Maintenance orders: Most applicants are wives

Court figures reveal for first time that two in three applying for financial support are still married

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Some of the husbands are not working but most are employed. Dig deeper and often there are underlying reasons behind their actions, lawyers say.

For example, some men have found another woman and they intend to divorce their wives, Ms James-Civetta said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on January 12, 2020, with the headline Maintenance orders: Most applicants are wives. Subscribe