141. Section 46 of the Act of 2010 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “the person for whose support it provides” for “the maintenance creditor”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (3):

“(4) That part of a maintenance order which provides for the support of a dependent child shall stand discharged when the child ceases to be a dependent child by reason of his or her attainment of the age of 18 years or 23 years, as the case may be, and shall be discharged by the court, on application to it under subsection (1) or (2), if it is satisfied that the child has for any reason ceased to be a dependent child for the purposes of the order.

(5) Desertion by, or conduct of, a civil partner shall not be a ground for discharging or varying any part of a maintenance order that provides for the support of a dependent child of the civil partners.”.