Information
In granting a decree of judicial separation, divorce or dissolution, a court
has the power to make a wide variety of ancillary orders. The most usual court
orders relate to the following:
There is no standard or usual amount of maintenance payable just as there is
no standard set of circumstances in which a court will make a particular order
in relation to the family or shared home. When considering what orders to make
in each particular case, a court will consider all of the circumstances of the
family/civil partners and will look in particular at the following:
- The current and likely future income, earning capacity and assets of each
party
- The current and future financial needs and obligations of each party
- The standard of living of the family/civil partners before the break-up
of the marriage/civil partnership – the court will take this into
account, but in reality it will accept that, in many cases, separation will
result in a drop in the standard of living of both parties
- The age of each party, the duration of the marriage/civil partnership and
the length of time the spouses lived together or the length of time the
civil partners lived together since the registration of the civil
partnership
- The accommodation needs of each party
- The input each spouse/civil partner has made and is likely to make to the
welfare of the family/civil partners – this includes any contribution
made that increased the income and financial resources of the other
party
- The degree to which the marriage/civil partnership affected each party's
ability to earn
- The conduct of each party
- The value of any benefits given up by a party because of the judicial
separation, divorce or dissolution
- The rights of any other person affected by the judicial separation,
divorce or dissolution
