The Maintenance Conflict: Crystal Ball Gazing Versus a Meal Ticket for Life

Charlotte Bradley and Emily Moore

Kingsley Napley LLP

We have all probably experienced the rather hollow comfort of advising a client (usually a husband) following a joint lives maintenance order that ‘You can always apply to vary ...' particularly when he may have just experienced firsthand the cost both financial and emotional of litigation.

In some cases the facts of the case enable the practitioner to advise their client with some confidence (although there may be regional differences - see below) that a joint lives order is appropriate and a husband is going to have an uphill struggle arguing against such an order (and he will probably be advised by his lawyers not to even attempt to do so). We are all familiar with the facts of these cases: medium to long marriage wife with no or very limited future earning capacity who has not embarked upon or has given up a career to have children and who is probably in the 45 years plus age range (thereby extinguishing...

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