Family Court in Bangladesh: Jurisdiction, Procedure and How to File a Family Suit

Family court procedure Bangladesh law sets in 2026

Family court procedure Bangladesh law prescribes is short on paper and long in practice. The Family Courts Act 2023 gives a specialist court exclusive control of five matrimonial and child-related disputes, charges a flat court fee, sets thirty-day clocks for almost every stage and requires the judge to try reconciliation twice before giving judgment. Yet thousands of suits still run for years, and many are lost not on the merits but on a missed deadline, a document that was never filed or an appeal that the statute does not allow.

This guide is the procedural map. It explains what changed when the 2023 Act replaced the Family Courts Ordinance 1985, which disputes belong in the family court, how the 2026 mandatory pre-case mediation rules now sit in front of the court in thirty districts, and how a family suit moves from plaint to decree, appeal and execution. Where a claim has its own TRW guide, such as dower, maintenance or custody, we link to it and concentrate here on the steps and time limits common to every family suit.

Summary: Family courts in Bangladesh hear suits on dissolution of marriage, restitution of conjugal rights, dower, maintenance, and guardianship and custody of children under section 5 of the Family Courts Act 2023. A suit is filed by plaint with a Tk 200 court fee, passes through a pre-trial reconciliation hearing, evidence and a post-trial reconciliation attempt, and ends in a decree that can be appealed to the Family Appellate Court within thirty days and executed within one year. In thirty districts, mediation at the legal aid office must now come first.

Key point: The Family Courts Act 2023 repealed the Family Courts Ordinance 1985 and saved every pending proceeding, so older suits continue under the new Act. Two features catch litigants out more than any other: there is no appeal against a divorce decree (save on one narrow ground) or a dower decree of Tk 50,000 or less, and a money decree must be put into execution within one year after the payment deadline expires.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

From the 1985 Ordinance to the Family Courts Act 2023

For almost four decades Bangladesh's family courts operated under the Family Courts Ordinance 1985, a military-era instrument. After the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was struck down, the government moved to re-enact such ordinances as Acts of Parliament. The cabinet approved the Family Courts Bill on 3 July 2022, the Law Minister introduced it in Parliament on 7 June 2023, and Parliament passed it by voice vote on 4 September 2023.[2] [3] It became the Family Courts Act 2023 (Act No. 26 of 2023), written in Bangla, with the Bangla text prevailing over any official English translation.[1]

What actually changed

The 2023 Act is a re-enactment with targeted reforms rather than a new system. Commentators noted that most provisions carried over unchanged.[4] The changes that matter in practice are these:

• A dedicated appellate tier: the government may establish Family Appellate Courts, each presided over by a judge of District Judge rank, and until it does the District Judge's court acts as the appellate court.[1] The stated aim was to relieve District Judges, who had been the only appellate authority.[3]
• A higher but still nominal fee: the court fee on a plaint rose to Tk 200.[1] [2]
• Electronic service: summons may now be served by email where the court is satisfied the address is correct.[1]
• Overriding effect: the Act prevails over any other law in force.[1]

Pending cases under the old Ordinance

Section 30 repealed the 1985 Ordinance but provides that anything done and any proceeding pending under it is treated as done or continuing under the 2023 Act, and that rules made under the Ordinance remain valid so far as consistent.[1] A family suit filed in 2019 therefore continues to judgment and appeal under the new statute, including its appellate structure. Case law decided under the Ordinance remains a reliable guide wherever the text is materially the same, which is most of it.

Who family courts serve: religion, territory and the Hill Districts

Family court procedure Bangladesh courts apply is not confined to Muslim families. Under the 1985 Ordinance, a special bench of the High Court Division held in Pochon Rikssi Das v Khuku Rani Dasi, 50 DLR (HCD) 47, that the family courts' jurisdiction extends to citizens of all faiths.[5] The 2023 Act's jurisdiction section is framed in the same subject-matter terms, so a Hindu wife's maintenance suit or a Christian parent's custody claim is brought in the family court. What changes by religion is the substantive law the court applies, not the forum or the procedure.

