‘How has my ex-husband ended up living off me for the rest of his life?’—The Telegraph
Family partner Kate Hamilton has been quoted in an article in The Telegraph, discussing the rise of high-earning women being pursued for spousal support from their lower-paid former partner.
Kate highlights that the issue of paying spousal maintenance (how much and for how long) is one of the most emotive parts of a settlement. For a low-earning spouse, it enables them to pay their monthly expenses in a manner hopefully akin, or reasonably close to, the marital standard of living; necessary if they have taken joint decisions to structure their family life in a certain way. Kate adds that the higher-earning spouse, depending on their level, can feel it is a fair trade-off if this has enabled them to forge their career, as they keep excess income after such payments. However, it can feel unfair if the maintenance seems disproportionately high or there are less holistic family reasons for their partners earning less. The increase of higher-earning women with lower paid spouses provides further context for these considerations.
There has been a noticeable increase in high-earning women and lower-paid husbands divorcing – and men seeking spousal support from their ex-wives. It’s not yet commonplace but occurs in perhaps one out of 10 of my cases. [Already in the US it’s frequent enough to be jokingly called ‘Man-imony’. Although Hamilton notes:] lower-earning husbands perhaps don’t like this type of language – nor is it used here.
The full article is available to read online at The Telegraph, by subscription only.
Kate Hamilton is a partner in the family and children team and has substantial expertise built up over many years in negotiating pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements and in resolving financial settlements for couples following the breakdown of their marriage or civil partnership.
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