Spousal maintenance
Parties in a defacto relationship cannot apply under the Property Law Act 1974 for spousal maintenance. This will change when the Family Law Amendment (Defacto and Other Measures) Bill 2008 is passed.
Spousal maintenance is when one person financially supports their former dependent spouse because they are unable to meet their own financial committments following separation. Under the Family Law Act 1975, a spouse has the responsibility of financially assisting their partner, if he or she cannot meet their own reasonable expenses from their personal income or assets.
There is no automatic entitlement to spousal maintenance.
When considering a maintenance application, the court takes into account the needs of the applying spouse, and the other spouse's capacity to pay. The court also considers various other factors including which spouse the child/children reside with, the age and health of the parties, the income and property of the parties, whether the marriage has affected a spouse's ability to earn income, etc.
The entitlement to spousal maintenance ceases upon a dependent spouse remarrying or if a dependent spouse enters into a defacto relationship. The court will consider this in assessing whether that party is able to adequately support themselves.
An application for spousal maintenance must be made within 12 months of a divorce finalising.
For additional information, please contact our Family Law team.