Spousal Maintenance
on Police Pay
Police pay is rarely just a salary: overtime, allowances and shift payments go up and down, and a police pension can start years before the other spouse's share. This guide explains how spousal maintenance is decided, how police income is looked at, how orders end or change, and what happens once the pension starts.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 19 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
There is no formula. In England and Wales the court weighs the factors in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (both incomes and earning capacities, both sets of needs, ages, the length of the marriage and more) and must consider a clean break. Regular overtime and allowances are part of the income it looks at, though how much weight they get depends on the evidence. Orders can be for a term or for joint lives, end on either person's death or the recipient's remarriage, and can be varied, for example when the officer retires. Maintenance is not usually taxed on the person receiving it.
Spousal maintenance and police pay: the short version
Spousal maintenance (periodical payments in the legislation) is money one former spouse or civil partner pays the other for their own support, separate from child maintenance. This page is written for both sides: the officer who may pay and the partner who may receive. It covers England and Wales.
- No formula. The court applies section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and must consider a clean break.
- Police income is more than basic pay. Overtime, allowances and shift payments are income, and some allowances are pensionable.
- Overtime is evidence, not a rule. What matters is what is likely to continue.
- Orders can be for a term or for joint lives, and all end on the death of either of you or the recipient's remarriage or civil partnership.
- Retirement can change things through an application to vary, not automatically.
- Child maintenance is separate and normally set by the CMS formula.
- Tax: usually not taxed on the recipient and not deductible for the payer.
How spousal maintenance is decided: there is no formula
The court's powers to order maintenance are in section 23 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: periodical payments, secured periodical payments and lump sums. When it decides whether to use them, and how, section 25 tells it to have regard to all the circumstances, with first consideration to the welfare of any child of the family under 18, and to these matters:
| Section 25(2) | What the court looks at | Police angle |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources each has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future, including earning capacity it would be reasonable to expect a party to take steps to acquire | Basic pay, regular overtime, allowances, pension income later, and what the other spouse could reasonably earn |
| (b) | Financial needs, obligations and responsibilities each has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future | Housing for each of you, the children, shift-related childcare, debts |
| (c) | The standard of living before the marriage broke down | A lifestyle funded by heavy overtime is relevant, but so is whether that overtime will continue |
| (d) | Each party's age and the length of the marriage | Officers can often take a pension in their 50s; the other spouse's credit may not be paid until 60, 65 or State Pension age |
| (e) | Any physical or mental disability of either party | Ill-health retirement or a partner who cannot work |
| (f) | Contributions each has made or will make to the welfare of the family, including looking after the home and caring for the family | The spouse who covered childcare around shifts, rest day cancellations and postings |
| (g) | Conduct, if it would be inequitable to disregard it | The Act's test is whether it would be inequitable to disregard it. Get advice before relying on it |
| (h) | The value of any benefit a party loses the chance of acquiring because of the divorce | Survivor pension rights under the police scheme |
The clean break duty. Section 25A requires the court to consider whether it would be appropriate to end the parties' financial obligations to each other as soon after the order as is just and reasonable. If it orders periodical payments, it must consider limiting them to a term long enough for the recipient to adjust without undue hardship. It can dismiss a maintenance claim and bar any further application.
Timing. Maintenance can be ordered while the divorce is going on (maintenance pending suit, s.22). Final periodical payments ordered on the divorce do not take effect until the divorce is made final (s.23(5)). Most couples agree maintenance, if any, as part of a consent order rather than at a contested hearing; the same section 25 factors frame the negotiation.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legislation on financial provision on divorce, which this page does not cover. For Scotland, start with police divorce in Scotland.
An informal arrangement between you is not enforceable as a court order and leaves claims open. A consent order records what you agreed, including whether maintenance ends, can be extended or is dismissed. The court fee for a consent order is £62; asking the court to decide (Form A) costs £321 (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026).
Needs, independence and the Family Justice Council guidance
In most divorces the money is used to meet needs, and maintenance is part of how needs are met. The Family Justice Council's Guidance on "Financial Needs" on Divorce (2nd edition, April 2018) was written for judges, courts and legal advisers and is guidance, not law. It adopts the Law Commission's view that orders made to meet needs should aim at a transition to independence, as far as that is possible given the choices made in the marriage, its length, the standard of living, housing expectations and continuing shared responsibilities, especially childcare. It also accepts that in a significant number of cases independence is not possible, usually because of age.
