Court ends automatic support of ex-spouses

Divorce does not win a spouse automatic right for maintenance allowance, the High Court has decided in a judgment that legal experts say has set a new precedent. Maintenance is only warranted where a spouse has proved incapable of supporting him or herself, and must not be used to the detriment of either party, the High Court said in Mombasa.

The decision was made in a divorce petition in which a German national sought to divorce a Kenyan woman he met in Mombasa in 2010 and married a year later. The plaintiff – only identified in the petition as Mr WEL to safeguard his privacy – is facing a counter-suit from his estranged wife, Mrs JMH, in which she is demanding that the marriage be dissolved and she be awarded maintenance at the rate of Sh60,000 per month.