What is Global Maintenance and when is it relevant?

A Global Maintenance Order, also known as a ‘Segal’ Order (after the District Judge who created the order) is an order which combines both spousal and child maintenance into a single payment rather than more commonly two separate payments.  The paying party makes one ‘global’ fixed payment to the receiving party.

Child Maintenance

In the majority of cases, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has jurisdiction to make a child maintenance assessment.  Where the CMS has the jurisdiction to make an assessment the family court cannot make an order for child maintenance except in a few limited circumstances.

The most common of those limited circumstances is:

(a) where the parties have agreed the amount of child maintenance that will be paid

(b) where educational expenses are needed such as school fees and

(c) where the paying party’s gross income exceeds £156,000 per annum (and therefore reaches the CMS’s assessment threshold) and so a ‘top up’ of the CMS assessment is sought.

It is important to bear in mind that where the court makes an agreed order for child maintenance (as in (a) above), once that separate child maintenance order has been in force for a year, either party can go to the CMS and seek an assessment. Following a CMS assessment being made the child maintenance order ceases to have any effect, and the paying party is only required to pay in accordance with the CMS assessment. The newly assessed figure could be higher or lower than the figure that had been ordered, potentially leaving one party worse off than if they had a global order.

Spousal Maintenance

Unlike child maintenance, spousal maintenance is not calculated using a specific formula and is paid by one party to the other in order to meet that party’s ‘needs’.  Spousal maintenance can only be ordered by the court and can be for a period of time or for ‘joint lives’.

Global Maintenance

The global order was originally created as a short term solution to the problem of the CMS having not undertaken an assessment at the time of the parties’ divorce settlement and initially such orders were generally used as a holding position until a CMS had been undertaken. These days they are commonly used as a longer term solution.

A global order is only available where there has not been a CMS assessment and in circumstances where substantive spousal maintenance is payable. The order is usually worded so that the amount paid is reduced ‘pound for pound’  by any CMS assessment. For the receiving party, a global order gives protection that if a CMS assessment is made, the global order will be varied automatically only to reflect the change in the child maintenance that is now being paid via the CMS.  Therefore, the receiving party continues to receive the same level of maintenance payment.

For example, if there was a global maintenance order in place which provided for global maintenance payments of £1,000 per month and the CMS subsequently assessed child maintenance at £500 per month, the paying party would pay £500 to the receiving party in respect of the CMS assessment and the spousal maintenance element of the global order would be £500 – the receiving party would still receive a total of £1,000 per month.

Like a separate spousal maintenance order, a global maintenance order typically lasts for a period determined by the court based on the needs of the receiving party and other relevant circumstances of the case.  The length of a global order can vary – for example it can be very short term/temporary until the receiving party is considered able to be financially independent or it may continue for the parties’ joint lives.

They can be varied if circumstances change. Either party can apply to the court to vary the payments upwards or downwards or indeed terminated altogether if there is a substantial change in their circumstances.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a global maintenance order?

Advantages:

• Makes things simple and easier to manage on a practical level.
• Provides clarity and predictability for both parties.
• Provides flexibility for both parties as it can be reviewed and varied at any point although not easily if there is not a meeting of minds.
• Provides security for the receiving party.
• Reduces the need for future litigation.

Disadvantages:

• Comes to an end automatically if the receiving party remarries although the receiving party is still entitled to go to the CMS to seek an assessment of child maintenance at that stage.
• The process to change the quantum can be a drawn out and costly affair if not agreed.
• Can create a disincentive on the receiving party to make efforts towards financial independence.
• Can create unfairness particularly if the parties’ financial circumstances improve or worsen.

When is global maintenance relevant?

Global maintenance orders are particularly helpful in the following circumstances:-

• When the paying party is vastly more wealthy than the receiving party – such that a simple spousal maintenance order or child maintenance assessment would not provide sufficient security for the receiving party.
• Where there are international elements to the parties’ divorce – such that there is a need to ensure that the global maintenance order is enforceable across different jurisdictions.
• Where the receiving party is unlikely to become financially independent in the near future due to issues such as age and health.

The suitability of a global maintenance order will always depend on the specific circumstances of the case and it is therefore essential to obtain specialist legal advice to consider whether a global maintenance order is appropriate.

Lisa Burton-Durham is a Group Director, Chartered Legal Executive & Collaborative Lawyer in our Brighton office.