The guidance records, as an anecdote rather than a rule, that term orders were thought more likely in courts in the North and joint lives orders in the South, especially London. Your solicitor will know local practice.
For people without a lawyer, the FJC also publishes Sorting Out Finances on Divorce (2024), a plain English guide that covers spousal maintenance and pensions.
When both of you are in the police, both incomes include overtime and both of you have police pensions. If your earnings are similar, there may be little or no case for maintenance; if one of you went part-time or gave up overtime to cover childcare, there may be. See when both of you are police officers.
Police-specific needs. Shift patterns can mean childcare at unusual hours and a spouse who has worked part-time or not at all to cover it; a posting or transfer may have moved the family away from support; and a police pension may start long before the other spouse's share. All of these are part of the needs picture under section 25(2)(b) and (f).
How police pay is made up
For maintenance, the starting point is what each of you actually receives and is likely to receive. A police payslip can have many lines. The figures below come from the site's pay and allowance data, already checked against the Police Regulations 2003 determinations (Annex U as substituted by Home Office Circular 011/2026, Annex G for overtime) for our pay calculators. Forces apply some allowances locally.
| Part of pay | Who gets it | Amount (from the site's checked data) | Pensionable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic pay | Every officer, by rank and pay point | Constable top of scale £52,015 from 1 September 2026 | Yes |
| London Weighting | Met and City of London officers | £3,260 a year | Yes |
| London Allowance | Met and City of London officers (lower limits for some who joined before September 1994) | Up to about £6,819 a year | No |
| South East England Allowance | Officers in eight forces around London appointed on or after 1 September 1994 without a replacement allowance | Up to about £2,070 or £3,105 a year, by force | No |
| Replacement (housing) allowance | Officers who were serving before 1 September 1994 and have served continuously since | Set under Police Regulations 2003 Schedule 3 | No |
| Overtime | Constables and sergeants (Annex G). Inspectors and above are not paid overtime | Time and a third; rest days at short notice time and a half; public holidays double time | No |
| Unsocial hours allowance | Constable to chief inspector | 10% of the hourly rate for each full hour worked between 8pm and 6am | No |
| On-call allowance | Constable to chief superintendent | £35 for each day with any time on call | No |
| Dog handler's allowance | Dog handlers | £2,946 a year from 1 September 2025 | No |
| Service critical skills payment | At the chief officer's discretion | Up to £5,000 a year | No |
| Bonus payments | At the chief officer's discretion | £50 to £2,000 | No |
Deductions. Police pension contributions come off before tax (2015 scheme bands of 12.88%, 13.88% and 14.22% of pensionable pay from 1 April 2026), then income tax, National Insurance and, for members, the Police Federation subscription (£26.31 a month in England and Wales from 1 January 2026, about £316 a year). For maintenance, what matters is net pay after these, so ask for payslips, not just the salary.
| Where the constable serves | Gross pay a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|
| Force with no location payment | £52,015 | £2,915 |
| South East force at the higher rate (£3,105) | £55,120 | £3,117 |
| Met or City (London Weighting + maximum London Allowance) | £62,094 | £3,471 |
Location payments are part of income for maintenance, and they stop or change if the officer transfers to a force that does not pay them. That is worth knowing before a settlement assumes either of you will move.
Pension contributions are charged on, and pension is built from, pensionable pay: basic pay and, for Met and City officers, London Weighting. Overtime and the other allowances in the table are not pensionable. So an officer whose income is high because of overtime has a pension based on a lower figure, which matters when you think about income after retirement. For the child maintenance formula, contributions on pensionable pay are already deducted in HMRC's taxable figure.
Older officers. Officers who were serving before 1 September 1994 may still receive a replacement allowance in place of the old housing allowance (Police Regulations 2003, Schedule 3). It is income and should be disclosed. For more on London and South East payments, see London Weighting and allowances; for the pay scales, the police salary calculator.
How variable overtime is usually looked at
Overtime is the item most argued about in police maintenance cases, so it is worth being clear about what is and is not settled.
What the law says. Section 25(2)(a) covers income and earning capacity that each spouse "has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future". That is the test: not what was earned in the best year, and not the bare basic salary, but what is likely to continue. There is no rule in the Act about overtime as such.
What we could not find. We found no reported court decision on how police overtime should be treated for spousal maintenance. The FJC's needs guidance refers to case law on variable pay in the form of bonuses (H v W [2013] EWHC 4015 (Fam)), but a bonus case is not an overtime case, and we have not relied on it here.
