock at the child support agency child maintenance figure is based on a parent’s knowledge of their partner’s income and lifestyle. If a parent doesn’t think that a child support agency child maintenance assessment is right then they should consider: Asking the child support agency for a revision or mandatory reconsideration if they think the child support agency got something wrong such as the payer’s income or the number of overnight contact visits; Asking the child support agency for a variation; Appealing against the child support agency assessment; If parents are or were married (and there is no financial clean break order in place) applying to court for spousal maintenance. This may be an option if the amount of the child support agency child maintenance payments combined with the household’s other income or potential earnings won't meet basic needs and bills. Grounds to vary a child support agency child maintenance calculation   There are four potential grounds to apply for a variation of a child support agency child maintenance assessment: Assets over £65,000 – the payer’s home isn’t treated as an asset. The value of investments , savings and any equity in a second home would be relevant; Income not taken into account – usually this ground is used if a payer can set their own income because they are a company director and can declare dividends or use a directors loan account to fund their outgoings; Diversion of income – this ground can be relevant where a payer owns their own company and employs a new partner or family members at an inflated salary in order to divert their own income; Lifestyle inconsistent with declared income – this ground can be relevant if , for example, an income of £30,000 has been declared but the payer’s mortgage payments alone are believed to amount to £24,000 per year. This ground won't work if the payer is financing his lifestyle from gifts from his parents or on credit cards. [related_posts] Do I need legal advice to apply for a change to child maintenance? You don’t have to get legal advice from a divorce solicitor in order to apply for a child support agency variation but sometimes it helps to take advice on your options. It is important that you take legal advice if you haven’t reached a financial settlement with your ex-spouse or you have an ongoing spousal maintenance order. That is because there are potentially court based spousal maintenance options and other types of court order that may encourage the payer to start making reasonable child support payments. Court options can be used in combination with a variation application to the child support agency or as a stand-alone application. If you need legal assistance with a change to child maintenance please contact us today,

Help us to win the award for Best Family Law Firm in Manchester in the Talk of Manchester Awards 2018! Vote Now Anyone who knows me and the Evolve Family Law team knows that we don't usually go in for awards. We prefer to let our work and our clients speak for us. However, one of our very happy clients put Evolve Family Law forward to receive an award for Best Family Law Firm in The Talk of Manchester Awards 2018 and we have since been shortlisted! Our winning this award depends on the number of people voting for us so please do vote today. Helping clients make informed choices by focussing on guiding them through the confusing minefield of family and divorce law is what we do best and being recognised for this makes us extremely proud of our team's hard work and commitment. If you like what the Evolve team do and what Evolve Family Law stands for, please click on the link below to vote. All you have to do is enter your name and email and then scroll to Category 13. Voting closes at 5pm on 12 October www.thetalkofmanchester.co.uk/awards Thank you to everyone who has voted for us to far, we are very grateful for the nomination and for anyone who takes the time to help us achieve our vision “To be the most trusted and first choice advisors for everyone going through relationship changes”. [related_posts]

We are always reading in the press about celebrities getting 'quickie divorces’. Today’s news that a woman whose divorce was refused by the Supreme Court ‘ will come as a surprise to many who assume that in the 21st century if you want to get divorced you can go ahead and do so. Read the full news story. As divorce solicitors, obtaining divorces on a daily basis we know that getting divorced isn’t plain sailing. The grounds for divorce Why did the Supreme Court refuse 68 year old Tini Owen’s request for a Decree Nisi of divorce from her husband? The 3 Judges agreed that the marriage had broken down, with Mr and Mrs Owen living in separate houses and there being no prospect of a reconciliation between the couple. However under current divorce law a petitioner or divorce solicitors asking the Court for a divorce not only have to establish that the marriage has broken down but also that the failure of the marriage is down to one of five specified reasons: • Adultery; • Unreasonable behaviour; • Separation for 2 years with your husband or wife's agreement to the divorce; • Desertion; • Separation for 5 years – you then don’t need your husband or wife's consent to the divorce. Can you get divorced? The Supreme Court Judges have decided Mrs Owens can't get a divorce based on her current divorce petition. Why? Well although it was agreed that the Owen marriage had broken down the Court wasn’t satisfied that Mrs Owen had established that Mr Owen had behaved unreasonably. As Mr Owen won't agree to a divorce based on 2 years separation that means Mrs Owen will need to wait until 2020, when she will have been separated 5 years, to start fresh divorce proceedings against Mr Owen.Ultimately Mrs Owen will get her divorce but if divorce solicitors are asked then the answer at the moment to the question ‘’can you get divorced’’ is not necessarily and not yet. What do divorce solicitors and family Courts consider to be unreasonable behaviour? Mrs Owen didn’t get her divorce because the Supreme Court wasn’t satisfied that Mr Owen had behaved unreasonably. Usually when a husband or wife starts divorce proceedings on the basis of unreasonable behaviour their spouse doesn’t challenge the reasons stated in the divorce proceedings. That is because the spouse sees the divorce paperwork as a means to a common goal of a divorce and a financial settlement. In Mrs Owen’s case her husband objected to the divorce and said he hadn’t behaved unreasonably. It has long been established by divorce Courts that unreasonable behaviour isn’t falling out of love or drifting apart from a spouse. There has to be some behaviour on the part of the spouse that is so unreasonable a divorce is justified. Lots of people assume unreasonable behaviour has to be pretty extreme such as an assault but divorce solicitors know that unreasonable behaviour comes in many different forms such as: • Financially controlling your husband or wife; • Belittling or demeaning your spouse; • Refusing to communicate or socialise with your husband or wife; • Failing to support your spouse, this could be emotionally, financially or in bringing up the children. There are numerous other examples of unreasonable behaviour. It is important to get legal advice from divorce solicitors before you start divorce proceedings. Why? Well it is important to detail enough allegations of unreasonable behaviour to make sure that the Court is satisfied that a spouse has behaved unreasonably but, on the other hand, the divorce petition shouldn’t be too extreme. If the allegations are too strong it may make it a lot harder to reach a parenting agreement and a financial settlement with your husband or wife. [related_posts] Will the allegations in the divorce proceedings affect the childcare arrangements or financial settlement? This question is often asked of divorce solicitors. It is very understandable as people fear that if they accept the unreasonable behaviour allegations in a divorce petition and don’t contest the divorce that they will end up not seeing the children or the Court will take into account the unreasonable behaviour allegations when deciding how the assets and property are split up. That is why it is important to get advice from divorce solicitors before you start divorce proceedings or agree to a divorce. Divorce solicitors can agree that although you are not contesting the divorce petition as you both want a divorce that if the allegations in the divorce petition are raised in any future financial or children Court proceedings you can contest and challenge what is said about you. In other words agreeing to the divorce petition is a means to an end whilst preserving your legal rights. For help from expert divorce solicitors on any aspect of divorce proceedings or for information on financial claims on divorce, contact us.

