Individuals and businesses across the UK are struggling financially due to COVID-19. As time presses on, the far-reaching consequences of this are becoming ever clearer. One area of concern is the effect this could have on divorced couples who either rely on or are obliged to make maintenance payments such that one party can make ends meet. People who receive maintenance are worried about what will happen if those payments stop or if they need more money to meet their expenses in these uncertain times. Those who make maintenance payments are worried about what should happen if they can no longer afford to pay. Moore Blatch's Sahil Aggarwal dissects the uncertainty around these payments below.
As we’re regularly reminded, beating this pandemic will be a ‘marathon and not a sprint’ so people aren’t just looking at their finances now, they are looking at how they may survive in the months to come.
So, what is the situation for those whom COVID-19 directly impacts on spousal maintenance?
Even when the court has ordered individuals to pay maintenance to their ex-spouse, the very fact this order has been made means that those income claims are still ‘live’, allowing the court to make further orders if and when necessary. The court is therefore bound to consider changes in circumstances since the original order. This does not mean that those individuals need to rely on the court, but it leaves the door wide open to re-negotiate the level and term of maintenance payable.
The court is therefore bound to consider changes in circumstances since the original order.
If an individual can no longer make the maintenance payments required under any given order as a result of the pandemic, for example because they have been made redundant or furloughed, then this might justify temporarily decreasing or ceasing maintenance. On the other hand, if an individual is struggling to meet their own outgoings as a result of the pandemic, perhaps because their own income has been curtailed, then this could give rise for any maintenance to be varied upwards.
People may ask why their ex-spouse would ever agree to any change at all, but legal costs are treated differently when dealing with a variation of maintenance which should incentivise them to reach a sensible agreement. If an ex-spouse turns down what a court might consider a very reasonable offer, especially under the current circumstances, then they could be at serious risk of paying the legal costs for taking the matter back to court.
Any necessity to vary maintenance as a result of COVID-19 may in fact be an opportunity to settle matters once and for all. An ex-spouse might feel more inclined to accept a one-off lump sum payment in lieu of maintenance rather than dealing with any variation. This in turn will bring any maintenance claims to a permanent end. One point to consider is that the pandemic is certainly going to make some people much more risk averse which means an ex-spouse might be much more willing to accept a one-off lump sum payment rather than risk the uncertainty that comes with future maintenance payments in the current climate.
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The coronavirus pandemic means we are living in extremely uncertain times, with some people feeling much harder done by than others. This will mean that, for better or for worse, some spousal maintenance payments will need to be reviewed.