What usually matters in practice (points the evidence tends to turn on, not legal rules):
- Pattern. Several years of payslips and P60s show whether overtime is steady, rising, falling or one-off (for example a single major operation).
- Role and rank. Some roles carry regular overtime; inspectors and above are not paid overtime at all under Annex G. A promotion to inspector can lower take-home pay for a while.
- Choice. Voluntary overtime that an officer could reasonably keep doing may be treated differently from overtime that is imposed, ending or no longer available.
- Health and childcare. Overtime that relied on the other spouse covering the children may not be sustainable for either of you after separation.
- Both sides. The receiving spouse's earning capacity is weighed too, including reasonable steps to increase it (s.25(2)(a)).
| Evidence | What it shows | Who usually provides it |
|---|---|---|
| Payslips for the last 12 months or more | Basic pay, each allowance and each month's overtime, and the deductions | The officer (force payroll can reissue copies) |
| P60s for the last few tax years | Total taxable pay each year, so the overtime trend is visible | The officer |
| Overtime and duty records | Whether overtime was voluntary, imposed or tied to one operation | The officer, from duty management or HR |
| Letters about allowances, acting rank, role changes or promotion | Whether an allowance or pattern is ending or starting | The officer |
| Pension benefit statement and CETV | Pension now and at retirement, for maintenance after the pension starts | Each pension administrator |
| The other spouse's payslips, P60s or accounts | Their income and the hours they work | The other spouse |
| A realistic monthly budget for each household | Needs: housing, childcare around shifts, travel, debts | Both |
| The CMS calculation or an estimate | Child maintenance, which comes first | Either parent; the CMS |
Child maintenance is different: the CMS simply takes taxable income, overtime included, from HMRC's figures. See child maintenance and police overtime.
| Overtime a year | Officer's take-home a month | Child maintenance a month (CMS, 2 children, 52 nights) | Left after child maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 | £2,915 | £503 | £2,412 |
| £6,000 | £3,297 | £555 | £2,742 |
| £12,000 | £3,587 | £606 | £2,981 |
Each extra £6,000 of overtime adds less than £6,000 to take-home, because tax, National Insurance and child maintenance all take a share. That is worth showing in your budgets, whichever side you are on.
Worked illustration: take-home, child maintenance and the gap
This is an illustration, not a real case, and the spousal figures in the second table are inputs to show the effect, not suggestions. Numbers are computed with the site's take-home and child maintenance engines for 2026/27.
- Officer: constable at the top of the scale, £52,015 basic plus £6,000 overtime a year, Federation member, pension contributions at 13.88%. Take-home: £3,297 a month.
- Child maintenance: two children living mainly with the other parent, staying with the officer 52 nights a year. CMS figure: £555 a month.
- Other parent: employed part-time on £18,000 a year (no workplace pension assumed). Take-home: £1,373 a month.
After child maintenance, the officer has £2,742 a month and the other parent £1,928: a gap of £814 a month, before housing costs and benefits.
| Illustrative spousal maintenance | Officer has left | Other parent has | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 a month | £2,742 | £1,928 | £814 |
| £250 a month | £2,492 | £2,178 | £314 |
| £500 a month | £2,242 | £2,428 | £186 the other way |
What the table shows: because maintenance is paid out of the officer's taxed pay and is not taxed on the recipient, each pound moves straight across, and at the highest figure the gap reverses. What it cannot show: whether any maintenance is needed or justified. That depends on both budgets (rent or mortgage, childcare around shifts, travel), the length of the marriage, earning capacity, the capital and pension split, and the clean break duty. A gap in income is not, on its own, a reason for an award, and equal incomes are not a target the Act sets.
| Officer's overtime a year | Officer after child maintenance | Other parent with child maintenance | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 | £2,412 | £1,876 | £536 |
| £6,000 | £2,742 | £1,928 | £814 |
| £12,000 | £2,981 | £1,979 | £1,001 |
More overtime raises both the child maintenance and the officer's take-home, so the gap widens, but by much less than the gross overtime. Arguing over whether £12,000 or £0 of overtime is "real" matters, but the difference in monthly money is smaller than the headline figures suggest.
What the illustration leaves out. Child Benefit and any Universal Credit or other benefits; housing costs, which usually differ most between the two households; any workplace pension contributions, student loan or other deductions for the other parent; Scottish income tax rates. Each can move the figures by tens or hundreds of pounds a month.
