You and your partner married or became civil partners. You agreed to share your lives, though that part of the contract is not enforcable through the courts. You entered into a contract to support each other. That is. 

You agreed to share your financial resources with each other, including your income, savings, capital, property and pensions. Also you agreed that you would maintain each other, as well as any children of your marriage.

If you part company then those financial resources need to be shared out fairly between you, taking account of the personal circumstances, needs and financial resources of each of you and, more importantly, your children. When there is an imbalance in income resources then one of you may be required to pay spousal maintenance (sometimes called 'alimony' or 'periodical payments') to the other.

At the end of this presentation there is a section entitled ‘The Law’. It is expressed in simple terms. If you want to understand how this presentation relates to you then you must read it.

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