There are two types of maintenance on divorce: child and spousal.
Child maintenance is to be used to meet the needs of the children of the marriage. The amount to be paid is usually determined by using the same calculation that would be used by the Child Maintenance Service. The divorcing couple do not need to make an application to the Child Maintenance Service if child maintenance can be agreed, but the ‘shelf-life’ of any child maintenance under a court order is just 12 months, after which either party can go to the Child Maintenance Service.
An application to the Child Maintenance Service would usually only be made after one year when one party believes that the child maintenance would be higher/lower under the Child Maintenance Service calculation. If the parties remain happy with the amount of child maintenance under the court order, then there is no need for a Child Maintenance Service application to be made, and the child maintenance under the court order will remain payable.
Spousal maintenance is for the spouse. There is no standard way to calculate the amount to be paid in spousal maintenance. The starting point would be to consider the maintenance recipient’s outgoings and deduct the maintenance recipient’s income from all sources (earned, investment and benefit as well as child maintenance). The difference between the maintenance recipient’s income and outgoings would be the amount that they would look for in spousal maintenance, but it would need to be balanced against the maintenance payer’s ability to pay.
The court has a duty to consider whether it is possible to impose a clean break on spousal maintenance. If an immediate clean break is not possible, the court must consider how and when spousal maintenance may reduce or cease in future.