The other side of the sum: earning capacity
Section 25(2)(a) includes any increase in earning capacity it would be reasonable to expect a spouse to take steps to acquire. In the same illustration, if the other parent could reasonably increase their hours to earn £24,000 instead of £18,000, their take-home rises to £1,733 a month: £360 more for £6,000 more a year before tax. The gap after child maintenance falls from £814 to £454 a month. Whether more hours are reasonable depends on the children's ages, childcare that fits around the officer's shifts, health and the local job market; it is often one of the main points in dispute.
Run your own figures: the divorce budget calculator
Enter your own pay, overtime, child maintenance and any spousal maintenance (paid or received) to see what is left each month and what that means for housing. It works in your browser and nothing you type is stored.
Your pay
Taxable, not pensionable.
Maintenance
What you pay. Enter a minus figure if you receive it.
Living costs and a home of your own
Bills, council tax, food, travel, childcare, car, debts.
Your share of the house sale or savings.
Lenders' own rules range from none to all of regular overtime.
Each month
Take-home pay
£3,175
After maintenance
£2,638
Left for housing
£1,238
What you might borrow on your own (illustration)
- On what is left each month, over 25 years at 4.5%
- £222,706
- At 4.49 times the income a lender might count
- £242,527
- Planning figure (the lower of the two)
- £222,706
- Plus your deposit: a home budget of about
- £262,706
- Monthly payment on that loan
- £1,238
What you can afford each month is the limit here, not the income multiple. A lender will run its own affordability check on your net income and committed spending, and maintenance you pay counts as committed spending. This is not a mortgage offer or advice.
Police Separation Money Plan
Both households, and whether one of you can keep the house
Buying the other one out
Equity after costs £144,000. To keep the home, you would pay the other £72,000 and take on a mortgage of about £222,000.
Unlock the full money plan
- Whether the buy-out is affordable, and by how much it falls short if not
- Both households month by month, with maintenance going the right way
- What happens with no overtime, today's overtime and more
- The income change that lets either of you ask for child maintenance to be redone
- A PDF to take to your solicitor or mediator
The pack adds the Police Divorce Pension Report and the Pension Command Centre. One payment, no subscription.
Estimates, not legal, financial or mortgage advice.
Free enquiry
Keeping the house is a settlement question
Whether you can keep the home usually depends on the pension, the equity and maintenance together. Tell us where you are and we will reply, and if you want, introduce you to a family-law firm that understands police pensions.
The paid Police Separation Money Plan (£19.99) puts both households side by side, with child and spousal maintenance going the right way, a test of whether one of you could buy the other out of the home, overtime scenarios and the income change that would let either of you ask the CMS to recalculate. The calculator above also lets you send a short enquiry to PolicePay (Andrew Thomas); it is not a law firm and does not promise a free call.
Term orders, joint lives, and ending or changing maintenance
If maintenance is ordered or agreed, the order sets how long it lasts and whether it can be extended. These are the forms the Act allows, and how each ends.
| Type of order | What it means | Statutory basis |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance pending suit | Interim maintenance while the divorce is going on, from no earlier than the application until the divorce is decided | MCA s.22 |
| Periodical payments (term order) | Maintenance for a set period. The court must consider whether a term would let the recipient adjust without undue hardship | MCA s.23(1)(a); s.25A(2) |
| Term order with no extension | The court can direct that the recipient cannot apply to extend the term | MCA s.28(1A) |
| Joint lives order | Maintenance with no set end date. It still ends on the death of either of you, or the recipient's remarriage or civil partnership | MCA s.28(1)(a) |
| Clean break (dismissal) | No maintenance either way, and the court can bar any further application | MCA s.25A(1) and (3) |
| Variation, discharge or capitalisation | An existing order can be changed, ended or turned into a lump sum, property adjustment or pension sharing order | MCA s.31(1), (7), (7A) and (7B) |
- When orders end. A periodical payments order cannot run beyond the death of either of you, and one made on or after a divorce ends on the recipient's remarriage or new civil partnership (s.28(1)). A former spouse who remarries cannot then apply for financial provision against the other (s.28(3)). The Act does not say that maintenance ends if the recipient cohabits; we did not research how courts treat cohabitation, so ask your solicitor.
