VIC Wife Trying to Avoid Spousal Maintenance - What to Do?

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29 November 2016
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My wife (now separated from me since 22 April 2016) has filled out her financial statement, signed it and has overstated her personal expenses to try to avoid paying spousal maintenance.

I am a sufferer of chronic pleuritic pain after having twice, bilateral pulmonary embolisms (blood clotting of the left & right arteries from the heart to each lung - a very much life threatening illness at the time). I now suffer chronic pain almost ever day. I can not work as the pain is very bad at times & stops me doing things, I have to take strong pain medication (morphine and other drugs) which makes me sometimes very drowsy.

I am on the Disability Support Pension & my standard of living is going to be affected a lot if spousal maintenance is not granted to me. At present, we are separated under the same roof. The tension here is so thick you could cut it with a knife (as the old saying goes) as she does not talk to me at all. She has a good full time job earning over $2500 per fortnight. We have our houses paid off. I am 56 years old and she is 51 years old.

I have her bank statements and for instance, I have calculated her costs for food at supermarkets, from takeaways, cafes & restaurants. The amount she stated is $220 per week whereas it only calculates to $100 per week.

Other items are also overstated, such as electricity at $30 per week, whereas I have calculated from the bills at $4 per week (I know that sounds very low but the house has a very large & efficient solar system & our bills are usually very low or in credit, especially over summer). There are many other items either overstated or questionable.

What can I do about her trying to show that she has no disposable income to afford to pay spousal maintenance to me?
 

AllForHer

Well-Known Member
23 July 2014
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So, a couple of things.

First, there's only two ways you can get spousal maintenance paid to you. The first is with her agreement. The second is by order of the Court. Sounds like she doesn't agree, so you'd have to go to Court.

Second, the Court determines whether or not spousal maintenance should be paid based on:

1. Your capacity to meet your own reasonable needs; and
2. Her capacity to pay.

Where you're going to struggle is with #2 - her capacity to pay. $2500 a fortnight barely meets the average Australian wage, so it's highly unlikely that the Court is going to hold that she has the capacity to pay you spousal maintenance. This is the kind of order reserved for individuals earning six-figure salaries. Then, even if you requested a menial amount, you would have to ask yourself if it's worth pursuing in Court, when the debt from the lawyer is going to bump into the tens of thousands.

You're better off doing a property settlement than pursuing spousal maintenance. A property settlement will guarantee you some fiscal security. Spousal maintenance may just end up with a huge legal debt and an order in her favour.