A Muslim wife may claim maintenance during a subsisting marriage where the husband has failed to maintain her without lawful justification. She may seek relief through the Family Court and may also use the Arbitration Council procedure under section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance.
A child’s maintenance is a separate legal obligation. Divorce between the parents does not remove the child’s right to appropriate financial support.
Maintenance during marriage
Section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance provides that if a husband fails to maintain his wife adequately, or fails to maintain wives equitably where there is more than one wife, the wife may apply to the Chairman. The Chairman constitutes an Arbitration Council, which may determine the amount to be paid and issue a certificate.
The Ordinance expressly states that this procedure is in addition to other legal remedies. A wife may therefore bring a maintenance suit in the Family Court under section 5 of the Family Courts Act.
The two routes should not be confused. An Arbitration Council certificate is an administrative family-law mechanism. A Family Court suit is judicial litigation.
What determines the amount?
Bangladesh law does not establish a single fixed percentage of a husband’s salary as maintenance for every family.
The amount depends on the parties’ circumstances, including actual needs, the husband’s resources, the family’s living standard, housing, food, healthcare, education and other relevant obligations.
The claimant should provide evidence rather than rely on a general estimate. Useful documents include:
- The Kabinnama
- Proof of marriage
- Housing and utility costs
- Medical expenses
- Children’s school expenses
- The husband’s salary, business or property records
- Bank transfers and remittance history
- Communications showing refusal or partial payment
- Evidence of the wife’s own income, where relevant
The wife’s income does not automatically extinguish every claim. The legal duty and amount must be assessed under applicable Muslim law and the facts.
When may a wife’s conduct affect maintenance?
Maintenance may be disputed where the spouses live separately. The court may examine why separation occurred, whether the wife was compelled to leave, whether she was subjected to violence and whether the husband offered a safe and lawful marital home.
A husband should not assume that every wife living separately loses maintenance. A wife should likewise not assume that the reason for separation is legally irrelevant.
Allegations of abandonment, cruelty or refusal to cohabit must be supported by evidence.
Filing in the Family Court
A maintenance suit is filed by plaint in the Family Court with jurisdiction. Section 6 provides an additional venue rule for a wife’s dissolution, dower and maintenance claims connected with the place where she ordinarily resides.
“Ordinarily resides” is a factual legal concept. A temporary visit to Bangladesh may not necessarily establish ordinary residence. A wife who lives abroad but maintains a home in Bangladesh should obtain advice before selecting the court.
The Family Court may grant current and unpaid maintenance where legally established. The exact recoverable period and limitation must be analysed from the facts and applicable law.
Maintenance after divorce
The traditional Muslim-law position recognised in Bangladesh has generally treated a divorced wife’s ordinary maintenance entitlement as continuing through the iddat period rather than indefinitely after divorce.
The Appellate Division decision commonly cited is Hefzur Rahman v Shamsun Nahar Begum, reported at 51 DLR (AD) 172. It is also cited for the requirement that a court should decide the relief actually pleaded rather than grant an unclaimed remedy.
Publication verification note: A complete official online copy of the primary judgment was not located during this research. The citation and precise ratio must be checked against the authorised report before publication. Ain.bd should not present broader post-divorce maintenance rights as settled without reviewing that judgment and any later binding authority.
Post-divorce claims may still include unpaid maintenance accrued during the marriage, maintenance for the applicable iddat period, unpaid dower, contractual rights and child maintenance. These are legally distinct claims.
Child maintenance
The Family Court has jurisdiction over maintenance, including claims concerning children.
A father’s obligation toward a child is not discharged merely because:
- The parents divorced
- The child lives with the mother
- The mother has some income
- The father has remarried
- The child lives abroad
The court examines the child’s needs and the responsible parent’s means under applicable personal law.
This article does not state a single universal age at which child maintenance ends. The child’s sex, age, education, disability, marital status and applicable personal-law principles may affect the duration. A specific case requires individual analysis.
Education and medical expenses
A maintenance order should identify recurring and exceptional expenses as clearly as possible.
Where the child attends school abroad, the court may examine whether the expenses are reasonable, whether the parent agreed to the schooling and what resources are available. A parent cannot necessarily impose unlimited foreign-school expenses on the other parent without considering means and prior arrangements.
Medical expenses should be supported by prescriptions, invoices and treatment records.
Interim maintenance
Family litigation can take time. A claimant may seek interim financial relief where permitted by the court’s procedural and inherent powers.
The applicant should show immediate need, the existing relationship and preliminary evidence of the respondent’s means.
Interim maintenance is provisional. It does not finally decide all contested facts.
Enforcement
A maintenance decree is not merely advisory. The Family Courts Act contains mechanisms for execution of decrees and orders.
Where the liable person lives abroad but owns property, maintains bank accounts or receives income in Bangladesh, enforcement may focus on assets within Bangladesh.
Direct enforcement against foreign salary or property depends on the law of the foreign country and any recognition procedure available there. A Bangladeshi decree should not be described as automatically enforceable worldwide.
Representation from abroad
Section 24 permits the Family Court to allow an authorised representative to appear for a person living abroad where appearance is required for a reason other than giving evidence. The court may still require the person to testify or participate as directed.
Foreign salary certificates, tax documents and bank records should be authenticated where their genuineness may be disputed.
Maintenance, dower and property are different
Maintenance supports ordinary living needs. Dower is a marital debt. Ownership of jewellery, land or gifts depends on property and evidence.
A wife should not be told that receiving dower permanently replaces child maintenance. A husband should not assume that transferring one item of property satisfies every later financial obligation unless a lawful agreement or order clearly says so.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes include claiming an arbitrary salary percentage, failing to document monthly expenses and combining wife’s maintenance, child maintenance and dower into one unexplained figure.
Another mistake is signing a divorce settlement that inaccurately says all maintenance has been paid.
See also Dower or Mahr: A Muslim Wife’s Enforceable Legal Rights.
Law updated as of 13 July 2026.
Primary sources: Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961, section 9; Family Courts Act, 2023, sections 5, 6 and 24; Hefzur Rahman v Shamsun Nahar Begum, 51 DLR (AD) 172, subject to final authorised-report verification.
Legal-information disclaimer: This article provides general legal information, not legal advice. Maintenance depends on personal law, the reason for separation, the parties’ resources, the child’s circumstances, limitation and evidence. Consult a licensed family-law advocate.