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Maintenance · in practice

Maintenance amounts: how they are assessed, claimed and enforced

Maintenance is a debt that must be discharged, not a favour. This page explains what it covers, how the court assesses the amount without any statutory rate, the jurists' disagreement about the measure, the difference between a wife's maintenance, ʿiddah maintenance and child maintenance, how to claim arrears, and what happens when a husband does not pay.

⏱ 7 min read§ 9 sections📚 23 sources🗓 Updated: 5 Oct 2026

📘 What you will learn

Understanding that maintenance is an enforceable debt, not a voluntary gift
Knowing the basis for assessing the amount under Act 303 s.61 and why there is no official rate
Telling apart maintenance during the marriage, ʿiddah maintenance and child maintenance
Knowing how to claim maintenance arrears and how a maintenance order is enforced
Knowing what evidence to prepare before going to court

Key point: There is no statutory maintenance rate and no published national rate in Malaysia. Act 303 s.61 only directs the court to assess primarily on the means and needs of the parties, and on the proportion the maintenance bears to the income of the person ordered to pay. Maintenance arrears can be claimed as a debt under s.69 — including from the estate of a husband who has died — and they are not extinguished merely because the wife never asked.

This week's practice

Start keeping a monthly record: the date, amount and channel of every maintenance payment received or paid
Gather the last six months of payslips, bank statements, and rent, utility, clinic and school bills
Check your state's Islamic family law Enactment, because the section numbers and provisions differ from Act 303
Contact the Syariah Court advisory counter or your state Syarie Legal Aid before making a decision

1Maintenance is a debt, not a favour

A wife's maintenance covers food, clothing, housing, basic medical care and other reasonable needs that are ma'ruf, that is, fitting by custom. "Let the one who has means provide maintenance according to his means; and whoever's provision is restricted, let him provide from what Allah has given him" (Surah at-Talaq 65:7). The preceding verse commands husbands to house them according to their means without making things hard for them (65:6), and Surah al-Baqarah 2:233 sets the measure as ma'ruf and not beyond one's means.

Maintenance is not a kindness that can be withdrawn when a husband is angry:

Hind bint 'Utbah complained that Abu Sufyan was miserly and did not give her enough maintenance for herself and her children. The Prophet صلى said: "Take what is enough for you and your children in a fitting way" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5364).
Asked about a wife's rights, he replied: "You feed her when you eat, and clothe her when you clothe yourself..." (Sunan Abu Dawud 2142; hasan sahih).
The court may order a man to pay maintenance to his wife or former wife, subject to Hukum Syarak (Act 303 s.59(1)).
Unsecured maintenance arrears may be claimed as a debt (s.69(1)) — and "debt" there is not a figure of speech. Conversely, maintenance under a court order may not be assigned or attached for any debt (s.68): the husband's creditors cannot take it.
The exception: a wife is not entitled to maintenance while she is in nushuz, subject to Hukum Syarak and confirmation by the court, and she ceases to be in nushuz as soon as she repents and complies with her husband's lawful wishes (s.59(2)–(3)). An accusation from the husband's mouth is not a ruling — see Nushuz.

Do not use the wrong section. Act 303 s.60 is often misquoted as the provision for a wife's maintenance. Its text is in fact about an order to maintain a person who is wholly or partly incapacitated from earning a livelihood by injury or mental or physical illness. A wife's maintenance is s.59; the assessment of the amount is s.61.

2How the amount is assessed — and why there is no official rate

Act 303 s.61 is a single sentence, and contains no figures: in determining the amount of maintenance payable, the court shall base its assessment primarily on the means and needs of the parties, having regard to the proportion the maintenance bears to the income of the person against whom the order is made.

So the husband's means are the starting point, not the wife's hopes; the wife's needs must be proved, not assumed; and because maintenance is assessed as a proportion of income, a husband on a small income does not get off entirely, and a husband on a large income does not get off with a small amount. Around it there are three tools: security through a trustee (s.62), a lump-sum settlement that needs the court's approval (s.63), and variation of the order when circumstances change materially (s.66).

