Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) Law, 5719-1959

"adult" means a person who has attained the age of eighteen years;

"minor" means a person who is not an adult;

"child" means a person whether born in wedlock or out of wedlock, including an adopted person.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Women's Equal Rights Law, 5711–1951, in determining the extent of the maintenance that a person is liable to provide to his or her spouse, the court may take into account the income of the spouse from employment and from assets, and if it sees fit – also from any other source.

A person is liable for the maintenance of other family members, namely –

A person is not liable to provide maintenance to a family member under section 4 unless all three of the following conditions are fulfilled:

The scope of maintenance, its extent and the manner of its provision shall be determined, in the absence of an agreement between the parties, by the court having regard to the circumstances, and except in the case of maintenance under section 3 – according to the needs of the person entitled and the means of the person liable.

Where two or more persons of the same degree of kinship are liable for the maintenance of a person entitled thereto, the court may determine the extent of the liability of each of them, and may make them jointly and severally liable.

The court may order the provision of security for maintenance or the deposit thereof for a period to be determined by it, and may order a person from whom a debt is owed to the person liable to pay the amount of the debt, in whole or in part, directly to the person entitled to maintenance.

The court may, if it considers it just and equitable to do so, exempt a person from the obligation of maintenance, in whole or in part, by reason of disgraceful conduct by the person entitled to maintenance towards that person.

Where a claim for maintenance has been filed, the court may award interim maintenance pending the final determination of the claim.

Where the court has awarded maintenance in respect of a period preceding the date of the judgment, it may order the payment of such maintenance in instalments and at times as it shall determine.

A right to maintenance is not transferable, chargeable, set-off or attachable, except in favour of a person who has provided the person entitled with means of subsistence in the form of services or goods.

The court competent under this Law is the Family Court, subject to the provisions of section 19.

Where a person has been ordered to pay maintenance under a judgment or under an agreement approved by the court in accordance with the provisions of this Law, a deduction shall be allowed to that person, for the purpose of calculating his chargeable income for income tax, in respect of every sum paid by him under the said judgment or agreement, provided that the deduction shall not exceed the rate of deduction prescribed in the Income Tax Ordinance [New Version] in respect of that class of relatives, and provided further that the restrictions of the Income Tax Ordinance [New Version] on the number of dependants in respect of whom a deduction may be claimed shall not apply in such a case.