Spousal and de facto maintenance - court proceedings

3.5.12 - Spousal or de facto maintenance - applicants

Legal aid is only available to make a court application to obtain or increase spousal or de facto maintenance where the applicant is:

• an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, or
• has or is experiencing domestic or family violence.

Unless the matter is urgent, the applicant must have a certificate issued by the Legal Aid NSW Family Dispute Resolution Unit under s60I of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in relation to the dispute.

To be eligible for legal aid the applicant must satisfy:

• the Means Test,
• the Merit Test,
• the other party's whereabouts are known, or there are reasonable grounds for obtaining substituted service on that party, and
• there is good reason to believe that the other party has the capacity to make or increase maintenance payments or is likely to have that capacity in the future.

Note: All early intervention mediation for family law disputes is administered as an Early Resolution Assistance (ERA) service type and facilitated by the Legal Aid NSW Family Dispute Resolution Unit. For eligibility policy for mediation in spousal maintenance matters see: Family law policy 3.5.2: ERA spousal maintenance.

3.5.13 - Spousal or de facto maintenance - defendants

Legal aid is only available to defend a court application to obtain or increase spousal or de facto maintenance where the applicant is:

• an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, or
• has or is experiencing domestic or family violence.

To be eligible for legal aid the applicant must satisfy:

• the Means Test,
• the Merit Test,
• it is unlikely that the court would make an order for the amount sought by the other party, and
• the applicant cannot adequately defend the court application without legal representation.

3.5.14 - Reducing spousal or de facto maintenance - applicants and defendants

Legal aid is only available to make, or defend, a court application to reduce spousal or de facto maintenance where the applicant is:

• an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, or
• has or is experiencing domestic or family violence.

Unless the matter is urgent, the applicant must have a certificate issued by the Legal Aid NSW Family Dispute Resolution Unit under s60I of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in relation to the dispute.

To be eligible for legal aid the applicant must satisfy:

• the Means Test,
• the Merit Test, and
• the applicant cannot adequately make or defend the court application without legal representation.

Note: All early intervention mediation for family law disputes is administered as an Early Resolution Assistance (ERA) service type and facilitated by the Legal Aid NSW Family Dispute Resolution Unit. For eligibility policy for mediation in spousal maintenance matters see: Family law policy 3.5.2: ERA spousal maintenance.

Date last published: 1 July 2026