Extending Periodical Payments

Hi

I have a proposed Consent Order for ongoing periodical payments which will end on:
- death
- remarriage
- cohabitation for 12 months
- children reaching 18

Stbx wants a Section 28 bar and my sol says no, since we have young children and I may need to extend maintenance in extreme circumstances.

What does this mean? If maintenance has ended due to one of the above reasons, could I then have it re-instated in certain circumstances?

Thanks

In what sort of circumstances would you want it reinstating?

Death speaks for itself
Remarriage - your new husband should be contributing as you're now in partnership with him
Cohabitation - your new partner should be contributing and again you're now in partnership with him
Children reaching 18 - you should be standing on your own two feet

SM is different from CM which is paid regardless until thd children leave full time education.

T

Hopefully no circumstances but I got the impression from my sol that it should be left open incase of some extreme circumstance (the kind you hope don't occur),

ie/ one of the children needing full time care preventing me from working or me unable to work and provide for them due to disability...

I don't think there would be many circumstances but just wanted to know if this is what she meant (asking for further clarification would have cost me more).

I appreciate what you mean but again are you meaning if the children are over 18?

If you were in a new relationship and it happened you'd already get extra benefits to help towards the children and their care as well as the cm so it shouldn't really apply there.

And again death speaks for itself. Or are you referring to your ex dying and leaving you without cm or sm?

T

One thing you need to remember is that, if you have a time limited order and it expires,
no further application can be made - the order has expired and therefore cannot be revived or renewed. An application for extension can be made before the date of expiry, and if it is granted, then the fact that the revised order extends beyond the original date is irrelevant.

As nbm says, death requires no explanation, and spousal maintenance invariably ends on the re-marriage of the payee.

If I were acting for you ( which thankfully from your point of view I'm not ) I would suggest that you resist a s28 bar . As long as no such bar is in place, while the children are under 18 the SM order can be varied or extended. I would personally want to look at the possibility of a nominal SM order after the children have reached 18, but that would perhaps depend to some extent on your age. When you have a woman in her late 40's or 50's,
her earnings prospects may be questionable and I am told that Courts like a nominal order unless the woman is clearly self sufficient.

But that's the answer to an exam question ; the reality is that you don't really want a protracted argument and its associated costs over something which may not happen. In the end it's your decision and nobody can make it for you.

LMM

Thanks for your responses.

Sorry to sound a bit thick, but I get it now.....with no Section 28 bar, if some unforseen event occurs I could return to court to request an extension to the periodical payments order, as long as none of the terminating fators had been reached (death, re-marriage, co-habitation or children reaching 18 years). Without a Section 28 bar no extension could be made at anytime.

Thanks:)

Very well put !

LMM