Spousal Maintenance
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The four kinds of spousal maintenance

Courts do not simply pick an amount. They pick a shape. Understanding which shape fits your circumstances matters more than any single number.

1. Nominal maintenance

A token amount - historically as little as R1 a month. It sounds pointless, and it is not. A nominal order keeps the door open: because an existing order can be varied, but a claim that was dismissed generally cannot be revived. A spouse who expects their circumstances to worsen may ask for nominal maintenance to preserve the right to come back to court.

2. Rehabilitative maintenance

Paid for a defined period - commonly two to five years - to let a spouse retrain, finish a qualification, or re-establish themselves in work. This is the most common form of spousal maintenance ordered in South Africa today, and it reflects the courts' general expectation that an adult who can become self-supporting should.

3. Permanent maintenance

Ordered where self-support is not a realistic prospect: a long marriage, an older spouse, a career given up decades ago, or ill health. It is less common than people fear, and it is not truly permanent - it ends on death or the recipient's remarriage, and it can be varied if circumstances change.

4. A lump sum

Instead of a monthly payment, a single capital amount. Attractive where the parties want a clean break and the payer has the assets to fund it. Once paid, there is nothing to vary later - which is either the appeal or the risk, depending on which side you are on.

Interim maintenance while the divorce runs

Divorces take time. Rule 43 of the Uniform Rules of Court exists so that a financially dependent spouse is not starved into settling on bad terms while they wait.

Under Rule 43 you can ask the court, on an urgent and relatively inexpensive basis, for:

• Interim maintenance for yourself and the children
• A contribution towards your legal costs
• Interim care of, and contact with, the children

A Rule 43 application stands or falls on a founding affidavit that sets out your monthly expenses in detail. Vague figures get vague orders. MMaintenance generates a Rule 43 founding affidavit with your itemised schedule already built in - start a free schedule and export it when you are ready.

What the calculator above is doing

Two numbers decide most spousal maintenance arguments, and the calculator isolates both.

The shortfall is what you reasonably need each month, less what you earn yourself. It is the outer limit of what you could sensibly ask for. Note the word reasonably - measured against the standard of living during the marriage, not against what you would like.

The capacity is what your spouse earns, less what they reasonably need to live on. It is the outer limit of what they can actually pay. A court will not order a payer into destitution to fund a claimant.

The realistic ceiling is the lower of those two. Where capacity falls short of the shortfall - which is common, because two households cost more than one - the deficit is shared, and both parties leave the marriage poorer. That is not a failure of the calculation. It is the arithmetic of divorce.

Where child maintenance fits

Child maintenance is a separate claim, and it is calculated differently - South African courts apportion the children's costs using a portions method (two portions per adult, one per child) and then split that share between the parents in proportion to their incomes.

Work that out on the income split calculator, or build the full itemised version with the child maintenance Excel template. Keep the two claims separate in your papers: a court will.

Common questions

Am I automatically entitled to spousal maintenance?

No. There is no automatic right. A court generally expects a spouse who can support themselves to do so. Maintenance is most often awarded where the marriage itself reduced your earning capacity - you left work to raise children, or moved cities for your spouse's career.

Does adultery affect maintenance?

Conduct is a listed factor, but South African courts have moved firmly away from using maintenance as punishment. Misconduct rarely swings an award unless it is gross and directly relevant to the financial position of the parties.

What if my spouse hides income?

Courts assess earning capacity, not merely declared earnings. A payer who resigns, understates a business's takings, or lives visibly beyond their stated income can be assessed on what they are capable of earning. Bank statements are the usual battleground.

Is spousal maintenance taxable?

Under current South African law, maintenance received under a divorce order is generally not taxable in the recipient's hands, and the payer generally cannot deduct it. Tax treatment turns on the specific structure of the order - confirm your position with a tax practitioner before relying on it.

When does it end?

Ordinarily on the death of either party, or on the recipient's remarriage. A fixed-term order ends when the term expires. Whether cohabitation short of remarriage terminates an order is contested and depends on how the order is worded - a point worth getting right at settlement rather than litigating later.