Maintenance

I have received an application for financial provision/Notice of Intention to proceed with application for Financial Provision made in Initial Application.

I have received an application/notice of intention for financial provision, what should I do?

You will have received either Form 12 or Form 13 along with an affidavit from the applicant in this application. Once you have received it you must file and serve an affidavit in answer containing full particulars of your property and income.

I am the respondent in the divorce application – can I apply for financial provision?

Yes. The applicant will probably have stated what financial relief they intended to apply for in the initial application for divorce. You can make an application in Form 12 – Application for Financial Provision (Word doc) (PDF).

When you have made your application, you will need to follow the applicant procedure. Information on this can be found here.

What happens if the applicant and I agree by consent to an order?

If you want to agree to the application made by the applicant then you should contact the applicant and agree to an order by consent.

The applicant or you if you are filing an application for a consent order, must also file with the application:-

2 copies of a draft consent order in the terms sought, 1 of which must be signed by you and the applicant; and
a statement of information (which may be more than one document) which shall include:-
1. The duration of the marriage, the age of both parties and of any minors or dependent children of the family;
2. An estimate of the approximate value of the capital resources and net income of both parties and any minor child of the family;
3. What arrangements are intended for the accommodation of each of the parties and any minor child of the family;
4. Whether either party has remarried or intends to remarry or cohabit with another person;
5. If the order includes a pension sharing annex, a statement confirming the person responsible for the pension has been served with documents under rule 67(11) and that no objection has been received within 14 days;
6. Where the terms provide for a transfer of property, a statement confirming that any mortgagee of that property has been served with a notice of the application, and no objection has been received; and
7. Any other especially significant matters.

Open Proposals

Normally no less than 14 days before the date fixed by the court for the final hearing, you will receive a set of open proposals from the applicant. This is an open statement which sets out concise details, including the amounts involved and the orders the applicant seeks the court to make.

Normally within 7 days of being served with these open proposals, you must file and serve on the court and the applicant an open statement in response, setting out concise details including amounts involved, of the orders the applicant has asked the court to make.

The judge’s decision

The judge shall, after completing any investigation under rule 61, make such order as he/she thinks just.

Pending the final determination of the application, a judge may make an interim order upon such terms as he/she thinks just.

Application to vary/revoke a Financial Provision Order

If you cannot afford to pay the maintenance instalments for any reason, you must bring this to court: non payment will result in action being taken against you. Over time, the circumstances that the original order was made under can change. If you feel that your circumstances have changed to the point where you can no longer pay the maintenance, you should apply to the court to vary the order.

If you wish to change the amount you are paying in maintenance then you need to fill in, and file and serve on both the court and the other party Form FB2 – Application for Variation of Order.

The following are some examples of where the court may decide that the order should be varied:-

you may have lost your job, or had your salary reduced;
you have a long term illness that is preventing you from working;
you have another/new family to provide for in addition to your child maintenance;
the other parent/guardian of the child has remarried or is co-habiting with another person;
the other parent/guardian of the child has come into a large sum of money; or
you are in serious financial debt.

These are just a few examples of a situation that may lead to the court varying an order; you should consult with an advocate with regards to your situation.

This application will need to be submitted along with an Affidavit of means which will include details of changes since the original order was made.

Please remember that this section of the website can only provide you with a general idea of what is likely to happen. The website cannot explain everything about court rules, costs and procedures which may affect different matters in different ways. Court staff can provide you with information, tell you about court forms and procedures, but they cannot give you legal advice. You should seek legal advice from an advocate. A list of Manx advocates is available through the Isle of Man Law Society .

Courts of Justice