What is weighed	The basis in Act 303	What proves it
The husband's means	s.61 — the "means" of the parties	Payslips, tax and bank statements, business income, legitimate debt commitments
The wife's needs	s.61 — the "needs" of the parties	Rent, utilities, groceries, transport, medical care, the number of children in her care
Proportion to income	s.61 — the final part of the sentence	Maintenance against the husband's net monthly income
Interim maintenance	s.70 — takes effect immediately until a full order is made; may be set off against the final order provided the balance the wife receives is enough for her basic needs	Prima facie evidence that there are grounds for maintenance

There is no published maintenance rate for Malaysia. Act 303 mentions no amount, and there is no national rate to refer to. Never quote any figure as "the maintenance rate" — the figures that circulate, including on social media, are at best one court's assessment on one set of facts. State Enactments also differ from Act 303 in the order of their sections and in some of their provisions; check your own state's Islamic family law Enactment before relying on any section number on this page.

3The jurists' disagreement: the husband's means or the wife's sufficiency?

The jurists agree that a wife's maintenance is obligatory, but differ on the measure of the amount. Below is the well-known view of each school; within each school there are other views as well.

Shafi'i — the measure is the husband's circumstances: well-off, middling or straitened, based on 65:7. Earlier Shafi'i jurists even fixed it in measures of staple food (mudd) per day according to those three levels — the ijtihad of their time, not a rate used today.
Hanafi — the measure is the wife's sufficiency (kifayah), assessed by taking the circumstances of both parties into account, not a fixed quantity.
Hanbali — also centred on the wife's sufficiency, taking the circumstances of both parties into account.
Maliki — the circumstances of both parties and local 'urf (custom).

This difference decides whether a wife from a well-off family can claim her former standard from a husband of modest means. Act 303 s.61 covers both sides, and that is why arguments in the Malaysian Syariah courts are usually not about the schools of law but about evidence. See School.

4Three different kinds of maintenance

Many misunderstandings come from mixing up three things that are basic and that run for different periods.

Type	Basics	When it starts and ends
A wife's maintenance during the marriage	s.59(1); the amount s.61	Obligatory throughout the marriage. Not payable during nushuz confirmed by the court, and payable again as soon as she is no longer in nushuz (s.59(2)–(3)). The order expires on the death of either party (s.64)
Iddah maintenance	s.65(1); housing s.71	A former wife's right to receive maintenance under a court order ceases when the ʿiddah ends or when she is nushuz (s.65(1)). She is entitled to remain in the marital home for as long as the husband cannot provide other suitable accommodation; that right ceases when the ʿiddah ends, when the custody (hadhanah) period ends, when she remarries, or when she commits fahisyah (s.71)
Child maintenance	s.72(1); the order s.73; duration s.79	A father's duty to provide reasonable accommodation, clothing, food, medical care and education according to his means and station, whether the child is in his custody or in the custody of another (s.72(1)). The order expires at the age of 18, but may be extended for further or higher education or training (s.79)

Commonly got wrong: (1) ʿiddah maintenance is different from mutʿah (s.56) and from the mahr and the gifts (s.57). (2) The court that grants permission for polygyny may go on to order child maintenance (s.73(1)(e)) and maintenance for the existing wife (s.23(9)(a)). (3) If the father has died, cannot be found, or is unable to pay, the duty passes to the person liable under Hukum Syarak (s.72(2)). (4) s.80 is not a provision directed at men: it concerns an order against a woman who refuses to maintain her illegitimate child, except a child born as a result of rape.

5Maintenance arrears: a debt that is not extinguished because the wife did not ask

Inside the home this is the point most often decided wrongly: "it was a long time ago, just forget it". The law does not say that.

Act 303 s.69(1): unsecured maintenance arrears may be claimed as a debt from the party who has failed to pay; if they accrued before a receiving order was made against him they may be proved in his bankruptcy; and if they accrued before his death they become a debt payable out of his estate. s.69(2): arrears that accrued before the death of the person entitled to them may be claimed by that person's legal personal representative, and s.77 applies s.69 to child maintenance orders. So the husband's bankruptcy or death does not wipe out the arrears — they are an estate debt that must be settled before the faraid distribution — and the wife's death does not wipe them out either.

