Maintenance Case in Bangladesh: How to Claim for a Wife and Children in 2026

Maintenance case Bangladesh law allows in 2026: who can claim, where and how

A maintenance case Bangladesh courts hear is the legal route by which a wife, a child or an elderly parent forces the person who is legally responsible for their support to pay it. The obligation itself is ancient and comes largely from personal law, but the machinery for enforcing it changed significantly between 2023 and 2026. Family courts now operate under the Family Courts Act 2023, the old magistrate's remedy under section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has gone, and in thirty districts most family claims must pass through compulsory mediation at the district legal aid office before any suit can be filed.

This guide explains who can claim, how much and for how long under Muslim, Hindu and Christian law: maintenance versus dower and "alimony", iddat maintenance, child maintenance, family court procedure, evidence, interim maintenance, mandatory mediation, enforcement, claims against NRB husbands and parents' rights under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013.

Summary: In Bangladesh a husband must maintain his wife during the marriage and through the iddat period after a talaq, and a father must maintain his children: in decided cases, a son until majority and a daughter until marriage. Claims are brought in the family court under the Family Courts Act 2023 for a fixed court fee of Tk 200, after compulsory legal aid mediation in notified districts. Unpaid decrees can be executed as civil money decrees or through warrants and up to three months' imprisonment.

Key point: Section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which many guides still recommend, was omitted with effect from 1 November 2007. A wife or child seeking maintenance today should go to the family court, or to the Arbitration Council under section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, and in a notified district must first apply for mediation at the district legal aid office.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

Maintenance case Bangladesh basics: what the law covers in 2026

Maintenance, called khorposh or bhoron-poshon in Bangla, means the money needed for food, clothing, shelter, medical care and, for children, education. Bangladesh has no single maintenance statute. The duty to pay comes from the personal law of the parties, and statute supplies the forum and the enforcement tools. That is why the first question in any maintenance case Bangladesh courts hear is not "how much?" but "under which law?".

The family court is the centre of gravity. Section 5 of the Family Courts Act 2023 gives it exclusive jurisdiction to entertain, try and dispose of suits relating to, or arising out of, dissolution of marriage, restitution of conjugal rights, dower, maintenance, and guardianship and custody of children.[1] Maintenance is therefore a family court matter whether the claimant is a wife, a divorced wife or a child, and a single suit can combine all of them.

Maintenance, dower and "alimony" distinguished

Three ideas are often blurred. Dower (mohr or denmohor) is a debt the Muslim husband owes his wife because of the marriage itself, fixed in the kabinnama and payable whether or not the marriage survives. Maintenance is a continuing obligation to support a dependant, measured by need and means. Alimony is a term from Christian and Western matrimonial law; in Bangladesh it has statutory meaning only under the Divorce Act 1869, which provides for alimony pending a suit and permanent alimony after a decree.[6]

Searches for alimony laws or spousal support in Bangladesh usually mean one of three things: maintenance during the marriage, iddat maintenance after talaq, or a lump sum on divorce. Muslim law in Bangladesh recognises the first two but not the third, so a divorced Muslim wife must claim dower, arrears, iddat maintenance and child maintenance carefully.

Which law applies to whom

Muslim spouses are governed by Muslim personal law as modified by the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961. Hindu wives have a statutory right to separate residence and maintenance under the Hindu Married Women's Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act 1946.[5] Christian spouses use the Divorce Act 1869.[6] Parents claim against their adult children under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013, a criminal-complaint regime heard by a magistrate rather than the family court.[4] Whatever the religion, the family court is the forum for spousal and child maintenance.[11]

Spousal support for a Muslim wife during the marriage

Under Muslim law a husband must maintain his wife from the time the marriage is in force, regardless of her own wealth. It does not depend on the wife living under his roof if she has a lawful reason for living apart, such as cruelty or non-payment of prompt dower, and a husband who drives his wife out cannot rely on her absence to avoid payment.

The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 remedy

Section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 adds a statutory remedy on top of the general law. If a husband fails to maintain his wife adequately, or, where he has more than one wife, fails to maintain them equitably, the wife may, in addition to any other legal remedy, apply to the Chairman, who constitutes an Arbitration Council. The council may issue a certificate specifying the amount the husband must pay. Either spouse may seek revision of the certificate before the Assistant Judge, whose decision is final, and any unpaid amount is recoverable as arrears of land revenue.[2]

The section 9 route is quick and local, and the "equitably" requirement helps a co-wife. Most contested claims still go to the family court, which can decide every head of claim in one decree.

Past maintenance and arrears

A wife who has not been maintained can claim arrears for the period of neglect, not only future support. Family court decrees routinely award a lump sum for past maintenance alongside a monthly rate going forward. In one Chattogram case decided by the High Court Division in November 2025, the trial court had awarded arrears of Tk 1,40,000 for the wife and separate arrears for each of three children, with monthly maintenance thereafter.[14] The earlier the claim is filed, the easier the period of neglect is to prove.

