A study by a UK law firm found that Malta remains one of only a few jurisdictions in which the conduct of divorcing parties is genuinely taken into account by the courts. The right to maintenance is forfeited if the recipient “caused the breakdown of the marriage for reasons of adultery, cruelty or grievous injury or desertion for two years or more without good cause”.

The study was made by law firm Withers, which  examined spousal maintenance payments in jurisdictions in Europe, the US, South Africa and New Zealand, the Financial Times said,

It concluded that England and Wales stood out because of the broad range of issues the judge could take into consideration.

Suzanne Kingston, partner at Withers, said the discretion of judges most frequently came into play in England when the amount and duration of maintenance payments to divorcing spouses was decided.

The German court often uses official guidelines. Many jurisdictions gave judges discretion to make awards.

In some countries, notably Cyprus, Germany and Switzerland, the term for maintenance can be strictly limited.

Some jurisdictions still used the concept of “fault-based divorce” and included factors such as adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion as grounds to refuse a claim for maintenance.

Ms Kingston said: “France maintains this as a discretionary point but Malta considers it an important question when considering maintenance awards.”

Full story at http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4db2c882-63f3-11e3-98e2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2nczVLYOt