Part 1
Divorce and financial relief
‘We are getting a divorce. Two children, 2 and 4. My Husband left a few months ago now and I have started the divorce myself. I am a stay-at-home Mum. My Husband has a good salary. I am really worried about how we are going to manage financially. I can’t afford a solicitor privately because he is only paying basic child maintenance and I don’t qualify for legal aid.’
Interim maintenance
We can help you. Our job is to get your husband to pay for the income shortfall that you need to run the home in the short to medium term, while we sort all the matrimonial finances out to a conclusion.
The High Court revisited the legal principles on this in February 2022. They have been consistent for twenty years now and are as follows (you each first disclose your income and expenditure to the court).
- Determining what is a reasonable regular interim payment award during the time that the overall global financial remedy is considered in detail. This is subjective and relates to the marital standard of living but crucially what your immediate needs are likely to be. Incomes enjoyed and regular expenditure incurred. All the expenditure is reviewed critically. Bear in mind that, preferably, we would seek to resolve your immediate income needs by agreement outside the court arena, to save you money, delay and stress.
- Long term expenditure (e.g., annual car insurance not due for, say, 9 months or so) and/or capital (e.g., lump sum or house purchase), are not ordinarily awarded, because this is the sort of thing that is reserved for an out of court settlement, or worst case scenario, a court decision at the final hearing if it cannot be agreed between you.
- Obvious failure of your husband to disclose true income from whatever source including known third parties (e.g., his parents). This will not be tolerated and an assumption of his ability to pay you will have to be considered by the court in the event that he cannot be persuaded by us to disclose this in constructive out-of-court negotiations, which is the critical approach taken by us in the first instance.
Think carefully about absolutely everything that costs you money every month. Get the lot down. We will go through it together. Then we will compare it to your income to plead your reasonable needs by negotiation or, again, as a last resort, to the court.
We might need to compromise but it’s our job to try and maximise your interim needs to take the worry away, which is an awful emotion when you’re going through enough as it is, and when you feel that you’ve got to be strong for the children at the same time.
The law in this area looks at the overall circumstances of your interim needs position and your husband’s ability to pay.
If any of this resonates with your circumstances, or indeed any other family issue that needs a discussion, we offer a free initial half-hour consultation with one of our family law experts for you so that we can look at the individual circumstances that you face, at what may be a very difficult time.