Iddat maintenance after talaq

When a Muslim marriage ends by talaq, the wife is entitled to maintenance for the iddat period. Under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 a husband who pronounces talaq must give written notice to the Chairman and a copy to the wife; the talaq does not take effect until ninety days after the notice reaches the Chairman, and if the wife is pregnant it does not take effect until the later of that period or the end of the pregnancy.[2] Until then she remains a wife, and her right to ordinary maintenance continues.

Can a divorced wife claim beyond iddat?

No, under current Bangladesh law. In Md Hefzur Rahman v Shamsun Nahar Begum, the High Court Division relied on verse 241 of Surah al-Baqarah to hold that a husband who divorces his wife must maintain her on a reasonable scale beyond the iddat period. In 1998 the Appellate Division set that judgment aside, holding that the verse had been read in isolation and describing an indefinite burden of that kind as plainly inhuman, unjust, inequitable and unfair.[10] The Appellate Division's ruling binds every court below it.

The practical consequence is that a divorced Muslim wife cannot obtain open-ended spousal support. What she can recover is unpaid dower in full, arrears of maintenance up to the date the talaq became effective, iddat maintenance and her children's maintenance. In a Bagerhat case that reached the High Court Division in 2025, for example, the family court had awarded the former wife unpaid dower of Tk 15,001 and Tk 3,000 for the iddat period, while the children received monthly maintenance until the daughter's marriage and the son's majority.[13]

Divorce pleaded during the case

A talaq pronounced after the suit is filed ends ordinary maintenance once effective, but not accrued arrears or the children's claim. The wife should amend the plaint to add iddat maintenance and the deferred dower. Our guide to Muslim divorce and family law in Bangladesh explains the talaq and khula procedures in detail.

Child maintenance and child support laws in Bangladesh

The father's duty to maintain his children is independent of the marriage. It survives divorce, does not depend on who has custody, and cannot be bargained away by the mother. Child maintenance is usually claimed in the same suit as the mother's claim, with each child named as a plaintiff represented by the mother as next friend.

How long child maintenance lasts

Family court decrees in Muslim cases generally order maintenance for a son until he attains majority and for a daughter until her marriage. The Bagerhat decree mentioned above did exactly that, and in execution the court fixed the son's date of majority by preferring his Junior School Certificate over a conflicting birth certificate, ordering the father to pay outstanding dues of Tk 6,54,651.[13] The date of birth is therefore a live evidential issue: keep the earliest and most reliable record.

How quantum is assessed

There is no statutory formula in a child maintenance case Bangladesh courts decide. They weigh the father's income and standard of living against the child's actual needs: school fees, tutoring, transport, medical costs and housing. Decrees commonly include an automatic annual increase. The High Court Division has been willing to trim increases it considers excessive: in a November 2025 judgment it reduced an annual uplift on children's maintenance to 10 per cent, after the appellate court had already cut the trial court's 30 per cent to 15 per cent.[14]

Custody offers do not cancel a decree

A father facing a maintenance decree sometimes offers to take the children into his own custody so that he can maintain them "directly". The High Court Division rejected that tactic in 2025, holding that a final decree imposing a family obligation cannot be nullified by a later unilateral offer to resume custody, especially where the mother has been maintaining the children throughout. The same judgment held that compound interest awarded in the original decree could not be reopened at the execution stage.[13] Custody itself is decided on the welfare of the child under the Guardians and Wards Act 1890, for which the family court is treated as the District Court.[1] See our guide to child custody and guardianship in Bangladesh.

Choosing the right forum for a maintenance claim

Several routes exist, and choosing the wrong one wastes months.

The family court under the Family Courts Act 2023

The Family Courts Act 2023 (Act No. 26 of 2023), dated 18 September 2023, repealed and re-enacted the Family Courts Ordinance 1985. Proceedings pending under the 1985 Ordinance continue as if it had not been repealed.[1] Each family court consists of a single Assistant Judge or Senior Assistant Judge, and until a separate family court is established the local Assistant Judge's or Senior Assistant Judge's court acts as one. The Act applies throughout Bangladesh except the Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari hill districts.[1] As at October 2026 the official statute book records no amendment to the 2023 Act, whether by the 2025 ordinances or by Parliament in 2026, so references to a "Family Courts Act 2025" should be treated with caution.

The end of section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure

For decades a wife or child could apply to a magistrate for a monthly allowance under section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Sections 488, 489 and 490 were omitted by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2009, with effect from 1 November 2007.[3] Anyone advised today to file a section 488 application should take a second opinion.

