Wife Maintenance Case in Pakistan — Your Right, Enforced
A husband is legally bound to maintain his wife during marriage — and for the iddat period after divorce. A wife denied maintenance can sue in the Family Court where she resides, obtain interim maintenance at the early hearings, claim past maintenance for periods of neglect, and enforce the decree against the husband's salary and assets — including husbands living abroad. Quantum is fixed on the husband's means and the parties' status, not a fixed formula.
- Attorney of the High Court
- Lahore Bar No. 7712-A
- Interim Orders Early Hearings
- Strictly Confidential
What You Can Claim
- Current maintenance — monthly amount fixed by the court on the husband's means;
- Interim maintenance — fixed early in the case so you are not starved into surrender during litigation;
- Past maintenance — for prior periods of neglect, within limitation;
- Unpaid dower (haq mehr) and dowry articles — claimable in the same proceedings;
- Children's maintenance — filed together (see child maintenance).
Family Courts Act 1964 — jurisdiction (suit lies where the wife resides), interim maintenance powers and enforcement; Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, s.9 — maintenance through the Arbitration Council route; Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, s.2(ii) — non-maintenance as a ground for dissolution.
How a Maintenance Case Proceeds
- Free assessment. We evaluate your entitlement, the husband's means evidence available, and whether to combine dower, dowry and children's claims in one suit.
- Filing where you live. The Family Court of your residence has jurisdiction — you never litigate in his city.
- Interim maintenance. Sought at the earliest hearings; defaults during the case carry consequences for the husband's defence.
- Proving means. Salary records, bank statements, businesses, property and lifestyle evidence — we build the quantum case; a husband pleading poverty against a visible lifestyle rarely convinces the court.
- Decree & execution. Attachment of salary/assets for non-payment; for overseas husbands, execution against Pakistani assets and accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the husband legally bound to maintain me?
How much will the court award?
I live at my parents' home — can I still claim?
What if he refuses to pay after the decree?
My husband is abroad.
Stop Waiting for What the Law Already Owes You
Free confidential consultation — maintenance, dower, dowry and children's claims planned together.
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Content reviewed by Abdur Rehman Sandhu, Attorney of the High Court. Last reviewed: July 2026. General information, not legal advice.