Maintenance Lawyers in Islamabad for Wife & Child Claims
Maintenance proceedings protect the lawful financial needs of a wife and children where the person responsible for supporting them fails or refuses to provide adequate support.
Specialised Legal Services for:
- Wife Maintenance
- Child Maintenance
- Interim Maintenance
- Recovery of Arrears
Islamabad lawyers and attorneys represent wives, mothers, children, fathers, and overseas Pakistanis in maintenance proceedings before the competent Family Courts in Islamabad.
Our maintenance lawyers assist with:
- Wife maintenance claims
- Child maintenance claims
- Interim maintenance applications
- Past unpaid maintenance
- School and educational expenses
- Medical and healthcare expenses
- Maintenance after separation
- Maintenance connected with Khula or divorce
- Enhancement of an existing maintenance amount
- Reduction or modification applications
- Proof and investigation of income
- Cases involving concealed earnings
- Recovery of maintenance arrears
- Execution of maintenance decrees
- Representation of overseas parties
- Defence against exaggerated or unsupported claims
Maintenance is not calculated through one automatic percentage. The amount depends on the legally relevant needs, means, evidence and circumstances of the parties.
Islamabad Office: Office No. 5, 2nd Floor, Laraib Plaza, Karachi Company, G-9 Markaz, Islamabad
Consult a Maintenance Lawyer in Islamabad
Legal advice may be required where:
- A husband has stopped supporting his wife
- A father is not paying child maintenance
- School fees remain unpaid
- Medical expenses are being ignored
- A maintenance case has already been filed
- The defendant is concealing income or employment
- Interim maintenance has not been paid
- An existing amount has become inadequate
- Maintenance arrears have accumulated
- A decree is not being obeyed
- The paying party has genuinely lost income
- Either party lives outside Pakistan
The lawyer should be provided with a clear monthly expense statement and all available evidence of income, payments and existing court orders.
Maintenance Law in Islamabad
Maintenance claims in Islamabad are principally governed by:
- The Family Courts Act, 1964
- The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961
- Applicable Muslim or other personal law
- The Family Courts Rules
- Relevant decisions of the superior courts
Maintenance is included within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Family Court under the Schedule to the Family Courts Act. A wife may also include maintenance and other connected family claims in a dissolution-of-marriage plaint.
Section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance provides an additional mechanism where a husband fails to maintain his wife adequately or, in a polygamous marriage, fails to maintain his wives equitably. That provision does not remove other available legal remedies.
Types of Maintenance Claims
Maintenance matter | What may be claimed |
Wife maintenance | Reasonable support during the legally relevant matrimonial period |
Child maintenance | Food, clothing, residence and daily living expenses |
Interim maintenance | Temporary monthly support while the case is pending |
Past maintenance | Unpaid support for an earlier legally recoverable period |
Education expenses | Fees, books, uniform, transport and reasonable academic costs |
Medical expenses | Treatment, medicines, tests and necessary healthcare |
Enhanced maintenance | Increase where needs or financial circumstances change |
Maintenance arrears | Unpaid amounts under an order or decree |
Decree execution | Legal enforcement where payment is not made |
Defence or reduction | Response to an excessive claim or a material change in circumstances |
Wife maintenance and child maintenance should be pleaded separately. The children’s financial rights do not automatically end because the marital relationship between their parents has broken down.
Table of Contents
Wife Maintenance in Islamabad
A Muslim husband has a legal responsibility to maintain his wife during the subsistence of a valid marriage, subject to the applicable law and facts.
A wife may seek maintenance where:
- The husband has stopped providing household expenses
- She has been excluded from the matrimonial home
- The spouses are living separately
- The husband has failed to arrange suitable residence
- He is providing an amount insufficient for basic needs
- He has contracted another marriage and is not maintaining his wives equitably
- A matrimonial case is pending
- She requires interim support while the dispute is being decided
A separation does not automatically establish or defeat a maintenance claim. The court may examine:
- Reason for separate residence
- Conduct of the parties
- Safety concerns
- Availability of suitable accommodation
- Husband’s financial capacity
- Existing payment arrangements
- Wife’s actual needs
- Pending restitution, Khula or divorce proceedings
- Terms of the Nikah Nama
- Available documentary evidence
Wife Maintenance Is Not American-Style Permanent Alimony
Pakistani family law should not be described through the American concept of indefinite post-divorce alimony.
