Matrimonial Causes (Property and Maintenance) Act 1958
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1958 c. 35 |
| Year | 1958 |
Matrimonial Causes (Property and Maintenance) Act, 1958
(6 & 7 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 35
An Act to enable the power of the court in matrimonial proceedings to order alimony, maintenance or the securing of a sum of money to be exercised at any time after a decree; to provide for the setting aside of dispositions of property made for the purpose of reducing the assets available for satisfying such an order; to enable the court after the death of a party to a marriage which has been dissolved or annulled to make provision out of his estate in favour of the other party; and to extend the powers of the court under section seventeen of the Married Women's Property Act, 1882.
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Time for making orders for maintenance or alimony.
(1) Any power of the court, under the enactments mentioned in the next following subsection, to make an order on a decree for divorce, nullity of marriage or judicial separation shall (subject as mentioned in subsection (3) of this section) be exercisable either on pronouncing such a decree or at any time thereafter.
(2) The said enactments are the following provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1950 (in this Act referred to as ‘the Act of 1950’), that is to say,—
(a ) subsections (2) and (3) of section nineteen (whereby, on a decree for divorce or nullity of marriage, the court may order the husband to make a secured provision for the wife or to pay her a monthly or weekly sum), and those subsections as extended by subsection (4) of that section (whereby the like provision or payments may be ordered for a husband where a petition for divorce is presented by his wife on the ground of his insanity);
(b ) subsection (3) of section twenty-six (whereby, on a decree of divorce or nullity of marriage, the court may order the husband, and, on a decree of divorce made on the ground of the husband's insanity, may order the wife, to make a secured provision for the benefit of the children); and
(c ) subsection (2) of section twenty (whereby, on a decree for judicial separation, a husband may be ordered to pay alimony to his wife), and that subsection as extended by subsection (3) of that section (whereby the like payments may be ordered to be made by a wife where a petition for judicial separation is presented by her on the ground of her husband's insanity).
(3) In relation to the provisions of the Act of 1950 specified in paragraphs (a ) and (b ) of the last preceding subsection,—
(a ) any reference in subsection (1) of this section to a decree shall be construed as a reference to a decree nisi, and the reference to any time after a decree shall be construed as a reference to any such time whether before or after the decree has been made absolute; but
(b ) nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall be construed as affecting the provisions of section twenty-nine of the Act of 1950 as to the commencement of proceedings for an order under the provisions specified in those paragraphs or as to the making or effect of such an order.
(4) In accordance with the preceding provisions of this section, the provisions of the Act of 1950 specified in the Schedule to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in that Schedule.
(5) Nothing in this section, or in any amendment made by this section in any of the enactments referred to therein, shall be construed as requiring the court, in determining any application for an order under any of those enactments, to disregard any delay in making or proceeding with the application.
2 Avoidance of disposition made to defeat wife's claim for financial relief.
(1) Where under any of the relevant provisions of the Act of 1950 proceedings are brought against a man (in this section referred to as ‘the husband’) by his wife or former wife (in this section referred to as ‘the wife’) for financial relief, the wife may make an application under this section to the court in those proceedings with respect to any disposition made by the husband within the period of three years ending with the date of the application under this section, whether the disposition was made before or after the commencement of those proceedings.
(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section, if on an application by the wife under this section it appears to the court—
(a ) that the disposition to which the application relates was made by the husband with the intention of defeating the wife's claim for financial relief, and
(b ) that, if the disposition were set aside, financial relief, or, as the case may be, different financial relief, would be granted to her,
the court may by order set aside the disposition and may give such consequential directions (including directions requiring the making of any payment or the disposal of any property) as the court thinks fit for the purpose of giving effect to the order under this subsection.
(3) The power conferred by the last preceding subsection shall not be exercisable in respect of a disposition made for valuable consideration to a person who, at the time of the disposition, acted in relation thereto in good faith and without notice of any intention on the part of the husband to defeat the wife's claim for financial relief.
(4) Where an application is made under this section with respect to a disposition, not being a disposition falling within the last preceding subsection, and the court is satisfied that the disposition would (apart from this section) have the consequence of defeating the wife's claim for financial relief, the disposition shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been made by the husband with the intention of defeating the wife's claim for financial relief.
(5) The preceding provisions of this section shall have effect for enabling an application to the High Court to be made thereunder by a woman after she has obtained an order against her husband or former husband under any of the relevant provisions of the Act of 1950 as they apply for enabling an application to be made in proceedings for such an order:
Provided that for the purposes of the application of those provisions in accordance with this subsection—
(a ) subsection (2) of this section shall apply as if paragraph (b ) thereof were omitted, and
(b ) the presumption mentioned in the last preceding subsection shall apply (in the case of a disposition not falling within subsection (3) of this section) if the court is satisfied that in consequence of the disposition the wife's claim for financial relief was defeated.
(6) The provisions of this section do not apply to a disposition made before the commencement of this Act.
(7) In this section any reference to defeating the wife's claim for financial relief is a reference to preventing financial relief from being granted to her, or reducing the amount of any such relief which might be so granted, or frustrating or impeding the enforcement of any order which might be made on her application under any of the relevant provisions of the Act of 1950.
(8) In this section—
‘financial relief’ means relief under any of the relevant provisions of the Act of 1950;
‘the relevant provisions of the Act of 1950’ means the following provisions of that Act, that is to say,—
(a ) subsections (2) and (3) of section nineteen;
(b ) subsection (2) of section twenty;
(c ) subsections (2) to (4) of section twenty-two (whereby, in connection with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights, a husband may be ordered to pay alimony to his wife, or to make or secure periodical payments to her); and
(d ) section twenty-three (which confers additional power on the court to make orders for maintenance);
‘valuable consideration’ does not include marriage.
3 Provision for former wife out of estate of deceased former husband.
(1) Where after the commencement of this Act a person dies domiciled in England and is survived by a former wife of his who has not re-married, the former wife may apply to the High Court for an order under this section on the ground that the deceased has not made reasonable provision for her maintenance after his death:
Provided that an application under this section shall not be made except—
(a ) before the end of the period of six months beginning with the date on which representation in regard to the estate of the deceased is first taken out, or
(b ) with the permission of the court, after the end of that period but before the administration and distribution of the estate have been completed.
(2) If on an application by a former wife under this section the court is satisfied—
(a ) that it would have been reasonable for the deceased to make provision for her maintenance, and
(b ) that the deceased has made no provision, or has not made reasonable provision, for her maintenance,
the court may order that such reasonable provision for her maintenance as the court thinks fit shall be made out of the net estate of the deceased, subject to such conditions or restrictions (if any) as the court may impose.
(3) Where the court makes an order under this section requiring provision to be made for the maintenance of a former...
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