13. How does the Court decide how much I pay for maintenance? What if I am not able to pay the sum ordered for Maintenance?

Pursuant to Section 14(4) of the Maintenance Act in determining the amount and duration of support, the Court shall consider all the circumstances of the parties including the matters specified in sections 5(2), 9(2) or 10(2),

5 (2) In determining the amount and duration of support to be given, to a spouse under a maintenance order, the Court shall have regard to the following matters in addition to the matters specified in section 14(4)-

(a) the length of time of the marriage or cohabitation;

(b) the spouse's contribution to the relationship and the economic consequences of the relationship for the spouse;

(c) the effect of the responsibilities assumed during the marriage or cohabitation on the spouse's earning capacity;

(d) the spouse's needs, having regard to the accustomed standard of living during the marriage or cohabitation;

(e) whether the spouse has undertaken the care of a child of eighteen years of age or over who is unable, by reason of illness, disability or other cause, to care for himself;

(f) any housekeeping, child care or other domestic service performed by the spouse for the family, as if the spouse were devoting the time spent in performing that service in remunerative employment and were contributing the earnings to the family's support;

(g) the effect of the spouse's child care responsibilities on the spouse's earnings and career development;

(h) the terms of any order made or proposed to be made under the Property (Rights of Spouses) Act in relation to the property of the parties;

(i) the eligibility of either spouse for a pension, allowance or benefit under any rule, enactment, superannuation fund or scheme, and the rate of that pension, allowance or benefit.

9 (2) In considering the circumstances of a dependent who is a child, the Court shall have regard to the following matters in addition to the circumstances specified in section 14(4)-

    (a) that each parent has an obligation to provide support for the child;

    (b) the child's aptitude for, and reasonable prospects of, obtaining an education; and

    (c) the child's need for a stable environment.

10 (2) In considering the circumstances of a dependent who is a parent or grandparent, the Court shall have regard to whether, by reason of age or infirmity, that dependent is unable to provide for himself or herself; as the case may require, and-

(a) the respondent's and the dependant's assets and means;

(b) the assets and means that the dependant and the respondent are likely to have in the future; (c) the dependant's capacity to contribute to the dependant's own support;

(d) the capacity of the respondent to provide support;

(e) the mental and physical health and age of the dependant and the respondent and the capacity of each of them for appropriate gainful employment;  

(f) the measures available for the dependant to become able to provide for the dependant's own support and the length of time and cost involved to enable the dependant to take those measures;

(g) any legal obligation of the respondent or the dependant to provide support for another person;

(h) the desirability of the dependant or respondent staying at home to care for a child;

(i) any contribution made by the dependant to the realization of the respondent's career potential;

(j) any other legal right of the dependant to support other than out of public funds;

(k) the extent to which the payment of maintenance to the dependant would increase the dependant's earning capacity by enabling the dependant to undertake a course of education or training or to establish himself or herself in a business or otherwise to obtain an adequate income;

(l) the quality of the relationship between the dependant and the respondent;

(m) any fact or circumstance which, in the opinion of the Court, the justice of the case requires to be taken into account.

If the Respondent is having difficulty paying a sum ordered by the Court, he or she can make an application to the Court for the order to be varied.  This application to Vary the Order can be made pursuant to Section 18 of the Maintenance Act which states;

At any time after a maintenance order or an order of attachment has been made under this Act, a Court may upon the application of-

(a) any of the parties to the proceedings in which such order was made;

(b) any person having the actual care and custody of a child who is a dependant; or

(c) any person to whom any payment was directed in such order to be made, vary the order in such manner as the Court thinks fit, suspend the order, revive a suspended order or cancel the order if circumstances so warrant.