Family Mediation Ireland ®

The laws relating to child maintenance in the Republic of Ireland are covered by several pieces of legislation.

These include, primarily, the Maintenance of Spouses and Children’s Act, The Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act of 1989, The Family Law Act 1995 and The Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996.

The District Court, Circuit Court and High Courts can all make maintenance orders in favour of either spouses and/or children of a marriage or a relationship. A separating couple can agree maintenance arrangements without having to go through the cost of court by going to mediation.

The most cost effective means for separating couples to deal with maintenance is to agree the terms in mediation and to have same inserted into a Deed of Separation (outside of court) or ruled on consent (in court) where appropriate. Your lawyer will advise you as to which is the better of the two options.

The payment of maintenance can have tax implications for couples and accordingly is important to check out how you will be taxed upon the receipt of maintenance. Same can be discussed with your solicitor or accountant. Many people also discuss matters relating to maintenance payments with MABS.

A common law wife or a person who is not legally married cannot seek maintenance from their former partner for themselves under the law at present. They can however seek maintenance from their former partner in respect of their child/children if their former partner is the parent of that child or children. They might also have entitlements in “Equity”. Equity and partition is a complicated area of the law that is best discussed with your legal advisor.

Applications for maintenance can be made in either the District Court, Circuit Court or High Court depending on the monetary size of the application involved.

You should take the advice of your solicitor when deciding which court is the most appropriate forum to bring a maintenance application.

The courts take numerous factors into account when considering applications for maintenance to include the income and expenditure of the applicant and respondent respectively, their assets and their debts/liabilities.

Where the parent of a child is applying for a Separation or a Divorce in the Circuit Court or High Court, that parent can also include a claim for maintenance as part of their application. If the terms of the Divorce or separation, to include maintenance, are agreed in advance of the court application parties can save substantial sums by way of legal costs.

Many people ask what is the amount of maintenance payable for a child in ireland? There are no maintenance scales or suggested amounts for maintenance available anywhere. It depends on the needs of any children and the financial circumstances of the couple involved.

Parents can evaluate their maintenance requirements as part of the mediation process, subsequent to completing their financial disclosure documentation or financial summary.

The limit or ceiling for maintenance in the District Court is €150.00 per week per child or €500.00 per week for a spouse. These limits are rarely if ever reached in the present recessionary climate. It depends on the circumstances of the individual case.

The Circuit Court and High Court are unlimted in terms of the size of the maintenance orders they can make. However, the legal costs associated with going to the Circuit Court and High Court increase dramatically when compared to cost of attending the District Court.

Many urban legends surround court orders in respect of maintenance, for example, the presumption that as a parent does not have access to their child they do not have to pay maintenance. That urban legend is not true. The courts frequently make maintenance orders against parents who are not availing of access to their children.

Furthermore, because one parent is on social welfare that does not mean that the court will not make a maintenance payment against that parent. It depends on the circumstances of the particular case.

Accordingly, it is more cost effective to agree all these matters in mediation.

Many parties hear stories or urban legends about sombody only having to pay very little maintenance. The truth of the matter is that each court case is heard on it’s own merits. It is very unusual for a court to make no maintenance order where it is asked to do so by one party.

Likewise, where one party brings an unecessary maintenance application that could have been agreed outside court, the court might take a dim view of same depending on the circumstances of that case.

Parents of a child have the ability to apply to the Court in future to change or review a maintenace order where their financial circumstances have changed. This can be for example where a paying parent has lost a job or has no income. Or by contrast where the expenses for a child have increased substantially since a court order was previously made.

By contrast maintenance arrangements for children can be agreed outside of the courts in the mediation process. The process will alow parties to review their financial needs and more importantly the needs of the children on an ongoing basis.

It provides a mechanism for parties to discuss and agree maintenance arrangements without the necessity of getting involved in costly protracted court proceedings every time matters need to be agreed.