That distinction has sharp consequences. A Muslim wife can seek dissolution on the statutory grounds in the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939.[6] A Hindu wife has no general statutory right to divorce in Bangladesh, so her family suit is usually for maintenance, separate residence or custody. Christian divorce follows the Divorce Act 1869 and its own forum. Our guide to the divorce procedure in Bangladesh sets out each community's route.

Territorial reach

The Act extends to the whole of Bangladesh except the Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari Hill Districts.[1] A party with a family dispute in those districts should take local advice on the applicable forum before filing.

How family courts are constituted

The government establishes one or more family courts in each district by gazette notification, each presided over by a judge of Assistant Judge or Senior Assistant Judge rank. Until a separate family court is notified, the existing Assistant Judge or Senior Assistant Judge court acts as the family court.[1] That is why a family suit in Chattogram may be titled before the "Senior Assistant Judge, First Court and Family Court": the same judicial officer sits in both capacities.[11]

The five matters triable in a family court

Section 5 of the Family Courts Act 2023 gives the family court exclusive jurisdiction, subject to the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, to entertain, try and dispose of suits relating to or arising out of five matters.[1] Each has its own substantive law and its own TRW guide; the procedure below applies to all five.

1. Dissolution of marriage

Most dissolution suits are brought by Muslim wives under the 1939 Act, on grounds ranging from failure to maintain for two years and the husband's taking another wife in breach of the 1961 Ordinance, to cruelty in its several statutory forms.[6]

A decree does not end the marriage on the day it is pronounced. The court must send a certified copy to the chairman of the Union Parishad by registered post within seven days, the chairman proceeds as if he had received a notice of talaq, and the dissolution takes effect only ninety days after the chairman receives the copy. If the spouses reconcile under the Muslim Family Laws within that period, the decree is of no effect.[1] Contested and consensual routes are explained in our guides to Muslim divorce procedure and mutual divorce in Bangladesh.

2. Restitution of conjugal rights

A suit for restitution asks the court to direct a spouse who has withdrawn from cohabitation to return. It is now rare as a standalone remedy and is more often met as a husband's counter-move to a wife's maintenance or dissolution claim. Who may sue remains contested: in Nelly Zaman v Giasuddin Ahmed (1991) the High Court Division treated a husband-only remedy as inconsistent with constitutional equality, but commentators note that the courts have not reached consensus.[4]

3. Dower

Claims for prompt or deferred dower (den mohor) are family court suits, not civil suits. Limitation, kabinnama evidence and the 2026 High Court rule on deferred dower are covered in our guide to dower recovery in Bangladesh.

4. Maintenance

Maintenance for a wife and children, including arrears and periodic increases, is the most common family suit. The High Court Division routinely reviews the annual increase fixed below: in a 2025 Chattogram revision it reduced a child-maintenance escalation from 15 to 10 per cent a year while upholding arrears of dower and maintenance.[11] Forum choice, interim maintenance and NRB husbands are covered in our guide to the maintenance case in Bangladesh.

5. Guardianship and custody of children

For the purposes of the Guardians and Wards Act 1890 the family court is deemed to be a District Court, and its orders under that Act are appealable to the Family Appellate Court on the same terms as other appeals.[1] Custody is decided on the child's welfare, and cross-border cases are heard here too: in January 2023 a Dhaka family court awarded custody of two daughters to their Japanese mother and allowed her to take them to Japan, after interim directions from the High Court Division and the Appellate Division.[12] See our guide to child custody and guardianship in Bangladesh.

What a family court cannot hear

Section 5 does not extend to the formation of marriage as distinct from its dissolution, nor to inheritance, wills, hiba (gifts) or adoption, and parents' maintenance remains with the magistrates' courts under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013.[4] A suit that mixes a family claim with, say, a declaration of title to the matrimonial home must be split between the right forums, and a family claim filed as a civil suit risks being returned or dismissed.