- Extending a term. Unless the court has barred it under s.28(1A), the recipient can apply under s.31 to extend it. Ask a solicitor about timing well before a term is due to end.
- Variation. Either of you can apply to vary, discharge or suspend an order (s.31(1)). The court looks at all the circumstances, including any change in the matters it took into account, and must consider whether payments should continue only for a further period long enough for the recipient to adjust without undue hardship (s.31(7)).
- Secured payments. The court can order periodical payments to be secured, so that they are backed by an asset rather than relying only on the payer (s.23(1)(b)).
- Capitalisation. When it ends or limits an order after a divorce, the court can make a lump sum, property adjustment or pension sharing order instead (s.31(7A) and (7B)). The FJC guidance notes this power to capitalise by pension sharing.
What to settle in any maintenance agreement
| Step | What to settle | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Child maintenance (CMS or agreed) | It comes off the paying parent's income first |
| 2 | Two honest monthly budgets | Needs drive most maintenance outcomes |
| 3 | Evidence of both incomes, overtime included | Section 25(2)(a): income and earning capacity in the foreseeable future |
| 4 | The capital and pension split | A pension share or offset changes what income each of you needs later |
| 5 | Whether maintenance is needed at all; if so, how much | The clean break duty (s.25A) |
| 6 | Term, joint lives or dismissal, and whether an extension is barred | Sections 25A(2) and 28(1A) |
| 7 | What happens on the officer's retirement | Retirement is a change of circumstances (s.31(7)); saying so now avoids a fight later |
| 8 | Secured or unsecured payments | Secured periodical payments are possible (s.23(1)(b)) |
| 9 | Record it in a consent order | £62 court fee; makes it enforceable and closes or keeps open claims as agreed |
Because an order ends on the death of either of you, a recipient who relies on maintenance from an officer has no maintenance if the officer dies. A former spouse also has no survivor pension from the police scheme after the final order. See death in service and divorce.
Maintenance after the police pension starts
Police officers can often take their pension in their 50s: in the 1987 scheme after 25 or 30 years' service, in the 2006 scheme from 55, and in the 2015 scheme from 55 with a reduction or 60 without. A former spouse's pension credit is paid later: 60 for a 1987 credit, 65 for a 2006 credit and State Pension age for a 2015 credit. That difference shapes maintenance after retirement.
- Pension is income. A police pension in payment is income, and a commutation lump sum is capital, both within "income ... property and other financial resources" under s.25(2)(a). Retirement is a change of circumstances that can support an application to vary an existing order (s.31(7)).
- A share reduces the payer's income. PAG2 notes that a pension share reduces the pension holder's income and so their ability to pay significant maintenance before the other spouse can draw their credit (para 10.4).
- Maintenance can bridge the gap. Among its ways of handling an income gap, PAG2 lists spousal maintenance "so as to share fairly" pension benefits being received by one party because of a deferral gap, even where no other income need would justify it (para 10.8(viii)). In the 1987 scheme, a share can cut a pension in payment immediately while the credit member waits until 60 (PAG2 para I.24).
- Attachment orders. Instead of sharing the pension, a court can order the scheme to pay part of the pension, or of a commuted lump sum, to the former spouse when it becomes due (MCA s.25B). That is not available against a pension that has been shared by a pension sharing order in the same marriage. The offsetting vs sharing guide compares attachment with sharing.
- Interim maintenance and clawback. PAG2 warns that where an officer pays interim maintenance until a share of a pension in payment is implemented, they can suffer a clawback of the very pension that is funding it, and suggests time limits in the order (Appendix F, para F.16).
Illustration: the officer's income before and after retirement
An officer in the 2015 scheme only, retiring at 60 with 25 years at today's top constable pay of £52,015, would have a pension of about £52,015 × 25 ÷ 55.3 = £23,515 a year in today's money (a simplification: career average pension is revalued year by year). After income tax at 2026/27 rates (£2,189 a year; National Insurance not deducted in this sum), that is about £1,777 a month, against take-home of £2,915 a month on the same basic pay while serving, or £3,297 with £6,000 of overtime. Before any pension share.