A wife’s claim may involve:
- Maintenance during marriage
- Past unpaid maintenance
- Interim maintenance during litigation
- Maintenance for the legally applicable period after divorce
- Contractual rights recorded in the Nikah Nama
- Haq Mehr
- Dowry articles
- Personal property
These are legally distinct claims.
A maintenance award should not be confused with:
- Automatic lifelong support after divorce
- Equal division of all matrimonial property
- Child maintenance
- Recovery of Haq Mehr
- Compensation without a legal basis
The correct relief depends on whether the marriage is continuing, whether Talaq or Khula has occurred, and what period is legally recoverable.
Maintenance During Separation
A wife living separately may still claim maintenance where a lawful or reasonable cause supports the separation.
Relevant circumstances may include:
- Cruelty
- Domestic violence
- Failure to maintain
- Unsafe accommodation
- Husband’s second marriage
- Expulsion from the matrimonial home
- Failure to provide separate or appropriate residence
- Serious marital misconduct
- Pending matrimonial litigation
The husband may defend the claim by alleging that the wife left without lawful reason or refused to perform marital obligations.
The court must examine the evidence rather than assume that physical separation automatically ends maintenance.
Maintenance After Talaq or Khula
Maintenance consequences following Talaq or Khula should be assessed separately from child maintenance.
A former wife may have claims relating to:
- Unpaid maintenance from the period before dissolution
- Maintenance for the legally applicable post-divorce period
- Haq Mehr
- Dowry articles
- Personal belongings
- Amounts fixed by agreement or the Nikah Nama
- Enforcement of an earlier maintenance order
An Islamabad High Court judgment involving a divorced wife records that maintenance for the Iddat period had been awarded in the underlying Family Court proceedings. The precise entitlement in another case will depend on the applicable personal law and facts.
Children’s maintenance remains separate and should not be stopped merely because their mother obtained Khula or the father pronounced Talaq.
Child Maintenance in Islamabad
A child maintenance claim may include reasonable expenses for:
- Food
- Clothing
- Residence
- School fees
- Books and stationery
- Uniform
- School transport
- Tuition
- Medical treatment
- Medicines
- Diagnostic tests
- Special educational needs
- Reasonable extracurricular activities
- Other age-appropriate necessities
The claim should be based on the child’s genuine requirements and the financial circumstances of the person liable.
A maintenance case should not be treated as a contest between former spouses. The financial support is intended for the child.
Child Maintenance Is Separate From Custody
The duty to maintain a child is legally distinct from physical custody and visitation.
A father should not stop paying maintenance merely because:
- The child lives with the mother
- Visitation is being obstructed
- The mother has remarried
- Khula has been granted
- Custody proceedings are pending
- The parents are hostile towards one another
Similarly, a custodial parent should not deny court-ordered visitation merely because maintenance is unpaid.
Each party should seek enforcement through the appropriate court rather than using the child’s financial support or access as private leverage.
Detailed custody and meeting-right matters are covered on the Child Custody Lawyers in Islamabad page.
How Is Child Maintenance Calculated?
There is no universal statutory percentage that applies to every family.
The court may consider:
- Child’s age
- Number of children
- Food and clothing needs
- Standard of living before separation
- School and educational expenses
- Medical needs
- Residence and utility costs
- Transport
- Special needs or disability
- Income of the father
- Business ownership
- Property and assets
- Employment benefits
- Earning capacity
- Other lawful dependants
- Inflation and prevailing living costs
- Evidence produced by both sides
An expense does not become recoverable merely because it is included in a list. The court considers whether it is genuine, reasonable and proportionate to the family’s circumstances.
Financial Capacity Is Not Limited to a Salary Slip
A person’s financial capacity may not always be shown accurately by one salary certificate.
Relevant evidence may include:
- Employment letter
- Salary slips
- Bank statements
- Income tax returns
- FBR profile
- Business ownership
- SECP company records
- Partnership interest
- Property ownership
- Rental income
- Vehicle ownership
- Foreign remittances
- Travel history
- Lifestyle
- Credit-card use
- Educational expenses already paid
- Social-media evidence used cautiously
- Admissions in messages or pleadings
- Previous financial documents
- Ability to earn from a profession or business
The court may distinguish between genuine unemployment and a deliberate attempt to remain underemployed or hide income.