Before you file: mandatory pre-case mediation in 2026

The single largest change to family court procedure Bangladesh has seen since 2023 does not appear in the Family Courts Act at all. Section 21B of the Legal Aid Services Act 2000, inserted by the Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026 (Act No. 45 of 2026), requires a party to a scheduled dispute first to apply to the legal aid office for mediation; a case may be filed only if mediation fails, and the person filing must submit a report in the prescribed form to the court.[7] Suits under section 5 of the Family Courts Act 2023 are scheduled disputes.[14]

Where it applies

By S.R.O. No. 288-Law/2026 of 30 July 2026, section 21B took effect from 31 July 2026 in thirty districts: Faridpur, Mymensingh, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Satkhira, Kushtia, Cumilla, Noakhali, Rangamati, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Munshiganj, Chapainawabganj, Joypurhat, Kurigram, Narsingdi, Jhenaidah, Magura, Lakshmipur, Bogura, Thakurgaon, Patuakhali, Bhola, Natore, Jashore, Shariatpur, Cox's Bazar, Panchagarh and Tangail.[7] Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur and Narayanganj are not on that list, so in those districts a family suit can still be filed directly, with the family court's own reconciliation stages doing the settlement work. Check the current notification before filing anywhere, because coverage is expanding in phases.

How the mediation interacts with the suit

Three rules matter to anyone who later goes to court. The time spent in mediation is excluded when computing limitation.[7] A mediation agreement signed by the parties and the mediator and certified by the Chief Legal Aid Officer is final and binding and is treated as a decree or final order executable by the competent court.[13] And mediation must, under the rules issued in September 2025, be concluded within twenty-one working days.[14]

Early results

In the first two months, from 18 September to 18 November 2025, 2,656 of the 5,916 applications in the original twelve districts concerned section 5 family disputes, and 51 per cent of all applications were settled.[14] Comparing February to May 2026 with the same months of 2025, the Law Minister, Md Asaduzzaman, reported that family court filings in the pilot districts fell from 3,559 to 1,744.[8] For the practical side of preparing for a session, see our guides to legal aid in Bangladesh and mediation in Bangladesh.

Where to file a family suit

Section 6 offers the plaintiff a choice of court. A family suit may be filed in the family court within whose local limits the cause of action arose wholly or in part, or where the parties reside or last resided together. In suits for dissolution of marriage, dower or maintenance, the court within whose limits the wife ordinarily resides also has jurisdiction.[1] The wife's-residence rule is deliberate: a woman who has returned to her parents' district need not litigate in the husband's.

The wife's-residence option does not extend to restitution or custody suits, which must rely on the cause-of-action or residence limbs. Where a district has several family courts, the government fixes their local jurisdiction, so in Dhaka the correct court within the judgeship also has to be identified.[1] A plaint filed in the wrong court is not dismissed; it is returned with an endorsement for presentation to the proper court, but the time lost can be considerable.[1]

Filing a family suit step by step

Filing a family suit is a document exercise before it is an advocacy exercise. The Act front-loads disclosure: what is not filed or listed with the plaint may never be used. The sequence below reflects family court procedure Bangladesh practitioners follow for a typical suit.

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The plaint under family court procedure Bangladesh rules

The plaint must contain all material facts, the name of the court, the name, description and address of each party, details of any minor or incapacitated party, the facts constituting the cause of action with its date and place, the facts showing the court's jurisdiction and the relief claimed. A schedule listing the plaintiff's witnesses and their addresses is annexed.[1]

Documents, copies and fees

Documents in the plaintiff's possession on which she relies must be filed with the plaint and listed; where a document is held by someone else, the list must say who holds it. Copies of the plaint equal to twice the number of defendants must be filed for service. A document neither filed nor listed cannot be received in evidence without the court's permission, which is granted only in exceptional cases.[1]

The court fee for any plaint under the Act is Tk 200, irrespective of the sum claimed.[1] The plaintiff must also pay the costs of summons and the registered-post notice at filing. A plaint is liable to be rejected if the copies, the process costs or the court fee are not supplied.[1]

A woman who observes purdah, or a person with a physical disability, may appear through a duly authorised representative.[1]

Summons, service and the written statement

On admission of the plaint the court fixes a date for the defendant's appearance not more than thirty days ahead. Summons are served under the Code of Civil Procedure rules the Act incorporates, together with a notice by registered post with acknowledgement due. At the plaintiff's cost, the court may also serve the defendant by email and, if satisfied that the address is correct, treat that as due service.[1]

Registered-post service is deemed complete if the acknowledgement is signed or the postal employee certifies a refusal. If the acknowledgement is lost or not returned, service is deemed complete thirty days after posting.[1] Against a defendant abroad, email plus registered post to the last known address is now the practical approach.

