My Ex Has Applied for Maintenance Pending Suit, What Happens Now?

If you have just been served with an application for Maintenance Pending Suit (MPS), it can feel alarming, particularly if it lands alongside legal costs, a Form A, and a statement setting out your former partner's version of events. This post explains what MPS actually is, what the court looks at, and what it does not decide.

What is Maintenance Pending Suit?

MPS is an application for interim financial support while the main financial remedy proceedings are ongoing. It is separate from Form A, though the two are often issued together. Form A opens the main financial remedy timetable (first appointment, FDR, final hearing). MPS asks the court to order some income now, because the final outcome could be a year or more away.

The court is not deciding the case at this stage

An MPS hearing takes a broad-brush approach. The judge is not conducting a detailed needs analysis or resolving disputed facts about income and assets. The question is closer to: can the applicant manage financially until the case is resolved? Figures used at MPS stage are provisional. They do not bind the final maintenance outcome, which is argued properly later through Form E, questionnaires, and the FDR or final hearing.

What the applicant needs to show

Typically, the applicant sets out:

• Their own income position, and why it is insufficient
• What they believe about your income and resources
• Their basic monthly outgoings, often based on estimated figures for rent, food, and travel
• Any attempts made to resolve interim support without going to court

Their belief about your finances is exactly that: a belief, not disclosed fact. If full financial disclosure has not yet taken place, any figures quoted about your income or your business should be treated as unverified until you have had the chance to respond, and Form E exchange has happened.

If a Legal Services Payment Order (LSPO) is claimed too

Sometimes an MPS application is paired with a request for an LSPO, an order that you pay towards your ex's legal costs. The court will look at whether they can reasonably raise the money elsewhere (a litigation loan, a Sears Tooth agreement with their solicitor, borrowing from family) before considering whether you should be ordered to fund both sides of the case.

Worth knowing: the costs of the MPS and LSPO application itself are usually treated separately from any legal costs covered by an LSPO going forward. Costs of the interim application are not typically recoverable from the final settlement in the same way as substantive proceedings, so don't assume that side of things is automatically resolved just because an LSPO is granted.

What you can do if you are the respondent

• Respond with your own statement addressing both your actual financial position and anything inaccurate or incomplete in what has been claimed about your income or assets
• Don't assume the figures claimed will simply be accepted, the court expects your evidence too
• Remember this is interim only. It does not fix the final maintenance figure, and it can be varied if circumstances change
• Get advice quickly. MPS applications often move fast, sometimes with only a matter of weeks between the application and the hearing

If an MPS order is made and not paid

An MPS order is a court order like any other, it can be enforced if the paying party doesn't comply. This can mean an application to enforce payment through the court, potentially involving attachment of earnings, third party debt orders, or other enforcement routes, depending on the paying party's circumstances. If you are on the receiving end of an order that isn't being honoured, don't wait indefinitely, enforcement options exist and a solicitor or McKenzie Friend can help you understand which applies.

A McKenzie Friend cannot give legal advice or represent you in court, but they can help you understand the application, organise your response and financial evidence clearly, and make sure you know what the hearing will and won't decide.

Bridge The Gap's directory can help you find an independent McKenzie Friend with experience in financial remedy proceedings.

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Further Reading

• What Are The Risks Of Agreeing To Ongoing Spousal Maintenance?
• Find a McKenzie Friend
• Case Studies — Anonymised UK Family Court Judgments

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Bridge The Gap provides observational insights and collective community experiences only. We do not provide legal advice, legal representation, or caseworker services. Always consult a qualified legal professional for your specific circumstances, and always check current case law and court rules for the position that applies to you.