Concealment of Income
Income may be concealed by:
- Receiving salary in cash
- Showing a lower amount on paper
- Running a business through relatives
- Using personal and business accounts interchangeably
- Transferring assets
- Claiming unemployment while maintaining an expensive lifestyle
- Failing to produce tax or bank records
- Omitting rental or foreign income
- Controlling a company without holding shares personally
- Understating professional earnings
A maintenance claim should identify the known sources of income and request production of relevant records where legally appropriate.
Unsupported allegations that the defendant earns “millions” should be avoided. The claim should distinguish known facts, reasonable estimates and matters requiring court inquiry.
Can the Family Court Call for Income Records?
The Family Court has statutory power to summon a person to give evidence or produce documents relevant to the dispute.
Depending on the facts, a party may request production of records from:
- Employer
- Bank
- FBR
- SECP
- Business entity
- Educational institution
- Property authority
- Relevant government department
- Accountant
- Other record holder
The request should identify the records sought and explain their relevance. A fishing inquiry for unrelated private information may be opposed.
Interim Maintenance
A wife or child may be unable to wait until the final judgment for financial support.
Section 17A of the Family Courts Act permits the Family Court to pass an interim maintenance order at any stage of a maintenance case. Under the published federal text, payment is to be made by the fourteenth day of each month; failure may permit the court to strike off the defendant’s defence and decree the suit.
An interim application may include:
- Monthly household support
- Child maintenance
- School fees
- Medical expenses
- Immediate educational dues
- Other urgent necessities
Interim maintenance is provisional. The final amount may be increased, reduced or otherwise adjusted after evidence is recorded.
Evidence for Interim Maintenance
At the interim stage, useful documents may include:
- Nikah Nama
- Child’s B-Form
- School fee voucher
- Medical prescription
- Rent agreement
- Utility bills
- Previous payment record
- Employer information
- Salary slip
- Bank transfer record
- Messages admitting income
- Existing court order
- Expense statement
The applicant should provide enough material for a reasonable provisional assessment without waiting to prove every disputed fact at final trial.
Failure to Pay Interim Maintenance
Failure to pay an interim maintenance order can have serious procedural consequences.
The court may examine:
- Amount ordered
- Due dates
- Payments actually made
- Proof of bank transfer or deposit
- Any lawful modification
- Genuine inability asserted by the defendant
- Whether default is wilful
- Accumulated arrears
A defendant should not ignore the order while informally asking the plaintiff to wait.
Where the amount is genuinely beyond present capacity, an appropriate legal application should be made instead of unilateral non-payment.
Past Maintenance and Arrears
Past maintenance refers to unpaid support claimed for a period before the suit or before the present order.
The court may consider:
- Period claimed
- Previous payments
- Reason for non-payment
- Date of separation
- Existing proceedings
- Any agreement
- Limitation issues
- Evidence of demand
- Wife’s entitlement during the claimed period
- Child’s expenses
- Admissions by the defendant
Maintenance arrears under an existing decree should be calculated month by month, giving credit for payments that can be proved.
Cash payments without receipts frequently become disputed. Regular payments should be made through a traceable method wherever possible.
School and Educational Expenses
Educational maintenance may involve:
- Admission fee
- Monthly tuition fee
- Annual charges
- Books
- Uniform
- Examination fee
- School transport
- Reasonable tuition
- Computer or educational equipment
- Special-needs support
- College or professional education in an appropriate case
The court may examine:
- Child’s previous school
- Existing standard of education
- Affordability
- Choice made by parents
- Sudden transfer to an unusually expensive institution
- Academic level and genuine need
- Scholarships or discounts
- Father’s financial capacity
- Whether the expense was discussed or reasonably incurred
A parent should not deliberately select an unaffordable institution merely to enlarge the claim. Equally, a child should not be forced out of an established school without a genuine financial reason.
Medical and Healthcare Expenses
A maintenance claim may include reasonable medical costs such as:
- Doctor consultation
- Medicines
- Laboratory tests
- Hospital treatment
- Dental treatment
- Optical care
- Therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Disability support
- Health insurance
- Emergency treatment
The claimant should preserve:
- Prescriptions
- Medical reports
- Bills
- Receipts
- Hospital estimates
- Proof of payment
- Insurance record
Where long-term treatment is required, the court may need a realistic monthly estimate rather than a one-time inflated amount.
Children With Disabilities or Special Needs
A child with a disability or chronic medical condition may require additional financial support for:
- Therapy
- Medication
- Specialist consultation
- Assistive devices
- Special education
- Attendant care
- Transport
- Rehabilitation
- Modified accommodation
- Continuing treatment
The court should be provided with medical and educational evidence showing the nature, frequency and likely duration of the expenses.