A fall of that size is why a maintenance order made while the officer is serving can be revisited at retirement, and why it is worth dealing with retirement in the agreement itself. It is an illustration only: a legacy part, a lump sum, McCloud remedy service and any pension share all change the figures.
| Scheme | Officer's own pension, unreduced | Former spouse's pension credit |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 (PPS) | After 25 years' service (not before 50 with under 30 years) or 30 years at any age | 60 |
| 2006 (NPPS) | 55 | 65 |
| 2015 (CARE) | 60, or from 55 with a reduction | State Pension age, or from 55 with a reduction |
The gap between the two columns is the period in which the officer may have a pension and the former spouse has nothing yet from theirs. A 2015 credit is paid unreduced only at State Pension age, while the officer's 2015 pension is unreduced at 60, so the gap can be several years even in the newest scheme.
For divorces where the pension is already being paid, read divorce after police retirement. If the pension is an ill-health pension, see ill-health pension and divorce.
How a pension share changes income needs
Maintenance and pension sharing are two ways of meeting the same needs over different periods. PAG2 says that in needs cases with a significant defined benefit pension, the analysis will often divide the pensions separately from other assets "based on an equalisation of incomes approach", often with a pension on divorce expert, though whether that is right is fact specific (para 1.17).
- A larger pension share can reduce or remove the need for maintenance in retirement, which can make a clean break possible.
- But a police credit is paid unreduced only at 60, 65 or State Pension age (a reduced 2015 credit is possible from 55), so it may do little for income needs before then.
- Offsetting (more of the house or savings instead of pension) can meet housing needs now but leaves less for retirement.
- Maintenance meets income needs now, but ends on death or remarriage and can be varied.
The offsetting vs sharing calculator and the pension divorce calculator show the pension side; the budget calculator above shows the monthly side.
Spousal maintenance vs child maintenance
| Child maintenance (CMS) | Spousal maintenance (court) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides | The Child Maintenance Service, using a fixed formula | The court, using its discretion under s.25, or you by agreement turned into a consent order |
| Formula? | Yes: a percentage of the paying parent's gross weekly income, less shared care | No formula |
| Overtime | Included if taxable, from HMRC's figures for the latest tax year, or current income if it differs by 25% or more | Weighed as part of income and earning capacity; how much counts depends on the evidence |
| Can a court order it? | Generally no, where the CMS has jurisdiction (CSA 1991 s.8(3)), except by agreement, top-ups over £3,000 a week, school fees and disability costs | Yes |
| Changing it | After a court order based on agreement has been in force for a year, either parent can go to the CMS (s.4(10)(aa)) | Apply to vary (MCA s.31) |
Where the CMS has jurisdiction, a court generally cannot make, vary or revive a child maintenance order (Child Support Act 1991, s.8(3)). The exceptions include an order that matches a written agreement between you (s.8(5)), a top-up where the paying parent's income is above the CMS cap of £3,000 a week (s.8(6)), school or training fees (s.8(7)) and costs of a child's disability (s.8(8)). Once a court order based on agreement has been in force for a year, either parent can apply to the CMS instead (s.4(10)(aa)).
Work out child maintenance first, because it comes off the paying parent's income before any spousal maintenance is considered in a budget. Use the police child maintenance calculator, and for police couples on shifts see child arrangements on shifts.
Tax: spousal maintenance is not usually taxed or deductible
- Receiving. No income tax arises on an annual payment made by an individual that arises in the UK (Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, s.727), subject to exceptions for commercial payments. Maintenance from a former spouse is an annual payment of this kind, so it is generally not taxed on the person receiving it. Section 730 of the same Act extends this to maintenance payments arising abroad that would have been exempt here.
- Paying. The officer pays out of taxed pay. Tax relief, called Maintenance Payments Relief, is available only if either of you was born before 6 April 1935, the payments are under a court order after the relationship ended, and the recipient has not remarried or formed a new civil partnership. It is worth 10% of the maintenance, up to £436 a year (GOV.UK).
- Benefits. Maintenance can affect means-tested benefits. We have not checked the rules for each benefit here; ask the benefit office or an adviser before you agree an amount.
This is general information about tax, not tax advice. HMRC and a tax adviser can confirm your own position.
