I want to cohabit with a new partner – how will this affect my spousal maintenance?

As part of financial settlements following divorce, it is possible for one spouse to pay the other spousal maintenance. This is common where there is a large disparity between the spouses’ salaries or in cases where one spouse works and the other does not. Spousal maintenance can either be payable for a specified period of time, until an application is made to change the payments or until the payee dies or remarries.

It is possible that the payer will want to apply to the court to reduce maintenance payments once they are aware of the cohabitation. Recent case law has shown that cohabiting relationships will be taken into account by the Court when variation is applied for and they will only take into account what the cohabitee should be paying regardless of whether they are actually contributing anything or not. Therefore, the payee should be prepared to potentially have their maintenance payments reduced if they decide to cohabit with a new partner.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of divorce or financial settlement with an experienced solicitor, don’t hesitate to book a free, initial consultation today on 01246 555 610.