Rigid assumptions based only on age may be unsuitable where the child remains dependent because of disability or a serious medical condition.
Maintenance for an Adult Child
The duration of maintenance should not be described through one oversimplified rule.
Relevant factors may include:
- Age
- Sex
- Marital status
- Education
- Disability
- Financial dependency
- Ability to earn
- Applicable personal law
- Nature of the existing decree
- Facts of the individual case
A party seeking continuation or termination of maintenance should provide evidence of the child’s present educational, medical and financial status.
Maintenance for More Than One Child
Where several children are involved, the court may assess:
- Individual age
- School level
- Medical needs
- Shared household expenses
- Separate educational expenses
- Existing standard of living
- Total financial capacity
- Other lawful dependants
The amount should not necessarily be divided equally where one child has substantially different medical or educational needs.
The decree should ideally identify whether the amount is:
- A combined sum
- A separate sum for each child
- Inclusive or exclusive of school fees
- Inclusive or exclusive of medical expenses
- Subject to periodic increase
Maintenance and a Second Marriage
A husband’s second marriage does not automatically cancel his existing maintenance responsibilities.
The court may consider:
- Existing wife and children
- Additional dependants
- Total income
- Equitable maintenance obligations
- Whether the second marriage has been used as a reason to reduce support
- Existing court orders
- Actual financial commitments
Section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance specifically addresses failure to maintain wives equitably where there is more than one wife.
A person should not voluntarily assume new financial obligations and then treat the existing children’s basic needs as optional.
Maintenance Where the Father Lives Abroad
An overseas father may still be made a defendant where the competent Family Court in Pakistan has jurisdiction.
Relevant evidence may include:
- Overseas address
- Employer
- Occupation
- Visa status
- Foreign salary
- Remittances
- Bank transfers
- Property in Pakistan
- Previous payments
- Travel history
- Foreign tax or employment documents where obtainable
Service abroad may require additional procedural steps.
The plaintiff should provide the correct overseas address and should not claim that the defendant is missing merely to obtain an ex parte decree.
Overseas Wife or Child Claimant
An overseas wife or parent acting for a child may require assistance with:
- Institution of maintenance proceedings
- Special Power of Attorney
- Attested affidavits
- Video-link evidence where permitted
- Certified copies
- Recovery from assets in Pakistan
- Response to an existing case
- Coordination of foreign records
- Enforcement of a Pakistani decree
- Advice concerning foreign maintenance orders
The Family Courts Act permits appearance through agents in accordance with its provisions, but the court may still require personal evidence where necessary.
Maintenance Procedure in Islamabad
Step 1: Initial Legal Assessment
The lawyer reviews:
- Relationship between the parties
- Marriage status
- Number and ages of children
- Current residence
- Date support stopped
- Existing payments
- Known income
- School and medical expenses
- Pending Khula, divorce or custody cases
- Previous maintenance orders
- Jurisdiction
Step 2: Prepare the Expense Statement
The claimant should prepare a reasonable monthly statement covering:
- Food
- Clothing
- Rent or housing contribution
- Utilities
- Education
- Transport
- Medical care
- Childcare
- Other genuine expenses
The statement should not duplicate the same expense under several headings.
Step 3: Collect Income Evidence
Available information concerning the defendant may include:
- Job title
- Employer
- Business
- Professional practice
- Property
- Vehicles
- Bank information
- Tax record
- Company ownership
- Foreign employment
- Rental income
- Previous admissions
Step 4: Determine Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction depends on the applicable Family Court rules and the facts of the claim.
The lawyer should consider:
- Residence of the parties
- Place where the cause of action arose
- Existing connected proceedings
- Court already dealing with dissolution or custody
- Overseas status
- Any earlier decree
Filing in a convenient but legally incorrect court may cause delay.
Step 5: Draft and File the Maintenance Suit
The plaint should identify:
- Parties
- Marriage and relationship
- Children
- Maintenance obligation
- Date and nature of default
- Current needs
- Known financial capacity
- Past arrears
- Interim relief required
- Final relief requested
- Supporting documents and witnesses
A dissolution plaint may include maintenance and other connected claims under section 7 of the Family Courts Act.