My partner and I can't agree whether I'm entitled to spousal maintenance. What can I do? If you can't reach an agreement over the amount of spousal maintenance then you can make an application to Court. The Court doesn’t have a set formula to say how much, if any, spousal maintenance should be paid. The Court has a lot of discretion to make what orders it thinks appropriate. The Court can also order lump sum payments and property transfer orders. These are separate but linked to spousal maintenance orders. This means that the less capital that a husband or wife receives then the greater the probability that they may need spousal maintenance in order to meet their income needs. Reaching a financial settlement is a bit like putting a jigsaw together as it is important that the capital, pension and income settlements meet needs. If I am entitled to spousal maintenance how long will the spousal maintenance last for? The Court can order different types of spousal maintenance or no spousal maintenance. Joint lives maintenance is often called the ‘’meal ticket for life’’ spousal maintenance in the media. Why? It is because the spousal maintenance continues throughout the joint lives of the payer and the payee until further order of the Court or until the payee remarries. A husband or wife can apply back to the Court to change the amount of maintenance payable upwards or downwards if there is a change in circumstances. It is also possible for the payer to apply to the Court to stop the spousal maintenance payments if there is a change in circumstances. Term spousal maintenance continues for a set number of years. The level of spousal maintenance can be changed before the term expires (but not afterwards). The term or length of time that spousal maintenance is paid for can be extended by the Court although there must be a good reason to do so and the application must be made before the term maintenance order expires. Term spousal maintenance with a bar is exactly the same as a term spousal maintenance order save that the length of time that the maintenance is paid for cannot be extended. Clean break order is when no spousal maintenance is payable. If the Court makes a spousal maintenance clean break order then a husband and wife can’t make a maintenance application, even if there is a change in their personal financial circumstances at a later date. I am worried about if I am entitled to spousal maintenance. What should I do? The best thing to do is to get some early legal advice. Why? If you are entitled to spousal maintenance then an urgent Court application for what is known as ‘’maintence pending suit’’ may be necessary. Even if your situation isn’t urgent it pays to get legal advice so that you understand what steps need to be taken to ensure that you are either able to negotiate spousal maintenance; get a Court spousal maintenance order; or apply to change the amount or extend the time that spousal maintenance is payable for. In some situations that involves looking at your ex-spouses income and financial circumstances and in others looking at your outgoings, career prospects and family circumstances. [related_posts] If you have been reading the news about the end of the "meal ticket for life" divorce case of Mr and Mrs Mills and you are either getting divorced or are a divorcee you may be concerned about the question ‘’am I entitled to spousal maintenance?”. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume from some of the press coverage of Mr and Mrs Mill’s financial Court proceedings that spousal maintenance is an old fashioned concept and that after their divorce spouses will, in future, have to stand on their own two feet and be financially independent of one another. A careful read of the Court decision in Mr and Mrs Mill’s case reveals that the question "am I entitled to spousal maintenance" is still a very valid question. How does the Mills decision affect the question ‘’am I entitled to spousal maintenance?’’ Why has Mr and Mills case hit the headlines? In the Mills case the dispute was over whether Mr Mills should pay his ex-wife increased monthly spousal maintenance payments. When the couple split up the Court ordered Mr Mills to pay spousal maintenance to Mrs Mills. In addition the Court gave Mrs Mills enough capital to buy a house. Fast forward nearly a decade and Mr Mills wanted to reduce the spousal maintenance payments and Mrs Mills wanted the spousal maintenance payments to increase as she’d made unwise financial investments and was in debt and renting a house. She therefore argued that as she had increased outgoings she needed more spousal maintenance to meet her basic needs. The Supreme Court has ruled that the original level of spousal maintenance payments must continue but that they won't be increased. So, those who say that the Mills case stops the ‘’meal ticket for life’’ are wrong. However the Mills case and other recent Court decisions do show an increased concern on the part of the divorce Court to really analyse if spousal maintenance should be paid and if so the amount of the spousal maintenance and how long it should be paid for. This is with a view to both husband and wife in appropriate family situations, being able to achieve financial independence of one another. One of the strong reasons behind the Court decision not to increase Mrs Mill’s spousal maintenance payments was the fact that at the time of the first financial proceedings Mrs Mills had been given enough cash to buy a house and so if she’d used the money wisely she wouldn't have needed more spousal maintenance to pay her debts and rent. The Court concluded her ex-spouse shouldn’t be penalised by her poor financial decisions a decade after the marriage had broken down. For help with your entitlement to spousal maintenance or to review an existing spousal maintenance order please contact us.