{"id":177,"date":"2021-12-14T16:50:54","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T05:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackwoodfamilylawyers.com.au\/insights\/?p=177"},"modified":"2026-03-16T16:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:23:52","slug":"who-needs-to-pay-spousal-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackwoodfamilylawyers.com.au\/insights\/who-needs-to-pay-spousal-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"Who needs to pay spousal maintenance?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackwoodfamilylawyers.com.au\/profile-elizabeth-pathmaraj.htm\">Elizabeth Pathmaraj<\/a>, Senior Associate <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Family separation can be expensive. Suddenly there are two households to support and another set of furniture to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When considering this expenditure, most people going through a separation will want to know &#8211; Am I entitled to receive spousal maintenance? Or do I have to pay spousal maintenance to my former partner?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spousal maintenance is a lump sum or periodic payment made by a former partner or spouse (<strong>paying party<\/strong>) to the other person (<strong>receiving party<\/strong>) for their financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spousal maintenance is separate and different to child support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It applies whether the separating parties were married or in a de facto relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A former partner or spouse can be required to provide spousal maintenance to the other party, if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The receiving party does not have sufficient income (excluding any means tested benefit) to reasonably support themselves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The paying party has sufficient income, after meeting their own reasonable living expenses, to be able to provide support to the receiving party.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When determining whether spousal maintenance should be paid, the following factors are usually considered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The age and health of each of the parties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The income,&nbsp;property&nbsp;and financial resources of each of the parties and the physical and mental capacity of each of them for appropriate gainful employment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The parties\u2019 commitments that are necessary to maintain themselves or children of the marriage or relationship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The responsibilities of each party to any other people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Whether either or both of the parties are eligible for a pension, allowance or benefit, including superannuation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What standard of living for the parties is reasonable in the circumstances.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How spousal maintenance may assist the receiving party to increase their earning capacity (such as through education or training).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The extent to which the receiving party has contributed to the income, earning capacity, property and financial resources of the liable party.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The duration of the marriage or relationship and the extent to which it has affected the earning capacity of the receiving party.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who decides whether spousal maintenance must be paid and how much?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spousal maintenance can be paid:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>By agreement between the parties. If appropriate, the agreement can then be formalised through consent orders or a binding financial agreement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By the court. If parties cannot agree whether spousal maintenance is payable, or how much spousal maintenance should be paid, a party may seek an order for spousal maintenance in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The amount of spousal maintenance paid will depend on the facts of the case. Unlike child support, there is no set formula to calculate spousal maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spousal maintenance is a complex area of family law. It is important that before you agree to pay or make a claim for spousal maintenance, you obtain legal advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are separated (or considering separating) and would like advice about these issues, please contact us on <a href=\"tel:+61386725222\">(03) 8672 5222<\/a> to arrange an appointment with one of our family <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackwoodfamilylawyers.com.au\/team.htm\">lawyers<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Elizabeth Pathmaraj, Senior Associate Family separation can be expensive. Suddenly there are two households to support and another set of furniture to buy. When&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"blog-detail.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who needs to pay spousal maintenance? - Insights | Blackwood Family Lawyers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blackwoodfamilylawyers.com.au\/insights\/who-needs-to-pay-spousal-maintenance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who needs to pay spousal maintenance? - Insights | Blackwood Family Lawyers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Elizabeth Pathmaraj, Senior Associate Family separation can be expensive. 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