Spousal Maintenance

Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance is a legal obligation that one spouse has to provide financial support to the other, for a certain period of time, immediately after separation.  The intention of it is to provide financial support to the lower income-earner spouse, so that they can maintain a standard of living similar to what they experienced during the marriage.

In order to potentially qualify, you would need to satisfy the following:

1. Does one spouse have a financial need? (ie. Is their income less than what they need to sustain appropriate living arrangements); and
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2. Does the other spouse have the financial capacity to pay? (ie. After they pay for their reasonable expenses, do they have sufficient residual income that they should be required to pay it to their ex, to support them?)

Our experienced family lawyers can help to analyse whether you might have a worthy claim. If so, they can assist to negotiate this with your spouse, or make an Application to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for an Order to be made.