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Description
Maintenance is the obligation to provide a person, (e.g. a minor child), with shelter, food, clothing, education and medical care, to supply the means that are necessary for providing these essentials. This duty is based on blood relationship, adoption, or the fact that the parties are married to each other.
The maintenance officer will consider the children’s needs and help you to calculate how much maintenance you should pay. Each parent will make a fair contribution in proportion to the income.
Who should pay maintenance?
A child should be supported or maintained by:
- natural or adoptive parents, regardless of whether they are married, living together, separated or divorced or not and
- grandparents, regardless of whether the child's parents were married to each other or not. However, this can vary from one case to another.
The duty to support a child exists in the following cases:
- a child is born:
- in wedlock, both parents have a duty to provide support
- out of wedlock, both parents have a duty to provide support.
- a child whose parents are deceased, the estate must provide support, regardless of whether the parents were married or not
- some grandparents or siblings of the child have a duty to provide support.
The duty to support a family member is not limited to supporting a child. Any person, irrespective of age, can ask support or maintenance from any family member if:
- the family member:
- who is claiming support is unable to maintain themselves
- whom maintenance is claimed and can afford to pay the amount that is claimed.
The court order must state the method of payment that the payer will choose, eg.
- garnishee order: the company that you work for deducts the money directly from your salary
- cash payment: go to the court and pay the money over the counter
- bank account: deposit the money in the bank account of the person who is entitled to it.
Both the payer and the recipient of the maintenance money must always inform the court if their bank account details change, because in such a case a new court order must be issued.
If the maintenance money is not paid on the specific date, action will only be taken against the person who is responsible for payment if the recipient complains to the maintenance officer and makes a statement under oath. In cases of non-payment the maintenance officer at the local magistrate's office should therefore be approached as soon as possible.
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