Where the court has made an order to which section 31 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 applies, then subject to the provisions of this section, the court shall have the power to vary or discharge the order or to suspend any provision thereof temporarily and to revive the operation of any provision so suspended.
Section 31 of the Act applies to the following orders;
- Any order for maintenance pending suit and any interim order for maintenance,
- Any periodical payment order,
- Any secured periodical payment order,
- Any order made by virtue of section 23 (3) (c) or 27 (7) (b) above (provision for payment of a lump sum by instalments),
- Any order for a settlement of property under section 24 (1) (b) or for a variation of settlement under section 24 (1) (c) or (d) above, being an order made on or after the grant of a decree of judicial separation.
The powers exercisable by the court under this section in relation to an order shall be exercisable also in relation to any instrument executed in pursuance of the order.
The court shall not exercise the powers conferred by section 31 of the MCA 1973 in relation to an order for a settlement under section 24(1) (b) or for a variation of settlement under section 24(1) (c) or (d) above except on an application made in proceedings;
- For the rescission of the decree of judicial separation by reference to which the order was made, or
- For the dissolution of the marriage in question.
No property adjustment order shall be made on an application for the variation of a periodical payment or secured periodical payment order made (whether in favour of a party to a marriage or in favour of a child of the family) under section 23 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and no order for the payment of a lump sum shall be made on an application for the variation of a periodical payment or secured periodical payment order in favour of a party to a marriage (whether made under section 23 or under section 27 above).
Where the person liable to make payments under a secured periodical payments order has died, an application under section 31 relating to that order may be made by the person entitled to payments under the order or by the personal representatives of the deceased person, but no such application shall, except with the permission of the court, be made after the end of the period of six months from the date on which representation in regard to the estate of that person is first taken out.
In exercising the powers conferred to the court by section 31, the court shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case including any change in any of the matters to which the court was required to have regard when making the order to which the application relates and, where the party against whom that order was made has died, the changed circumstances resulting from his or her death.
The personal representatives of a deceased person against whom a secured periodical payment order was made shall not be liable for having distributed any part of the estate of the deceased after the expiration of the period of six months as mentioned in the above paragraph (subsection 6 of section 31 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973) on the grounds that they ought to have taken into account the possibility that the court might permit an application under section 31 to be made after that period by the person entitled to payments under the order, but this shall not prejudice any power to recover any part of the estate so distributed arising by virtue of the making of an order in pursuance of section 31.
In considering for the purposes of subsection 6 of section 31, the question of when representation was first taken out, a grant limited to settled land or to trust property shall be left out of the account and a grant limited to real estate or to the personal estate shall be left out of account unless a grant limited to the remainder of the estate has previously been made or is made at the same time.