Robb, Alfred v. Beverley Robb

Maintenance Act-spousal maintenance-condition precedent to maintenance order-amount and duration support.

The obligation to maintain one's spouse is in the first instance, latent. It is activated by the inability of the other spouse to maintain himself or herself. So, the court has to make, as a condition precedent to a maintenance order, a threshold finding that the dependant spouse cannot practicably meet the whole or any part of her reasonable needs. The maintenance order reflects that assessment, together with the capability of the respondent to maintain the applicant to the extent that is necessary to meet her reasonable needs.