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When you divorce, you will usually have a financial order made setting out how assets and liabilities will be split between you and your former partner. If you are in a weaker financial position, then the court may award you spousal maintenance. We look at how this works, and answer the question, Is spousal maintenance classed as income in the UK?

Summary

This article includes:

What is Spousal Maintenance?

Spousal maintenance is a regular payment made by a former spouse or civil partner after a divorce or legal separation, used where one party is in a weaker financial position and needs support the other can provide.

Where possible, the courts will make a clean break financial consent order with no spousal maintenance, or alternatively make a term maintenance order or time-limited spousal maintenance order, giving the recipient financial support for a specified period of time.

In deciding how much spousal maintenance to pay, the court will look at a range of factors, as set out at Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 including:

  • The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources that each of the parties has, both now and in the foreseeable future
  • The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities the parties have, now and in the foreseeable future
  • The standard of living of the parties during the marriage
  • The parties’ ages and the length of the marriage
  • Any physical or mental disabilities either of the parties has
  • The contributions each party has made to the welfare of the family, including looking after the home and caring for children, both now and in the foreseeable future
  • The conduct of the parties, where the court considers that it would be inequitable to disregard this
  • Any benefit that either of the parties would lose as a result of the divorce

Is Spousal Maintenance Taxable Income in the UK?

Spousal maintenance is not treated as taxable in the UK when received by the party benefiting from the payment. This means that it never needs to be reported to HMRC by the recipient.

Illustration of an open financial ledger beside a calculator and pen on a desk, representing the assessment of spousal maintenance as taxable income.

Tax will generally have been paid on the money by the paying party at the time when they earned it, with spousal maintenance paid from net income. There is no option for the paying party to claim tax relief on the payments. The one exception is Maintenance Payments Relief, available only where the paying party (or their former spouse or civil partner) was born before 6 April 1935.

How Spousal Maintenance Affects Benefits

It is important to note that receipt of spousal maintenance can affect eligibility for certain means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit and Housing Benefit, and these benefits are reduced according to how much spousal maintenance is received, on an equivalent basis. This means that for every £1 of maintenance received, the benefit is reduced by £1.

The legislation is set out in The Universal Credit Regulations 2013, which state that the amounts to be deducted are all of the unearned income, which in this case is spousal maintenance.

Non-means-tested benefits, such as those provided for disabilities, are not generally affected by the payment of spousal maintenance.

How Long is it Paid For?

The financial order will specify how long spousal maintenance is to be paid for. The courts generally prefer that individuals work towards financial independence wherever possible, so spousal maintenance may be ordered for a set period of time only. This can allow an individual to re-enter the jobs market, retrain, or raise children.

Illustration of a woman marking a date on a wall calendar with a magnifying glass, with an hourglass on a nearby shelf, representing the duration and time-limited nature of spousal maintenance payments.

The order may state that spousal maintenance be ended if certain events occur, such as the death of either party or the remarriage of the recipient.

The paying party may be able to apply to the court to end spousal maintenance, provided that the spousal maintenance order does not prohibit this. Circumstances in which this might be possible include where the paying party has lost their job or where the receiving party cohabits with someone or receives a sizeable lump sum, for example, an inheritance.

Occasionally, where a party needs financial support, spousal maintenance may be ordered for life; however, this is not a common option.

International Payment Considerations

Other jurisdictions do not always have a similar system of ordering spousal maintenance, and this needs to be taken into account when deciding where to initiate divorce proceedings.

Tax liabilities are generally based on the residency and citizenship of the parties. In some jurisdictions, the recipient of spousal maintenance may be required to pay tax on the money received. This should be taken into account when the financial order is made.

Where one party is overseas, there may be a double taxation agreement in place that aims to ensure tax is only levied once.

Contact Our Spousal Maintenance Solicitors

If you have questions about obtaining spousal maintenance, our spousal support solicitors will be able to advise you. You can ring us on 0300 303 2071, email us at info@witansolicitors.co.ukor fill in our contact form, and we will talk through your situation with you and discuss how we can assist. We have offices in Birmingham, Northampton, London and Wellingborough. Our family law solicitors can also advise on the wider financial and children arrangements arising from your separation.

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