Do I have to pay maintenance to my ex-spouse after the divorce?

The Court may order you to pay maintenance to your ex-wife or to your incapacitated ex-husband. Maintenance for the ex-spouse is normally contributed on a monthly basis.

The quantum of the maintenance depends on all circumstances of the case, including but not limited to the following:

• income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each party has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

• the financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each party has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

• the standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage;

• the age of each party to the marriage and the duration of the marriage;

• any physical or mental disability of either party to the marriage;

• as well as the contributions made by each party for the welfare of the family during the marriage.

In recent years, the Court is moving towards a view that an ex-wife is expected to regain self-sufficiency after the divorce, regardless of whether she had worked during the marriage, especially when she is young. As such, for a short and childless marriage during which both parties were working, it is likely that the Court would only order a nominal maintenance for the ex-wife or no maintenance at all. However, if the ex-wife, despite being young, has been a homemaker for at least the bulk of the marriage, a case can be made for the ex-husband to pay a substantive monthly maintenance for a limited period of time (usually up to two years) so as to give the ex-wife some financial buffer during the transitional period immediately after the divorce, in order for her to re-adjust to the workforce.

In cases where parties’ relationship has been extremely acrimonious and a clean break is desired, a lump-sum maintenance may be ordered instead of a monthly maintenance so as to prevent further litigation and acrimony between parties, provided that the party paying the lump-sum maintenance would not be financially crippled.