Parents are different

Claims by parents against their children do not go to the family court. They are criminal complaints under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013, tried by a Judicial Magistrate of the first class or a Metropolitan Magistrate, and they are discussed separately below.[4]

Mandatory mediation before filing a maintenance suit

The biggest procedural change of the last two years is that, in many districts, a wife or child can no longer go straight to the family court. Section 21B of the Legal Aid Services Act 2000, inserted by the Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026 (Act No. 45 of 2026), provides that for disputes listed in the schedule the aggrieved party must first apply to the legal aid office for mediation, and may file a suit only if mediation fails.[7]

Which family disputes are covered

The schedule covers disputes under section 5 of the Family Courts Act 2023, together with partition, pre-emption, non-agricultural tenancy, dowry and parents' maintenance cases.[9] Because maintenance is one of the section 5 matters, alongside dower, restitution of conjugal rights and custody, in a notified district every maintenance case Bangladesh family courts would otherwise hear must start at the legal aid office.[1]

Where it applies

By S.R.O. No. 288 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 the list, so a wife there may still file directly. Coverage is expanding, so check the latest notification before filing.

What mediation achieves and what it protects

A mediation agreement signed by the parties and the mediator and certified by the Chief Legal Aid Officer is final, enforceable and binding, is treated as a decree or final order of a court, and can be executed through the court with jurisdiction.[8] If mediation fails, the claimant must file the prescribed mediation report with the plaint, and the time spent in mediation is excluded when calculating limitation.[7] When the Law Minister, Md Asaduzzaman, extended the scheme to ten more districts on 21 July 2026, he reported that family court filings in the pilot districts fell from 3,559 to 1,744 between February and May compared with the previous year.[9]

Where there has been violence, ask for separate sessions. Insist that any agreement states the monthly amount, due date, mode of payment, annual increases and default consequences; child maintenance terms must outlast the parents' dispute. Our guides to legal aid in Bangladesh and mediation in Bangladesh explain the process and who qualifies for free representation.

Maintenance case Bangladesh procedure under the Family Courts Act 2023

Family court procedure is deliberately simpler and faster than an ordinary civil suit.

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Where to file

A suit is 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. For dissolution, dower and maintenance there is an important extra option: the court where the wife ordinarily resides also has jurisdiction.[1] A wife who has returned to her parents' home in another district can sue there rather than travelling to the husband's district.

The plaint, documents and court fee

The plaint must set out all essential facts, the parties' names and addresses, the facts giving the court jurisdiction and the relief claimed, with a schedule naming the witnesses the plaintiff intends to call. Documents relied on that are in the plaintiff's possession must be produced with the plaint, and copies of the plaint must be filed in twice the number of defendants. A document that should have been filed but was not cannot be used at the hearing without the court's permission, which is granted only in exceptional cases.[1] The court fee is a flat Tk 200, regardless of the amount claimed, and failure to pay it, or the process fees, means the plaint is rejected.[1]

Summons and service

The court fixes a date for the defendant's appearance, ordinarily within thirty days, and issues a summons together with notice by registered post with acknowledgement due. At the plaintiff's cost, the court may also serve the summons on the defendant's email address; if the court is satisfied that the address is correct, email service counts as due service.[1] This matters greatly where the husband lives abroad.

Written statement, pre-trial hearing and trial

The defendant files a written statement on the appearance date, with a further period of up to twenty-one days available for good cause. Within thirty days after the written statement, the court holds a pre-trial hearing, identifies the points in dispute and attempts a compromise. If none is reached it frames issues and fixes a date for evidence within thirty days. After the evidence the court tries reconciliation again, and if that fails it pronounces judgment and passes a decree.[1] A compromise at either stage is recorded as a compromise decree.[1] Proceedings may be held in camera, and must be if both parties ask.[1]

Default and ex parte decrees

If the defendant does not appear despite due service, the court may proceed ex parte. A defendant against whom an ex parte decree is passed may apply within thirty days to set it aside by showing sufficient cause, and section 5 of the Limitation Act 1908 applies to that application.[1] A plaintiff whose suit is dismissed for default has the same thirty-day window to seek restoration.

Appeals

An appeal against a family court judgment, decree or order lies to the Family Appellate Court, a court of District Judge rank, within thirty days excluding the time needed to obtain copies; the appellate court may extend the period for good cause. No appeal lies against a dower decree of up to Tk 50,000, but that bar does not apply to maintenance decrees.[1] Further challenge is by civil revision in the High Court Division, which typically grants a stay only on condition that the husband deposits part of the decretal amount.

Evidence that decides maintenance claims

Most claims turn on three questions: was there a valid marriage, did the husband fail to maintain, and what can he afford? The Evidence Act 1872 and most of the Code of Civil Procedure do not apply in the family court, apart from sections 10 and 11 of the Code, though the Oaths Act 1873 does.[1] That flexibility helps unrepresented wives, but it is no substitute for a well-prepared file.

