Who can apply for maintenance

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Dependent children are legally entitled to maintenance support from their parents, whether the parents are married or unmarried.

After a relationship ends, you may be entitled to receive maintenance support for yourself. This financial support can be from a current or former spouse, civil partner or cohabitant. Maintenance support can apply even if there is no physical or emotional relationship between the parties.

If the parties cannot agree on maintenance, either party can apply to court for a maintenance order.

Who is eligible for maintenance?

The following is not an exhaustive list of those eligible for maintenance support. You might want to get legal advice or the help of support services to see if you qualify.

Dependent children

A dependent child is a child who is:

• under 18 years old, or
• over 18 and under 23 years old and still in full-time education (or who would be, if a maintenance order was made), or
• of any age with a mental or physical disability that prevents them from supporting themselves

You have a lifetime obligation to provide maintenance where it is not reasonably possible for that child to maintain themselves. A child's individual needs will be a matter for the court to interpret.

Note: An adult child aged between 18 and 23 in full-time education can apply for maintenance on their own behalf.

Married couples

You are eligible to apply for maintenance from your spouse when you have separated. You might still be living in the same house. You may or may not yet have started divorce or judicial separation proceedings.

The amount of maintenance will depend on each person's ability to pay. In some cases, a judge may decide who is the maintenance debtor and who is the maintenance creditor.

• It does not depend on whether you acted in the role of parent.
• In certain circumstances, you may have to pay maintenance even after a divorce is obtained.
• Maintenance obligations to a spouse only end if they remarry or die.

Civil partners

You are eligible to apply for maintenance from your civil partner when you have separated. You might still be living in the same house. You may or may not yet have started dissolution proceedings.

The amount of maintenance will depend on each person's ability to pay. In some cases, a judge may decide who is the maintenance debtor and who is the maintenance creditor.

• You may have to pay maintenance after a civil partnership is dissolved.
• Maintenance obligations only end on remarriage or death.

Cohabitants

A cohabitant refers to either of two adults (same or opposite sex) who:

• live together in an intimate and committed relationship,
• are not married or in a civil partnership, and
• are not related to each other in a way that would prevent marriage

Not all cohabitants qualify for maintenance. To be a qualified cohabitant, you must:

• have lived together for five years (or two years if you have children together), and
• be financially dependent on the other person and meet the legal criteria for the redress scheme

If one cohabitant is still married, they must have lived apart from their spouse for at least four of the last five years.

If you are a cohabitant who is a guardian of a dependent child, you can apply for maintenance in respect of that child.

You must make your application within two years of the relationship ending if the other cohabitant is still alive. If they have died, you should seek legal advice — you may be able to apply for provision from their estate within six months of the probate application.