Myths and facts
| Myth | Fact |
|---|---|
| "There is a formula: a third of the gap, or a percentage of pay." | There is no formula for spousal maintenance in England and Wales. The court applies section 25. Formulas exist only for child maintenance through the CMS |
| "Overtime does not count for maintenance." | Income and earning capacity include what is likely in the foreseeable future (s.25(2)(a)). Regular overtime is evidence of that. How much weight it gets depends on the facts |
| "If I stop doing overtime, maintenance goes down automatically." | No. A court order stays as it is until varied. A deliberate drop in overtime may be weighed against earning capacity |
| "Spousal maintenance is for life." | Many orders are for a term. Every order ends on the death of either of you or the recipient's remarriage or civil partnership (s.28(1)) |
| "Maintenance ends when the officer retires." | Retirement is a change of circumstances that can support an application to vary (s.31(7)), but nothing changes until the order is varied |
| "The person receiving maintenance pays tax on it." | Annual payments made by an individual are generally not taxed on the person receiving them (ITTOIA 2005 s.727) |
| "Maintenance carries on if the person receiving it remarries." | No. An order made on or after a divorce ends on the recipient's remarriage or new civil partnership (s.28(1)) |
| "I can wait and claim maintenance after I remarry." | No. A former spouse who remarries or forms a civil partnership cannot then apply for financial provision against the other (s.28(3)). Make any claim first |
| "A pension share means there can be no maintenance." | They can sit together. PAG2 lists maintenance among the ways to bridge the gap before a pension credit is paid |
Who can help, and what we could not verify
Who can help. A family solicitor for each of you, especially on whether maintenance is appropriate and how long for; a mediator if you are negotiating directly (mediation information meetings are normally required before a court application about money, with exemptions such as domestic abuse; the government's mediation voucher of up to £500 covers disputes about children, and money only alongside a child dispute); a pension on divorce expert where the pension and maintenance interact; the CMS for child maintenance; and your Federation branch for its family law arrangement. See the Federation family law offers and choosing a police divorce solicitor.
What we could not verify.
- Any reported case on police overtime in spousal maintenance. The points under "what usually matters" are practical considerations, not legal rules.
- How courts treat a recipient's cohabitation. The Act names only death and remarriage or civil partnership as ending an order.
- How maintenance interacts with each means-tested benefit.
- The exact replacement allowance rates for officers serving before September 1994: they depend on Schedule 3 and force records.
- Whether the 2024 FJC guide changes anything in the 2018 needs guidance: we read the 2018 guidance for this page.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How is spousal maintenance worked out for a police officer?
There is no formula. The court looks at the factors in section 25(2) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: both incomes and earning capacities, both sets of needs, the standard of living, ages, the length of the marriage, contributions and so on, and must consider a clean break. In practice that means two honest budgets and evidence of what each of you earns and can earn.
Does overtime count for spousal maintenance?
It can. The court considers income and earning capacity in the foreseeable future, so regular overtime is relevant evidence. Irregular or one-off overtime, overtime that has stopped, or overtime earned in a role the officer has left may count for less. We found no reported case on police overtime specifically, so expect argument about it.
Do police allowances count as income for maintenance?
Allowances paid in cash, such as London Allowance, South East Allowance, the unsocial hours and on-call allowances or a dog handler's allowance, are part of your income. Some, like London Weighting, are also pensionable. Disclose them all; how they are treated in your case is a matter for agreement or the court.
How long does spousal maintenance last?
As long as the order says. A term order ends on a set date, and the court can bar an extension (s.28(1A)). A joint lives order has no set end. Every order ends on the death of either of you or the recipient's remarriage or new civil partnership (s.28(1)). Either of you can apply to vary an order that has not been barred.
Does spousal maintenance stop when a police officer retires?
Not automatically. Retirement is a change of circumstances, and either of you can apply to vary the order (s.31). The court then looks again at both incomes, including the police pension and any pension credit, and can end payments after a further period or capitalise them, including by a pension sharing order (s.31(7A) and (7B)).
Is spousal maintenance paid on a police pension?
It can be. Pension income is income for the court's purposes. PAG2 notes that a pension share reduces the pension holder's income and so their ability to pay maintenance, and it lists spousal maintenance as one way to share fairly a pension that one party is receiving while the other waits for their credit.
Is spousal maintenance taxable in the UK?
Usually not, either way. Annual payments made by an individual are not taxed on the recipient (ITTOIA 2005 s.727), and the payer gets no tax relief unless one of you was born before 6 April 1935, when Maintenance Payments Relief of 10% (up to £436 a year) can apply. The officer pays maintenance out of taxed pay.
What is the difference between spousal and child maintenance?
Child maintenance is normally set by the Child Maintenance Service with a fixed formula on the paying parent's taxable income, overtime included. Spousal maintenance is for the former spouse, decided by the court with no formula, or agreed and made into a consent order. A court generally cannot order child maintenance where the CMS has jurisdiction, except by agreement and in a few listed cases.
