GAZETTE
March 1976
tion, maintenance for them can be continued from 16
to 21 years. Desertion includes constructive desertion.
Periodical payments are to be made from the date the
order is made (S. 4). Under S. 5, for the first time, a
husband may apply for maintenance against his wife if
she is the breadwinner and circumstances warrant it.
1 he Court may grant or refuse the discretionary order.
Under the 1886 Act the Court could only award weeklv
payments, but S. 5 allows the Court more flexibility, as
henceforth payments are to be made for such period as
the Court thinks proper; this power of limiting pay-
ments is important, particularly in cases where the
marriage breaks up within the first few months. Any
person who is looking after a dependent child of parents
will be entitled to seek maintenance in respect of it.
Henceforth the conduct of a spouse will have no effect
nn the child's right to maintenance. Under the
1886 Act, a wife was not entitled to maintenance
unless she had been deserted. Henceforth, even
if adultery is established, it is still open
to
the Court to make an allowance if it thinks it
proper having regard to all the circumstances, includ-
ing the income, earning capacity and property of the
spouses, and the financial responsibilities of the spouses
towards each other and towards their dependants. A
maintenance debtor may apply to the Court for the
discharge of the order at any time after one year from
the making of it (S. 6). S. 7 enables a Justice for the
first time to make interim maintenance orders subject to
a report by the Probation Officer. Section 8
states that certain marital agreements made after the
date of the coming into force of the Act whereby one
spouse undertakes to make periodical payments towards
the maintenance of the other or of dependent children,
may be varied by an application to the High Court or
Circuit Court; the Court, if satisfied that the agreement
is fair and reasonable, may make an order which shall
be deemed to be a maintenance order. By S. 9, irres-
pective of what Court made the order, payments to be
made by the maintenance debtor, are payable to the
District Court Clerk, unless the creditor requests other-
wise; the clerk is to pay the payments to the creditor.
Part I II (Sections 10 to 20) deals with attachment
of earnings. Application can be made for an attachment
of earnings order either to the High Court, Circuit
Court or District Court. This is in substitution for
what is termed an "anticedent order".
Where an attachment of earnings order is served on
an employer, he is bound to comply with it, but must
give the maintenance debtor full particulars each time
lie makes a deduction. The maintenance debtor may,
however, make payments to the District Court Clerk in
lieu. Apart from that, the Court may order the main-
tenance debtor to make an accurate statement as to his
earnings. While the order is in force, the maintenance
debtor must notify the Court of all changes in employ-
ment and in earnings. If there is doubt as to whether
specified payments are earnings, the employer or the
maintenance debtor may apply to the Court to construe
the matter. Various penalties are provided for non-
compliance.
Part IV of the Bill, headed Miscellaneous, contains
useful reforms. Following Rimmer v. Rimmer (1953) 1
Q.B., S. 21 declares that any allowance made by one
spouse to another for the purpose of meeting household
expenses shall belong to the spouses as joint owners,
unless there is an agreement to the contrary. By S. 22,
on the application to the relevant Court by a wife on
the ground that she and her family require it, the
Court may order the husband to leave the residence,
and prohibit him from entering it. An Order made by
a District Court or a Circuit Court shall expire three
months after the date from its making, but may be
renewed for further periods of three months; the juris-
diction of the Circuit Court is limited to premises where
the Poor Law Valuation does not exceed'£100. Nor-
mally the District Court, and on appeal the Circuit
Court, may make maintenance orders of up to £40
per week in respect of the wife, and of £10 per week in
respect of each child. Phis extension of the power of the
District Court will greatly increase the number of cases
brought before it. Payments made under the Bill are
to be made without any deduction of income tax. All
proceedings under this Act, regardless where made, are
to be held
in camera,
and all costs under the Act are at
the discretion of the Court. By S. 28, proceedings under
the Illegitimate Children (Affiliation Orders) Act, 1930,
are henceforth to be held
in camera,
and payments may-
be continued until the age of 21 if the child concerned
is receiving full education. The maximum sum payable
under the Act has been increased from £50 to £200,
and the names of the parties concerned cannot be
published. Payments of periodical sums shall continue
to be paid by the putative father, unless these sums are
compounded into a lump sum, or the child dies, or the
child attains 16 years or 21 years as the case may be.
All the former law in regard to payments previous to
this Act is repealed.
The procedure under the Maintenance Orders Act,
1974, is as follows : A summons is issued as under the
1886 Act. Specified documents are then sent to the
Master of the High Court. The solicitor should supply
the substance of the complaint, the address in Britain of
the respondent, means to identify him. The Master
passes these documents to the relevant authority in
Britain. The proceedings are then served on the respon-
dent, and the British authorities notify the Irish auth-
orities of the service. The Court may then hear the case
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