The written statement

The defendant files a written statement on the appearance date, with a further period of up to twenty-one days available for good cause. It must list the defendant's witnesses and documents, be accompanied by copies equal to twice the number of plaintiffs, and be served on the plaintiff. The same rule against late documents applies.[1] Either side may be allowed to amend its pleading at any stage, unless the application is designed to delay the trial.[1]

Pre-trial hearing and the first reconciliation

The pre-trial hearing is the procedural centre of a family suit. Within not more than thirty days after the written statement is filed, the court fixes a pre-trial hearing at which it examines the plaint, the written statement and the documents, ascertains the points of dispute, attempts a compromise or reconciliation, and frames the issues. If no compromise is reached, it fixes a date for the evidence, again within not more than thirty days.[1]

Clients often treat this as a formality. It is not: a party who arrives without a clear position on dower, maintenance, custody and contact is at a disadvantage against one who brings a costed proposal. Where settlement is achieved, the court disposes of the suit by a decree on the compromise terms.[1] The drafting deserves the same care as a contract: fixed sums, due dates, instalments, a default clause and, for children, a specific contact schedule.

Trial: evidence, privacy and the court's powers

Family court procedure Bangladesh law adopts at trial is deliberately lighter than an ordinary civil suit. Unless the Act or its rules provide otherwise, neither the Evidence Act 1872 nor the Code of Civil Procedure applies, except sections 10 and 11 of the Code on res sub judice and res judicata; the Oaths Act 1873 does apply.[1] Flexibility is no substitute for a complete file.

Witnesses and documents

Witnesses are examined on the date fixed. A witness summons issues only if the party applies within three days of the framing of issues and the court is satisfied the witness cannot otherwise be produced.[1] Witnesses testify in their own language and may be cross-examined and re-examined. The court may disallow offensive, defamatory, trivial or harassing questions, may itself question any witness, and may accept evidence on affidavit while retaining the power to call the deponent.[1] The court can also summon any person to give evidence or produce documents, which is how employers' salary records and bank statements are brought before it.[1]

Hearings in camera

The court may hold all or part of the proceedings in camera, and must do so if both parties ask.[1] Where allegations of cruelty, infidelity or a child's welfare are in issue, a joint request is usually in everyone's interest.

Post-trial reconciliation, judgment and decree

When the evidence closes, the court must again attempt a compromise or reconciliation. Only if that fails does it pronounce judgment. The parties or their representatives are given notice of the judgment on delivery or within not more than seven days, and a decree follows.[1] The second attempt is often more productive than the first, because each side has now seen the other's evidence and can price its risk on appeal.

The judgment must be written in the language of the court and signed and dated by the judge in open court; in any appealable order it must state the points for decision, the decision and the reasons.[1] The decree is drawn up in the prescribed form and entered in a decree register, in which every payment and transfer under it is recorded.[1] Keep certified copies of both: the appeal clock and the execution clock start from them.

Default, ex parte decrees and restoration

Non-appearance has defined consequences. If neither party appears, the suit may be dismissed. If the plaintiff appears and the defendant does not, the court may proceed ex parte once service is proved, or issue fresh summons if it is not. If the defendant appears and the plaintiff does not, the suit is dismissed unless the defendant admits all or part of the claim, in which case a decree is passed on the admission.[1]

A plaintiff may apply to restore a suit dismissed for default within thirty days, and a defendant may apply to set aside an ex parte decree within thirty days, in each case showing sufficient cause. Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1908 applies, so a short delay can be condoned for good reason.[1] A defendant who learns of an ex parte decree only at execution should move immediately and explain the gap with evidence, not assertion.

Interim orders, transfer and stay

A family suit can take long enough to defeat its own purpose, which is why section 21 allows the family court or the Family Appellate Court, if satisfied by affidavit or otherwise that immediate action is needed to stop a party frustrating the suit or appeal, to make any interim order it considers appropriate.[1] This is the basis for interim maintenance, interim custody and contact arrangements and orders preserving a child's passport or the status quo.