Step 6: Apply for Interim Maintenance
The application should state:
- Immediate monthly needs
- Child expenses
- School dues
- Medical requirements
- Existing payments
- Known income of defendant
- Urgency
Step 7: Service and Written Statement
The defendant may:
- Admit liability
- Dispute the amount
- Claim previous payments
- Deny income
- Challenge wife’s entitlement
- Contest past arrears
- Produce evidence of dependants
- Seek restitution in an appropriate connected case
- Challenge jurisdiction
Step 8: Evidence
The parties may produce:
- Oral testimony
- Documents
- Income records
- Expense receipts
- School records
- Medical evidence
- Payment history
- Bank statements
- Employer information
- Tax and company records
- Witnesses with direct knowledge
Step 9: Final Judgment
The court may determine:
- Wife maintenance
- Child maintenance
- Past arrears
- Effective date
- Educational expenses
- Medical expenses
- Payment method
- Due date
- Annual or periodic increase where ordered
- Costs
- Other connected relief
Step 10: Execution
If the defendant does not pay, an execution petition may be filed before the court that passed the decree or another court legally authorised to execute it.
How Long Does a Maintenance Case Take?
The Family Courts Act provides that a family case should be disposed of within six months from institution. Where it remains pending beyond that period, a party may approach the High Court for appropriate directions.
Actual duration may be affected by:
- Service of summons
- Interim applications
- Income-record production
- Overseas defendant
- Court workload
- Evidence
- Ex parte proceedings
- Connected matrimonial claims
- Settlement negotiations
- Appeals
An interim maintenance order may provide temporary support before final disposal.
Maintenance Decree Execution
A judgment does not always result in voluntary payment.
Section 13 of the Family Courts Act provides mechanisms for enforcement. Where a money decree is not paid within the time specified by the court—stated in the federal text as not exceeding thirty days—the amount may, if the court directs, be recovered as arrears of land revenue. The executing court may also permit payment by instalments where appropriate.
Execution may involve:
- Calculation of arrears
- Notice to judgment debtor
- Verification of payments
- Attachment of salary
- Attachment of bank account
- Attachment of movable property
- Attachment of other assets
- Recovery through applicable revenue machinery
- Payment schedule
- Other lawful enforcement measures
The precise remedy depends on the decree, available assets and applicable execution procedure.
Calculating Maintenance Arrears
An arrears statement should show:
Month | Amount due | Amount paid | Outstanding |
January | PKR — | PKR — | PKR — |
February | PKR — | PKR — | PKR — |
March | PKR — | PKR — | PKR — |
The calculation should account for:
- Effective date of decree
- Interim order
- Final amount
- Annual increase
- School fees
- Medical expenses
- Direct payments
- Bank transfers
- Court deposits
- Payments made in kind where accepted
- Any modification or stay order
Unsupported duplication can delay execution.
Enhancement of Maintenance
An existing maintenance amount may become inadequate because of:
- Inflation
- Child’s increasing age
- Higher school fees
- New medical needs
- Change of educational level
- Increased cost of residence
- Improvement in father’s income
- Earlier decree becoming outdated
- Additional necessary expenses
An enhancement claim should provide:
- Existing order
- Date of order
- Previous expense position
- Current expense evidence
- Change in income
- School and medical records
- Proposed revised amount
The claimant should explain the material change rather than simply stating that more money is required.
Reduction or Modification of Maintenance
A person liable to pay may seek modification where there has been a genuine and substantial change, such as:
- Permanent loss of employment
- Serious disability
- Major reduction in income
- Retirement
- Child becoming financially independent
- Duplication in the decree
- Change in educational arrangement
- Incorrect calculation
- Another legally relevant event
Voluntarily leaving employment, transferring assets or reducing declared salary to avoid payment may not establish a genuine inability.
The existing order should be obeyed unless modified, suspended or set aside by a competent court.
Defence Against an Exaggerated Claim
A maintenance defendant may contest:
- Inflated monthly expenses
- Duplicate school charges
- Unsupported medical costs
- Incorrect income allegations
- Periods already paid
- Claims outside the legally recoverable period
- Wife’s entitlement for a disputed period
- Expenses unrelated to the child
- Foreign-currency estimates unsupported by evidence
- Amounts inconsistent with the family’s previous standard of living
The defence should include positive evidence, not merely a general denial.
