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Forever Maintenance A wealthy businessman recently won his fight in the Court of Appeal after being ordered to pay his ex wife an extra £202,000, thirty years after their divorce. Mr and Mrs North divorced in 1978, and an order was made in 1981 in favour of Mrs North for a nominal maintenance order (5p a year) payable for the rest of her life. Mr North was left to bring up the family's three children whilst Mrs North emigrated to Australia where she lived extravagantly, losing £120,000 through some bad investments. After getting into financial difficulty, Mrs North returned to the Court to vary the terms of her original maintenance order. The first Judge increased the maintenance from 5p a year to £16,500 a year and after calculating the term of the maintenance obligation, ordered that it be paid as a one-off capital sum. The Courts later overturned this decision but even so Mr North was assessed as having a liability to pay maintenance to his ex wife at the lower figure of £3,000 a year. The maintenance figure was then “capitalised” and he was ordered to pay a lump sum. This case demonstrates that when an ongoing maintenance order is made following divorce there is always opportunity to bring the case back to Court regardless of the length of time that has passed. Whilst a “clean break” cannot be achieved in every case, where it can be used, it stops the parties pursuing financial claims against their former spouses in the future. The individuals can plan for their future without the threat of further litigation and this can be the key to making a fresh start. Often, there will be a trade off on the split of the family assets to achieve a clean break. As every case is different we will consider with you the options available in your case to find the best outcome.
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