MAINTENANCE
What happens when circumstances change after a Court Order has already been made?
Fresh maintenance orders
Maintenance applications may be made during the marriage (interim maintenance order), or at the dissolution of the marriage (as part of the ancillary matters). Maintenance may refer to maintenance for a child / children of the marriage, or may refer instead to maintenance of a spouse / ex-spouse.
The Court may consider multiple factors, such as the family’s standard of living, each spouse’s financial needs and earning capacity, and the reasonable financial needs of the spouse / child(ren) in coming to a decision on the maintenance payable from one spouse to the other, or from one parent to the other.
The issue of maintenance is one that is highly fact-dependent, and the Court may make various permutations of a maintenance order (for example, spousal maintenance may be ordered in a lumpsum, while it is more common for maintenance for the children to be paid on a monthly basis).
Get in touch with us to discuss what best suits your needs, or your children’s needs, today.
Enforcement of existing maintenance orders
Enforcement of maintenance applications may be made when one party does not comply with the maintenance orders already made by the Court. Where there has been a clear breach of the order, with no good reason as to why there has been such a breach, the Court has many tools at its disposal to ensure that the person who owes maintenance pays up. The Court may order an immediate payment of the sums owing, may direct that the person owing the maintenance shows proof of payment, or may even order the imprisonment of the defaulter.
WHY CHOOSE US
& OUR FEES
Our team of lawyers has vast experience in maintenance proceedings, as well as enforcement proceedings. Notably, we had successfully represented our client in securing preschool fees from her ex-husband, for their son. The case was widely publicised.
Get in touch with us to discuss your specific circumstances.
