Maintenance is not automatically payable by a man to a woman. Gender is irrelevant. What matters is whether one spouse cannot support themselves after divorce and the other can afford assistance. Traditional roles meant men more often paid in the past, but the reverse is also possible.
First, it must be established whether the marriage had a lasting impact on economic circumstances. This is generally the case:
«where the spouses jointly decided that one would give up economic independence and employment to manage the household and care for children, and after a long marriage cannot resume their previous career or other work offering similar income.
Maintenance is generally due where one spouse left employment to manage the household and care for children, allowing the other to continue working, and cannot readily return to employment. Employability depends on factors such as age, qualifications, language skills and labour market conditions. If the court finds that a spouse cannot earn enough to maintain approximately the marital standard of living, it next assesses whether the other can provide support.
The paying spouse must first cover their own subsistence needs and those of any minor children. Remaining income can cover the former spouse's needs. Once these are covered, the budgets are expanded to the family-law subsistence level, first for the payer, then minor children and then the former spouse. This includes taxes, communication and insurance allowances, essential training, appropriate housing, contact costs and possibly debt repayment. Only then is any surplus shared. The article describes a general allocation of one third to each parent and one third to the children. However, increased income does not entitle the former spouse to more than the amount needed, together with their own income, to maintain approximately the marital standard of living.
In short: Maintenance is generally due if a spouse cannot reasonably be expected to support themselves after divorce, for example because they gave up employment for household and childcare responsibilities and can no longer return to sufficiently paid work. Subject to financial ability, the other spouse must cover the difference between achievable earnings and appropriate maintenance.