Spousal Maintenance
Lawyers Sunshine Coast
In Family Law, spousal maintenance exists to ensure that financial stability and appropriate support continue for a period after a marriage or de facto relationship ends. Our spousal maintenance lawyers are based on the Sunshine Coast and assist clients across Queensland, New South Wales and Australia via phone and online appointments.
Spousal Maintenance Ensures Financial Stability for Both Parties
If you need clarity around your financial resources, reasonable living expenses, or whether the other party may be required to help adequately support you after separation, our team is here to help.
Chat with our spousal maintenance lawyers today.
Experienced Family Law Spousal Maintenance Lawyers
When dealing with the Family Law Act and applications for spousal maintenance, de facto maintenance, or any form of financial support following separation, experience matters. Freedom Family Law has over 30 years of expertise supporting married couples, former de facto partners and individuals navigating separation, divorce or property-related issues.
We provide strategic guidance, grounded in both the law and the realities of navigating separation, especially where financial arrangements, child support and property settlement are interconnected.
Our Family Law and Spousal Maintenance legal support services
We offer practical legal advice and tailored support for clients needing help with spousal maintenance family law issues, including:
- Applications for spousal maintenance payments, including urgent and interim financial support
- Legal advice around filing or responding to a spousal maintenance order
- Assistance if the other party is not meeting their maintenance payments
- Legal advice on all relevant parts of the Family Law Act 1975
- Guidance on property settlement, assets, liabilities and financial disclosure
- Support through the family court and federal circuit court process
- Related advice on child support, child maintenance and consent orders
- Help negotiating private arrangements, private agreements or a binding financial agreement
If you are unsure whether you may receive spousal maintenance, need to pay maintenance, or want to update existing spousal maintenance arrangements, our lawyers can help.
Book a free chat with our Spousal Maintenance lawyers.
Legal Support for Family Law Clients Across Australia
Because Family Law is federal, our Sunshine Coast team can represent you anywhere in Australia. Many clients come to us for help with complex financial situations, high-value asset pools, de facto couples and matters involving relocation, medical expenses or special circumstances.
If your separation includes property settlement, see our Property Settlement page for additional guidance.
FAQs About Spousal Maintenance
Understanding your rights under Family Law spousal maintenance requirements can feel overwhelming, especially if you are unsure what expenses are considered reasonable, how the court considers each person’s situation, or whether you may be eligible to receive maintenance.
Below is a clearer outline to help you get started.
Spousal maintenance is financial assistance paid by one spouse or partner to the other when one person cannot meet their reasonable expenses from their own income, assets or financial resources.
There are two main types.
Urgent Spousal Maintenance
This applies when there is an immediate financial need, and the court may order temporary periodic payments or a short-term lump sum. This can occur in situations involving sudden accommodation costs, loss of income or family violence that limits someone’s earning capacity.
General Spousal Maintenance
This is considered when urgency is not present. The family court will assess the financial circumstances of both parties and may issue a spousal maintenance order or include maintenance within broader property settlement negotiations.
When an application is filed, the court considers:
- Whether one party has a financial need
- Whether the other party has the capacity to provide support
- The age and health of each person
- Income, earning capacity and employment prospects
- Care arrangements for children and primary care responsibilities
- Whether family violence has impacted someone’s ability to work
- The parties’ reasonable standard of living
- All the circumstances of the relationship
Spousal maintenance does not follow a formula. A detailed analysis of financial documents, financial information and a clear detailed budget may be required.
Maintenance can be paid as regular payments, periodic payments, a lump sum payment, part of a binding financial agreement or part of final orders.
Yes. De facto maintenance can apply where a de facto partner cannot support themselves, provided the relationship was on a genuine domestic basis. A de facto maintenance order may be made in exceptional circumstances or as part of a larger property or parenting matter.
Time limits apply.
- Married couples: within 12 months of a divorce order
- De facto relationships: within 2 years of separation
In special circumstances, the court may grant leave to proceed outside these limits, but this is not guaranteed. You should seek legal advice promptly if deadlines are approaching.
The court will look closely at each person’s financial situation and determine whether support is possible. If a party fails to comply with a court order, enforcement proceedings may be available.
How Family Violence Can Affect Spousal Maintenance
Family violence can directly impact the ability to work, access to funds, safety-related living expenses, urgent relocation and medical expenses.
In these situations, urgent spousal maintenance or additional financial support may be appropriate. Our team handles these matters sensitively and with discretion.
Chat with our Spousal Maintenance Family Law experts
Your Team of Spousal Maintenance Lawyers
If you need advice on how to receive financial support, whether you may need to pay maintenance, or how to structure spousal maintenance arrangements that support your transition into a new chapter or new de facto relationship, our lawyers are here to help.
We offer clear, empathetic guidance and legally sound pathways because your financial stability matters.
Speak with our spousal maintenance lawyers today.
Or call 1300 365 108.