The High Court Division may transfer a suit from one family court to another, or an appeal between Family Appellate Courts, and may stay any suit or appeal; the Family Appellate Court has parallel powers within its own territory. A transferred matter continues from where it stood unless the transferee judge directs otherwise in writing.[1]

Appeals from family court decisions

Under family court procedure Bangladesh law, an appeal against a judgment, decree or order of a family court lies to the Family Appellate Court. It must be filed within thirty days of the judgment or order, excluding the time taken to obtain copies, and the appellate court may extend the period for sufficient cause. The memorandum must be in writing, state the grounds and attach a certified copy of the decision appealed against.[1]

Decrees that cannot be appealed

Two bars carry over from the 1985 Ordinance. No appeal lies against a decree for dissolution of marriage, other than one granted on the ground in section 2(viii)(d) of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, namely that the husband disposed of the wife's property or prevented her from exercising her legal rights over it. Nor does an appeal lie against a decree for dower of Tk 50,000 or less.[1] [6] In those cases the trial is the only full hearing on the facts, and the evidence must be complete first time.

Who hears the appeal

Until a separate Family Appellate Court is notified, the District Judge's court acts as the appellate court, and the District Judge may transfer appeals to Additional or Joint District Judges and withdraw them.[1] That is why, in practice, a family appeal may be heard by an Additional District Judge sitting in another designation: in the 2025 Chattogram revision noted above, the appeal had been decided by the Additional District Judge of the Court of Bankruptcy.[11] The appellate decision is sent back to the family court, which amends its decree and register accordingly.[1]

Revision in the High Court Division

The Act provides no second appeal. A party aggrieved by the appellate decision commonly seeks a Rule in civil revision under section 115(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, and the High Court Division hears such revisions in family matters, generally declining to disturb concurrent findings of fact but correcting errors such as an unreasonable maintenance escalation.[11] A stay of execution in revision is discretionary, and a decree-holder should press for a deposit of the decretal amount as a condition of any stay. For appellate practice generally, see our guide to the civil appeal in Bangladesh.

Execution of family court decrees

A family court decree only matters if it is paid, and family court procedure Bangladesh law gives it a dedicated execution regime in section 17. If a money decree, for dower or maintenance for example, is not paid within the time the court fixed, the decree-holder may apply for execution within one year after that time expires, choosing between two routes.[1]

• As a civil money decree: the family court has all the powers of a civil court for execution under the Code of Civil Procedure, including attachment and sale of property.[1]
• As a fine: the sum is recovered as if it were a fine under the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the judge deemed a Magistrate of the first class who may issue a warrant and order imprisonment of up to three months or until payment, whichever is earlier.[1]

Non-money decrees, such as custody orders, are executed like non-money civil decrees. The court may order payment in instalments and fix their number, and a decree may be transferred to another family court for execution where the judgment-debtor or his property is elsewhere.[1] The one-year limit is much shorter than the general period for executing civil decrees, and missing it is one of the costliest errors in family litigation. Our guide to the execution case in Bangladesh covers attachment and sale in detail.

How long a family suit takes: the statutory clock and reality

On the statutory timetable alone, a straightforward family suit could reach judgment within about four to six months of filing. The table below gathers the time limits that drive family court procedure Bangladesh courts enforce. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

Reality is slower. Reporting in January 2025, drawing on Supreme Court and ministry data, put pending cases in at least seventy family courts nationwide at 72,082, with Dhaka's three family courts carrying the largest share at 9,611 and 4,198 cases nationally pending for more than five years.[9] Delay comes from adjournments, defendants evading service, transfer applications and the fact that the presiding judge often carries a civil docket as well.

Custody delay has drawn particular judicial criticism. In November 2021, hearing a writ by a mother whose custody suit had been pending in a Dhaka family court for two to three years, the High Court Division directed that child custody cases be disposed of within six months and ordered that the directive be communicated to the family courts.[10] Counsel should cite that direction when resisting adjournments in custody matters.

Choosing a family court lawyer in Dhaka

Because Dhaka is outside the thirty districts notified for mandatory pre-case mediation, a Dhaka family suit goes straight to the family court, and the quality of the first filing decides much of what follows.[7] Dhaka's family courts sit within the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge Court buildings, with several Additional Assistant Judge courts designated as family courts.[9] What distinguishes effective family court representation is less advocacy at trial than discipline before it.

