After Divorce: when you get a new partner
Your divorce has been finalised and you have begun to heal and move on with your life. One or both of you may have met someone new and be wondering how your current relationship might affect any arrangements in your divorce, such as maintenance payments.
Alongside the divorce process, if an application is made or an agreed consent order is lodged, the courts can look at your assets, income and circumstances and decide on a fair division based on the needs of the couple and any children. In cases where an ex-wife (and it is most commonly an ex-wife) has no income; for instance she has been a stay at home Mum, or an income substantially lower than her ex-husband’s, the court may make a spousal maintenance order. But what if subsequent to this, the person in receipt of maintenance begins to live with a new partner? This can be a tricky issue, with an ex-husband feeling aggrieved that he must continue to pay maintenance if his ex-wife is now living with someone else.
Will living with my new partner affect maintenance payments?
If the recipient of a spousal maintenance order begins living with a new partner, this does not automatically mean maintenance payments will stop. Usually, if a maintenance order is open-ended it will last until the ex-wife dies, remarries or if the court decides otherwise. However, an ex-husband could apply to the court to change or stop the maintenance order and as part of its consideration the court will look at whether his ex-wife is cohabiting with a new partner and possibly the partner’s financial circumstances. There is also often a clause in an order which ends maintenance after cohabitation for a certain period, often 6 months or more.
The issue is not clear cut, but if you are in receipt of spousal maintenance and considering cohabiting with a new partner, you may wish to seek legal advice so that you are aware of any potential implications.