Useful documents may include:
- Salary record
- Bank transfers
- School payments
- Medical payments
- Existing household expenses
- Dependants
- Tax return
- Business accounts
- Proof of unemployment or disability
- Previous settlement
Settlement of a Maintenance Dispute
Parties may settle maintenance through a clear written agreement covering:
- Monthly amount
- Due date
- Payment method
- School fees
- Medical expenses
- Annual increase
- Past arrears
- Security
- Bank details
- Consequences of default
- Duration
- Review mechanism
- Custody and visitation treated separately
Where proceedings are pending, the settlement should be presented before the competent Family Court.
A vague promise to “pay all expenses” may create future disagreement. The agreement should identify amounts and responsibilities precisely.
Documents Required for Initial Consultation
Bring or send clear copies of:
- Applicant’s CNIC or passport
- Nikah Nama
- Marriage Registration Certificate
- Child’s B-Form or birth certificate
- Khula or divorce documents
- Existing maintenance order
- School fee vouchers
- Books and uniform receipts
- Medical records and bills
- Rent agreement
- Utility bills
- Monthly expense statement
- Proof of previous payments
- Defendant’s employment details
- Known business information
- Bank-transfer record
- Relevant messages
- FBR, SECP or property information where available
- Overseas address and employment details
- Special Power of Attorney where applicable
Documents should be genuine and complete. Edited bank statements, false salary documents or manufactured receipts can seriously damage the case.
Common Mistakes in Maintenance Cases
Claiming an Arbitrary Lump Sum
A realistic monthly expense breakdown should support the amount.
Ignoring Interim Maintenance
Interim relief should be requested where the claimant cannot wait for final judgment.
Using Visitation as Leverage
Child access and maintenance are separate legal matters.
Making Cash Payments Without Proof
Traceable payments reduce later disputes over arrears.
Hiding Income
Incomplete financial disclosure may damage credibility.
Ignoring a Court Order
A party should seek lawful modification rather than stop payment privately.
Mixing Wife and Child Expenses
Separate schedules make the claim clearer.
Failing to Include School and Medical Evidence
Documents should support large expenses.
Filing Without a Correct Address
Improper service can delay the case or undermine an ex parte decree.
Waiting Until Arrears Become Unmanageable
Execution should be considered promptly where regular default occurs.
Why Choose Our Maintenance Lawyers in Islamabad?
Islamabad Lawyers & Attorneys provides evidence-based representation in wife and child maintenance matters.
Clients receive:
- Confidential consultation
- Assessment of maintenance entitlement
- Monthly expense planning
- Interim maintenance applications
- Income and asset review
- Drafting of plaints and written statements
- Representation before Family Courts
- School and medical-expense claims
- Overseas-party coordination
- Enhancement and reduction proceedings
- Calculation of arrears
- Decree execution
- Settlement drafting
- Clear advice without guaranteed outcomes
Our objective is to present an accurate financial case supported by legally relevant evidence.
About Our Senior Family Lawyer
Mohsin Ali Shah, M.A., LL.B., Senior Family Lawyer and Chairman of Qanoon Group Pakistan, supervises the maintenance practice.
He commenced legal practice in 1985 and has more than four decades of professional experience in family law, maintenance, divorce, Khula, child custody, guardianship, property law and taxation.
The Islamabad team coordinates consultation, documentation, Family Court representation and overseas-client matters from the G-9 Markaz office.
Speak to a Maintenance Lawyer in Islamabad
Before contacting the office, prepare a summary covering:
- Date and place of marriage
- Present status of the marriage
- Date of separation
- Number and ages of children
- Present monthly payments
- Amount and period of default
- School and medical expenses
- Known income and occupation of the defendant
- Existing court proceedings
- Existing maintenance order
- Whether either party lives abroad
- Immediate financial relief required
Islamabad Office: Office No. 5, 2nd Floor, Laraib Plaza, Karachi Company, G-9 Markaz, Islamabad
Speak to a Maintenance Lawyer in Islamabad
Before contacting the office, prepare a summary covering:
- Date and place of marriage
- Present status of the marriage
- Date of separation
- Number and ages of children
- Present monthly payments
- Amount and period of default
- School and medical expenses
- Known income and occupation of the defendant
- Existing court proceedings
- Existing maintenance order
- Whether either party lives abroad
- Immediate financial relief required
Islamabad Office: Office No. 5, 2nd Floor, Laraib Plaza, Karachi Company, G-9 Markaz, Islamabad
Frequently Asked Questions
A wife may seek maintenance for herself where the applicable law and facts support the claim.
