But in the words of one High Court judge, “it is a mistake to regard the standard of living as the lodestar. As time passes how the parties lived in the marriage becomes increasingly irrelevant. And too much emphasis on it imperils the prospects of eventual independence”.
So the family’s previous standard of living will be a starting point for Estrada’s claims, but she will then have to show that it is reasonable for that standard to continue and that this would not be incompatible with the duty of the court to terminate her claims as soon as is financially viable.
The aim is to ensure that a financial provision order should enable a gentle transition from the marital standard of living to the standard that the wife should expect as a self-sufficient woman. If the marriage has been long and the wife will continue to have child caring duties after the divorce, the court is more likely to decide in favour of a life time award, known as joint lives maintenance, but such awards are hard to obtain.
Assisting with sensible calculations
Recent judgments have provided guidance to state that once the children of the family have reached year two at school, most wives could be expected to return to work at least on a part-time basis or to start retraining for a new career.
Much work may need to be done as to her likely income earning ability in the future and this leads to problems with the calculation of her likely future mortgage ability.
To borrow you must prove an income, but what if the income is uncertain? The wife may not have firm evidence as to her likely future salary or maintenance award.
There is therefore much scope here for independent financial advisers to assist with sensible calculations of future income and mortgage capacity reports plus also pension investments.
Parties may not be particularly financially astute, particularly if their former spouse has always made the financial decisions during the marriage and this is the first time they have ever had to be independent.
In addition to calculating future needs, there is much scope for advice as to the likely income that could be achieved from a capitalised maintenance award and the myriad of investment choices facing a newly divorced spouse.
The financial marketplace can be bewildering and careful advice from a financial adviser can make a huge difference to a spouse facing a worrying and uncertain future.