A wife's silence is not a waiver of her right. Nothing in s.69 makes arrears lapse because they were not claimed earlier. What is lost by delay is proof, not the right — receipts go missing, bank statements pass their retention period, witnesses forget.

Distinguish two kinds of claim:

Arrears under an order — maintenance has been ordered but not paid. It falls directly under s.69 as a debt, and is brought as enforcement of the order.
Maintenance arrears that were never ordered (nafkah madiyah) — claimed under s.59(1), which covers "a wife or former wife", with the amount assessed under s.61. This is where the disagreement enters: the well-known Shafi'i and Hanbali view treats it as a debt that does not lapse with the passage of time, while the well-known Hanafi view recognises maintenance for a past period only if there was a judge's order (qada') or an agreement between the two parties beforehand.

In practice: file the claim at the Syariah Court that has jurisdiction, usually where you live, together with the documents and evidence set out in the next section. The counter officer will tell you the forms and the fees — they differ between states, so do not rely on a form number that someone else has quoted.

Limitation periods. Act 303 s.69 itself sets no limitation period, and claims covering years at a time are indeed brought to court. But Syariah court civil procedure is a separate law that differs between states; ask a Syariah lawyer or your state Syarie Legal Aid whether any limitation period applies to your case (to be verified). The safe rule: do not wait.

6When he does not pay: enforcement

A maintenance order is not advice. Act 303 s.132 provides that where there is wilful failure to comply with an order requiring the payment of an amount, the court that made the order may — without prejudice to the right of an interested person to enforce the order under this Act or any other law:

levy the amount due in the manner provided for levying a fine imposed by a court (s.132(1)); or
imprison a person who wilfully fails to comply with the order — for monthly payments, for not more than one month for each month of payment in arrears (s.132(2)(a)); in other cases, for not more than one year (s.132(2)(b)).

Security — s.62 for a wife's maintenance and s.74 for child maintenance; failure to vest property in a trustee under s.74 may be punished as contempt of court (s.74(2)).
Offences — failing to give a wife the justice due to her according to Hukum Syarak is an offence (s.128), and so is ill-treating a wife or defrauding her of her property, and the court may order compensation (s.127). Both are punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to six months or both.
Judicial dissolution (fasakh) — failure or neglect to provide maintenance for three months is one of the grounds for dissolution of the marriage, or fasakh (s.52(1)(b)). See Talaq.
Polygyny without permission — anyone who marries contrary to s.23(1) must pay immediately the whole of the mahr and the gifts to the existing wife, and if it is not paid it can be claimed as a debt (s.23(7)).

Two things that must be got right. (1) Attachment of earnings (deduction of salary directly from the employer), seizure and sale, and other means of enforcement are not found in Act 303; they fall under the Syariah court civil procedure law of the state concerned. Ask a Syariah lawyer or the court counter to name the section in your state (to be verified). (2) s.132 concerns wilful failure. A husband who genuinely cannot pay should apply to vary the order under s.66 — not stay silent until arrears pile up, because arrears remain a debt even if he is poor.

7The proof you need to bring

Because s.61 ties the assessment to means and needs, the evidence falls into two parts: proof of his income, and proof of your expenses.

Proof of incomePayslips, an employer's confirmation letter, tax statements, bank statements, business records, EPF statements. If you do not have them, do not go snooping — the court has the power to call for documents and witnesses.

Proof of needsRent or home loan statements, utility bills, grocery receipts, school fees, clinic bills, transport costs.

A record of maintenance receivedThe date, the amount, the channel and which month it was for — the single most valuable document in an arrears case. Record cash payments too.

Status documentsMarriage or divorce certificate, earlier orders, children's birth certificates, custody (hadhanah) orders, the taʿliq document.

CommunicationsMessages in which he promises to pay, admits not paying, or refuses — together with their dates.

Assets for enforcementProperty, vehicles, businesses and accounts you know of — useful at the enforcement and security stage (s.62).

Start the monthly record today, even if you are years late. Never rewrite dates or add false entries — an honest record with acknowledged gaps carries more weight in court than one that looks perfect.

8Do and avoid

These two columns are addressed to both parties, and do not assume that the one at fault is bound to be the husband.