Can I get maintenance before the divorce is final?
Yes. The court can order maintenance pending suit on an application for a divorce, from no earlier than the date of the application until the divorce is decided (MCA s.22). A final periodical payments order made with the divorce does not take effect until the divorce is made final (s.23(5)).
What is a clean break and can a police officer get one?
A clean break ends financial claims between you. The court must consider whether one is appropriate as soon after the order as is just and reasonable (s.25A). Whether it is possible depends on both of your incomes and needs; with a large police pension, a pension share or offsetting can sometimes make a clean break workable.
My ex is also a police officer. Does that change spousal maintenance?
The same factors apply, but both incomes, both overtime patterns and both pensions are in play. If your earnings are similar, maintenance may not be needed at all; if one has stepped back to part-time to cover childcare, it may. See our guide for police couples.
Can maintenance be paid straight from a police pension?
A court can make a pension attachment order directing the scheme to pay part of the pension, or of a commuted lump sum, to the former spouse when it becomes due (MCA s.25B). It is not available against a pension already shared by a pension sharing order in the same marriage. Ask your solicitor whether sharing, offsetting or attachment fits your case.
What evidence of overtime will I need?
Usually payslips for at least the last year, P60s for the last few tax years, and anything that shows whether the overtime will continue: duty records, a change of role or rank, or the end of an operation. The other spouse will need the same kind of evidence of their own income and hours. Form E is where it is set out.
Can spousal maintenance be changed if overtime changes?
An order can be varied on an application under s.31, where the court looks at all the circumstances including any change in the matters it considered originally. A change in overtime is one such matter, but whether it justifies a variation depends on why it changed and how lasting it is.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 19 October 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25 (legislation.gov.uk) : the s.25(2)(a) to (h) factors (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25A : clean break duty; term to adjust without undue hardship; dismissal and bar (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 22 : maintenance pending suit (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 23 : periodical payments, secured payments and lump sums; not effective until the divorce is final (s.23(5)) (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 28 : end on death or the recipient's remarriage or civil partnership; direction barring extension; remarriage bars a claim (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 31 : variation and discharge; further period to adjust; capitalisation including pension sharing (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Family Justice Council: Guidance on "Financial Needs" on Divorce, 2nd edition (April 2018) : transition to independence; term and joint lives orders; guidance, not law (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Family Justice Council: Sorting Out Finances on Divorce (2024 guide for people without lawyers) : plain English guide covering spousal maintenance and pensions (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Pension Advisory Group: A Guide to the Treatment of Pensions on Divorce, 2nd edition (2024, CC BY 4.0) : para 1.17 equal incomes; paras 10.4 and 10.8 income gap and maintenance; Appendix F para F.16 interim maintenance (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25B : duty to consider pensions; pension attachment orders (accessed 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Family Mediation Voucher Scheme : up to £500; child disputes, and financial issues only alongside one (accessed 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Get the court to decide (Form A) : £321 fee; mediation information meeting first (accessed 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Apply for a consent order : £62 court fee (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Child Support Act 1991, section 8 : courts generally cannot order child maintenance where the CMS has jurisdiction; exceptions (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Child Support Act 1991, section 4 : s.4(10)(aa): one year before applying to the CMS after a maintenance order (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Child Support Act 1991, Schedule 1 : the CMS rates and the £3,000 a week cap (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, section 727 : annual payments made by individuals are not taxed on the recipient (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, section 730 : foreign maintenance payments that would be exempt under s.727 (accessed 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Claim Income Tax relief on maintenance payments : only if either of you was born before 6 April 1935; 10%, up to £436 a year (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Home Office: Circular 011/2026, Annex U (allowances) amendment : unsocial hours, on-call, dog handler, bonus and service critical skills payments (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Regulations 2003, Schedule 3 (replacement allowance) : officers serving before 1 September 1994 (accessed 19 October 2026)
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Disclaimer
PolicePay.co.uk is an independent reference site. It is not a law firm or a financial adviser, is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and this page is general information, not legal, financial or pension advice. Every divorce settlement depends on the facts, and pension sharing is decided by agreement or by a court. Figures from our calculators are estimates on stated assumptions: the scheme administrator's cash equivalent and the court order are what count. For decisions about your settlement, speak to a family solicitor and, where the pension is a large part of the money, a pension on divorce expert. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 19 October 2026.