• Forum and joinder: choosing the court the wife's residence rule permits, and pleading dower, maintenance and child claims together.
• Document capture: filing or listing every kabinnama, birth record, salary slip and bank statement with the plaint, because late documents are admitted only exceptionally.
• Reconciliation planning: arriving at the pre-trial hearing with a costed settlement position and a draft compromise.
• Calendar control: diarising the thirty-day appeal window and the one-year execution window the day judgment is delivered.
• Cross-border awareness: anticipating recognition of Bangladeshi decrees abroad, or of foreign divorces here, which is the focus of our cross-border family matters practice.

Ask any prospective lawyer how many family suits they have taken through execution, not just to judgment, and agree fees in writing by stage: the court fee is trivial, and the real cost is the number of hearings.

Family court procedure Bangladesh mistakes to avoid

• Skipping mediation in a notified district: filing without the legal aid office's report invites rejection and wastes weeks.[7]
• Holding documents back: anything not filed or listed with the pleading may never be admitted.[1]
• Ignoring the appeal bars: a divorce decree and a dower decree of up to Tk 50,000 cannot ordinarily be appealed, so the trial must be fought fully.[1]
• Treating the ninety days as a formality: a dissolution decree takes effect only ninety days after the Union Parishad chairman receives it, and remarriage before then is unsafe.[1]
• Letting execution lapse: the one-year execution window after the payment deadline is strict.[1]

What to watch in 2026 and beyond

Three developments will shape family court procedure Bangladesh litigants face over the next year. First, mandatory pre-case mediation will spread: the government has extended section 21B district by district, and Dhaka and the other large metropolitan judgeships are the obvious next candidates.[7] [8]

Second, the Law Minister has tied the mediation programme to a broader drive against a backlog of about 4.5 million pending cases.[8] Expect pressure on family courts to dispose of the older suits that mediation does not reach. Third, the reform agenda around the 2023 Act remains open: commentators have called for appellate-stage ADR, clearer rules on post-divorce maintenance and restitution, and a decision on whether parents' maintenance should move into the family court.[4]

TRW acts for spouses, parents and families in Dhaka and across Bangladesh, and for clients abroad, in family suits, appeals, execution and mediated settlements. Explore our Islamic family law practice and family mediation and settlement practice, or contact TRW to discuss your matter.

Frequently asked questions

What law governs family courts in Bangladesh?

Family court procedure Bangladesh courts follow is set by the Family Courts Act 2023 (Act No. 26 of 2023), which repealed the Family Courts Ordinance 1985 and saved proceedings pending under it.[1]

Which cases can a family court hear?

Suits relating to dissolution of marriage, restitution of conjugal rights, dower, maintenance, and guardianship and custody of children, under section 5 of the Act.[1]

Do family courts hear cases between Hindu or Christian spouses?

Yes. The High Court Division held in Pochon Rikssi Das v Khuku Rani Dasi that family court jurisdiction extends to citizens of all faiths. The court applies each community's own substantive law.[5]

What is the court fee for a family suit?

Tk 200 on the plaint, regardless of the amount claimed, plus the costs of serving summons and notices.[1]

Where should I file a family suit?

Where the cause of action arose, or where the parties live or last lived together. For dissolution, dower and maintenance, the wife may also sue where she ordinarily resides.[1]

Is mediation compulsory before filing in the family court?

In the thirty districts notified under S.R.O. No. 288-Law/2026, yes: the dispute must first go to the legal aid office. Dhaka was not among them at the time of writing.[7]

How many times does the family court try reconciliation?

At least twice: at the pre-trial hearing after the written statement, and again after the evidence closes and before judgment.[1]

How long do I have to appeal a family court decision?

Thirty days from the judgment or order, excluding time spent obtaining copies, to the Family Appellate Court, which may extend time for sufficient cause.[1]

Can I appeal a divorce decree from the family court?

Generally no. An appeal lies only where dissolution was granted on the ground in section 2(viii)(d) of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939. Dower decrees of Tk 50,000 or less are also not appealable.[1]

How is a family court decree enforced?

Within one year after the payment deadline, either as a civil money decree or as if it were a fine, with possible imprisonment of up to three months or until payment.[1]