✓ Do	✗ Avoid
Pay and receive maintenance through a channel that leaves a record, on a fixed date, with a reference to the month being paid for.	Giving or receiving maintenance in cash without any record, then arguing years later about what was paid.
Set out the amount and the components of the maintenance in writing, even a single message that both parties keep.	Treating "I'll sort it out later" as an agreement. It is not, and it cannot be enforced.
If income falls, say so at once and apply to vary the order under s.66.	Quietly stopping payment — arrears keep accruing as a debt (s.69) and wilful failure can lead to imprisonment (s.132).
Claim early — what is lost by delay is proof, not the right.	Using maintenance as a means of pressure, or threatening a claim in order to frighten.
Keep child maintenance separate from adult quarrels. It is the child's right under s.72.	Quoting any figure as "the maintenance rate", or believing figures on social media.
Check your state Enactment before any big decision.	Quoting s.60 for a wife's maintenance, or settling maintenance matters on social media.

9Where to get help

State Syariah Court — the advisory counter explains the forms, fees and jurisdiction for maintenance and arrears claims. You do not need a lawyer to file a claim.
Sulh session — reconciliation conducted by the court's sulh officer; many maintenance cases are settled here more quickly than at a full trial, and the outcome can be recorded as an order.
Syarie Legal Aid — the state Syarie legal aid division or the one under the Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia (JKSM), for applicants who qualify.
A registered Syariah lawyer — especially for years of arrears or enforcement against property.
The state Islamic religious department and the district religious affairs office — counselling and referrals. See Counselling.
Talian Kasih 15999 — the welfare and family helpline, 24 hours.
Domestic violence — call 999. Withholding maintenance together with threats or coercive control can be a matter under the Domestic Violence Act 1994 (Act 521), separately from a maintenance claim.

The most useful first step is not to look for a figure but to put the evidence in order: a record of the maintenance received, a list of monthly expenses, and any proof of his income. It is from those three that s.61 works. See also Two-household finances and Rights of husband and wife.

Sources & references

Surah al-Baqarah 2:233Surah an-Nisa' 4:34Surah at-Talaq 65:6Surah at-Talaq 65:7Sahih al-Bukhari 5364 (Hind bint 'Utbah: take what is enough for you in a fitting way, ma'ruf)Sunan Abu Dawud 2142 (the wife's rights; hasan sahih according to al-Albani)Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 [Act 303] s.23(7), s.23(9)(a) — mahr and gifts fall due immediately and may be claimed as a debt; the power to order maintenance for an existing wifeAct 303 s.52(1)(b) — failure to provide maintenance for three months as a ground for fasakhAct 303 s.56, s.57 — mut'ah; the right to mahr and gifts is unaffectedAct 303 s.59 — the court's power to order maintenance for a wife or former wife; the effect of nushuzAct 303 s.60 — maintenance for a person incapacitated from earning a livelihood by injury or mental or physical illness (not the provision for a wife's maintenance)Act 303 s.61 — assessment of maintenance: the means and needs of the parties, and its proportion to incomeAct 303 s.62, s.63, s.64, s.66, s.68 — security; lump-sum settlement; duration of orders; variation; maintenance not liable to attachmentAct 303 s.65 — a former wife's right to maintenance ceases when the ʿiddah ends or when she is nushuzAct 303 s.69 — maintenance arrears may be claimed as a debt, may be proved in bankruptcy, and are a debt payable out of the estateAct 303 s.70 — interim maintenanceAct 303 s.71 — a divorced woman's right to housingAct 303 s.72, s.73, s.74, s.77, s.79, s.80 — the duty to maintain children; child maintenance orders; security; application of s.69; duration of orders and extension for education; an allowance by the mother for an illegitimate childAct 303 s.127, s.128 — ill-treating a wife or defrauding her of her property; failing to give a wife the justice due to herAct 303 s.132 — wilful failure to comply with an order: levying the amount or imprisonmentThe Islamic family law Enactment of each state — the arrangement and section numbers differ from Act 303; check your own state's EnactmentState Syariah court civil procedure law — how orders are enforced, including attachment of earnings and seizure and sale (to be verified)Domestic Violence Act 1994 (Act 521)