Re:Successful downward variation

Hi everyone

This info may be of benefit to someone in the future who is thinking about applying to vary an existing Order.

My partner has been paying periodical payments on a Segal Order basis, and for joint lives, for years - and got into huge debt as a result.

The Judge at his hearing remitted all the arrears, discharged the Order for spousal maintenance, and agreed a revised amount for child maintenance, with a bar on extension.

So it is possible to get a discharge... But I would say (and so did our barrister) that you have to put an enormous amount of work in, get to know your case inside out, and be very clear on what you are asking for. Tell the absolute truth. Don't try and be "creative" with your Form E. Show respect to the Court at all times, and comply exactly with their directions.

We absolutely could not have done this, and achieved such an incredible result, without the help of this site and the fantastic advise recieved.

Incidentally, my partner's ex is incredibly wealthy and refused to disclose her financial position. This annoyed the Judge and inevitably helped swing things in our favour.

Thank you once again to everyone who has helped with my many questions over the last few months, and I hope that in turn our experience can help someone else out there that is going through the nightmare of a variation application.

Our barrister did say that it is almost certain that there will be significant changes in the law in the next few years, as joint lives spousal maintenance is seen as a problem both for payer and recipient (as circumstances change, for both, for better and for worse) and that courts are more and more looking towards clean breaks.

First of all, my warm congratulations on your partner's success. It is always good to know the outcomes of cases where we have given advice and to know how accurate ( ot otherwise ) it was.
However, your case raises a number of issues which perhaps are deserving of a wider discussion.
Why do variations have to be so complicated and expensive ? Why have up to three hearings when, in most cases, a relatively informal hearing before an arbitrator would suffice ?
It is understood and appreciated that, at the time a maintenance order is made, it is difficult or impossible to foresee what the situation will be many years down the line. In most cases the only realistic option for the Court is to make an open ended order with the possibility of a review. It would be easier to accept this if the review process were rather simpler.
The way the Matrimonial Causes Act was drafted means that a Court can discharge an order only if satisfied that the recipient can adjust without undue hardship to the termination of maintenance payments. Critics have argued that this does not give much incentive for the recipient to seek employment, thereby reducing or ending her maintenance. Although this remark is obviously cynical, it does raise a few points of interest.
I can understand why a woman might not want to go out to work to ease the burden on a former spouse with whom she may not be on particularly good terms. And if ( for argument's sake ) she gets a job paying, say, £200 a week, and that sum were deducted pound for pound from her spousal maintenance, there is even less of an incentive. It must surely be worth her while to work.
I have for some time taken the view that a sudden, total, withdrawal of maintenance in many cases is too severe. It may occasionally be jusified but in many cases I believe that perhaps a gradual withdrawal of maintenance phased over, say, five years, might be an option worth exploring.
My marriage brpke down in 1983 when my ex was admitted to a mental hospital and I have been paying ever since. I admit, I have sometimes wondered whether it is in the public interest to keep spousal maintenance going that long, even where my ex, obviously, can never be self sufficient. Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel ? But I prefer to bear the evils that I have than fly to others that I know not of.
I'm sure your Christmas will be very happy this year. Good luck to you both.
LMM

Thank you LMM for your kind thoughts. Your advice has been invaluable.

The whole process is indeed costly, lengthy, and confusing. It took us 7 months, 2 hearings, and cost over £5000.

It may also involve luck. We were originally advised that the courts in our area take joint lives to mean joint lives, and that whilst the Order may revert to a nominal amount, it would never be discharged. Fortunately for us, however, my partner's ex had filed at her local court. We took legal advice there, and were told that in that particular area courts viewed joint lives orders as rather antiquated, and that a clean break was almost a certainty.

So luck and a bit of a 'postcode lottery' may also play a part.

LMM, may I say that the way you write of your situation with such compassion and acceptance is truly inspirational. Some people would have allowed such a situation to make them become bitter and angry. Many times I have read your posts and reminded myself that acceptance and forgiveness is the way forward, not anger and animosity. You always write with clarity, thought and compassion. And for what it's worth, I think having to pay for 28 years is too long.

Wishing you a merry Christmas.