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Varying maintenance? What’s the right answer?
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As the summer sunshine continues, so too does the flow of Supreme Court appeals dealing with fundamental family law questions. In the last few weeks, they have looked at extending civil partnerships to straight couples and the modern approach to 'unreasonable behaviour' within divorce petitions. The latest issue considered by the UK’s highest court has been maintenance, specifically, the correct approach to varying a maintenance order years after the divorce and financial settlement have been finalised.
In
Mills v Mills, husband and wife divorced in 2002. Under the financial settlement, the wife was to receive a capital sum and £1,100 per month for joint lives (until either the husband or wife dies). In 2014, the husband applied to discharge (bring to an end) the maintenance order or, at least, reduce the monthly amount payable. At the same time, the wife applied for an increase in maintenance as she said she could not meet her basic needs.
Read the full article here.
