1. that you have not been provided any maintenance or that the amount of maintenance provided is not enough for you and/or your child's needs.
2. how much your husband is earning,
3. how much maintenance you require and
4. how your husband has failed to maintain you or the children

Documentation

You must bring photocopies of the:

• Marriage Certificate;
• Birth Certificate (s) of the child or children seeking maintenance;
• any Order of Court made previously relating to the application.

Step 3: The Court will send a letter to your spouse for him/her to collect the summons at the Family Registry at a certain time and date.

Step 4: At the mediation, the Court will ask you how much maintenance you need, why and for whom. The District Judge/Magistrate will then ask your spouse whether he/she agrees to your demand. If your spouse agrees to pay and both of you agree on the amount, the District Judge/Magistrate will make an Order for your spouse to pay the agreed amount.

If no settlement is reached, the Court will set a hearing date.

Step 5: At the hearing, if the District Judge/Magistrate is sure that the husband failed to pay maintenance, he/she will make a Maintenance Order against the husband.

Q: What actually happens in Court?

During the hearing date, both parties must give evidence (witnesses, income statements, bills etc). The District Judge/Magistrate will then decide whether maintenance should be ordered and the amount of maintenance required.

Click here for the factors the Court must consider in making a maintenance order for a child.

Step 6: The spouse has a right to appeal if he thinks that the Order is unfair to him.