A mother or lawful caregiver may seek maintenance on behalf of children. A child’s financial claim is distinct from the matrimonial dispute between the parents.
Jurisdiction and the appropriate claimant should be reviewed before filing.
There is no fixed universal percentage.
The court may consider the genuine needs of the wife or children, previous standard of living, education, healthcare, housing and the income, assets, earning capacity and dependants of the person liable.
Documentary evidence can materially affect the amount.
She may claim maintenance where a lawful or reasonable cause supports the separation.
The court may examine why she is living separately, whether suitable residence was provided, the conduct of the parties, safety concerns and the husband’s financial capacity.
Separate residence does not automatically establish or defeat the claim.
Yes. A maintenance claim may be filed or included as a connected claim in dissolution proceedings where legally appropriate.
The court may also consider interim maintenance while the case is pending.
The wife’s own claim should be distinguished from the children’s continuing maintenance rights.
No. Khula dissolves the marital relationship between the spouses but does not cancel the children’s independent right to financial support.
Child maintenance may include food, residence, clothing, education and healthcare.
Custody and visitation disputes should be addressed separately.
Interim maintenance is a temporary amount ordered while the main case remains pending.
Section 17A of the Family Courts Act permits the Family Court to make an interim maintenance order at any stage.
It provides immediate support before the parties complete evidence and receive a final judgment.
Under the published federal text of section 17A, payment is to be made by the fourteenth day of each month.
Failure may permit the Family Court to strike off the defendant’s defence and decree the suit.
A defendant facing genuine difficulty should apply for lawful relief rather than ignore the order.
Past maintenance may be claimed subject to the applicable legal period, facts, limitation issues and evidence.
The claimant should identify when support stopped and what payments were received.
An existing decree’s arrears should be calculated month by month, giving credit for proven payments.
Reasonable educational expenses may form part of child maintenance.
These can include tuition, books, uniform, transport and other necessary academic charges.
The court may consider the child’s previous school, affordability, the father’s means and whether the expense is genuine and proportionate.
Necessary medical expenses may be claimed through a monthly amount, reimbursement or a separate direction depending on the case.
Prescriptions, reports, bills and receipts should be produced.
Long-term treatment should be supported by medical evidence showing the expected frequency and cost.
The Family Court may summon relevant witnesses and documents.
A party may request records from an employer, bank, tax authority, company or another record holder where the information is sufficiently identified and relevant.
The request should not be a speculative inquiry into unrelated private matters.
The claimant may rely on employment information, business ownership, property, bank records, tax information, lifestyle and previous admissions.
The court may assess the complete financial circumstances rather than accept an unsupported claim of unemployment or a suspiciously low salary certificate.
Evidence should remain lawful and authentic.
Unemployment is relevant but not always conclusive.
The court may examine whether it is genuine, temporary or voluntary, together with earning capacity, qualifications, assets, business interests and previous income.
The amount must still be based on the evidence and circumstances of the case.
Yes. Enhancement may be sought where there has been a material change such as inflation, increased school fees, medical needs or improvement in the paying party’s income.
The applicant should produce the existing decree and evidence comparing the previous and current circumstances.
A reduction may be sought where there is a genuine and substantial change in circumstances.
Examples may include permanent loss of income, disability, or the child becoming financially independent.
The existing order remains effective unless modified by a competent court.
Maintenance and visitation are separate legal issues.
The custodial parent should seek enforcement of maintenance through the Family Court rather than privately stopping contact.
Similarly, the non-custodial parent should not stop financial support merely because access is being obstructed.
An execution petition may be filed where payment is not made.
Depending on the decree and available assets, enforcement may include recovery of arrears, attachment of salary, bank account or property, and other lawful measures.
The Family Courts Act also permits specified recovery as arrears of land revenue.
Yes, where the Islamabad Family Court has jurisdiction and the overseas defendant is properly served.
The claimant should provide the correct foreign address, employer and available income information.
International service and evidence may require additional time and documentation.
No. Pakistani maintenance law should not be described as an automatic lifelong post-divorce payment system.
A wife’s entitlement depends on the continuing marriage, separation circumstances, divorce status, legally recoverable period, personal law and any contractual rights.
Child maintenance remains a separate matter.
Send the Nikah Nama, children’s B-Forms, existing court orders, school and medical documents and a monthly expense statement.
Also provide the defendant’s known employment or business details, payment history, current addresses and a timeline showing when support stopped.