Proving the marriage and the children

For Muslim spouses the registered kabinnama is the primary document, and it also proves the dower. For Hindu spouses, a registration certificate, photographs and ceremony witnesses serve the same purpose. For each child, bring birth registration and school records; an inconsistent date of birth can shift the end date of maintenance.[13]

Proving the husband's means

Husbands routinely understate their income. Useful evidence includes salary certificates, tax returns, trade licences, bank statements, land records and, for husbands abroad, remittance records. The court can summon any person to give evidence or produce documents, which allows employers and banks to be compelled.[1]

Proving the need

Keep receipts for school fees, rent and medical treatment. Courts fixing child maintenance in Dhaka have taken express account of market prices, accommodation and educational costs at reputed institutions.[12]

Interim maintenance while the case is pending

A maintenance suit can take months or years, and the family needs money now, which is what interim maintenance is for. Section 21 of the Family Courts Act 2023 allows the family court or the Family Appellate Court, if satisfied by affidavit or otherwise that immediate action is needed to prevent a party from defeating the purpose of the suit or appeal, to make any interim order it considers appropriate.[1]

The High Court Division has confirmed that interim maintenance, although unusual, may be fixed in an appropriate case. In an April 2024 judgment it restored a Dhaka family court's order of Tk 15,000 a month for two children studying at a reputed institution, reasoning that without interim maintenance the minors' future careers would be prejudiced, and directed the family court to decide the final amount on evidence within six months.[12] An application for interim maintenance should be supported by an affidavit setting out the children's expenses and the husband's known income, and filed with or immediately after the plaint.

Interim orders are not limited to interim maintenance. Because section 21 is framed broadly, a wife can also ask the court to restrain the husband from evicting her and the children from the matrimonial home or disposing of assets while the case proceeds, which can be as valuable as a cash award. For the separate question of financial claims on divorce more generally, see our guide to the divorce procedure in Bangladesh.

Enforcement of a maintenance decree

In a maintenance case Bangladesh decrees are only as good as their enforcement. Section 17 of the Family Courts Act 2023 gives the family court two routes for a money decree that is not paid within the time it fixes. On the decree-holder's application, made within one year after that time expires, the decree is executed either as a money decree of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure or as if it were an order of a magistrate for payment of a fine under the Code of Criminal Procedure.[1]

The civil route

For the first route the family court is treated as a civil court with all its execution powers, including attachment and sale of property and attachment of bank accounts and salary. The decree can also be transferred to another family court for execution, for instance where the husband's property is in a different district.[1]

The fine route and imprisonment

For the second route the family court judge is treated as a first-class magistrate. The judge may issue a warrant to levy the arrears in the way a fine is recovered and, after issuing the warrant, may sentence the judgment-debtor to imprisonment for the whole or any part of the unpaid amount for up to three months or until payment, whichever is earlier.[1] The threat of arrest often produces payment.

Instalments and limits on the executing court

The court may order the decretal amount to be paid in instalments and fix their number.[1] What the executing court cannot do is rewrite the decree. A husband who pleads in execution that he has since divorced his wife, or that he is willing to take the children, will generally be told to raise the point in the proper proceedings, because a final decree binds the judgment-debtor and cannot be defeated by unilateral offers.[13] A section 9 certificate issued by an Arbitration Council is enforced differently, as arrears of land revenue.[2]

File execution promptly and keep a running schedule of missed instalments. Do not let child maintenance arrears build up: the one-year window under section 17(3) runs from the time fixed for payment.

Non-Muslim maintenance rights: Hindu, Christian and Buddhist wives

The family court's jurisdiction is not confined to Muslims. In Pochon Rikssi Das v Khuku Rani Dasi (1998) 50 DLR (HCD) 47 the High Court Division held that the family courts law applies to all citizens irrespective of religion, and a family court can try a Hindu wife's suit for maintenance under the 1946 Act.[11]

Hindu wives

Hindu marriage in Bangladesh is, in general, indissoluble, so the Hindu wife's remedy is maintenance and separate residence rather than divorce and a settlement. Notwithstanding any custom or law to the contrary, a Hindu married woman is entitled to separate residence and maintenance from her husband if he suffers from a loathsome disease not contracted from her; is guilty of cruelty that makes it unsafe or undesirable to live with him; deserts her; marries again; converts to another religion; keeps or habitually lives with a concubine; or for any other justifiable cause.[5]

She loses the right if she is unchaste, ceases to be a Hindu by changing religion or fails without sufficient cause to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights.[5] Husbands often allege unchastity, and courts expect proof rather than hearsay.

Christian wives

Under the Divorce Act 1869 a Christian wife may petition for alimony pending the suit in any divorce or separation proceedings, capped at one-fifth of the husband's average net income over the three preceding years. On a decree of dissolution or judicial separation obtained by the wife, the court may order the husband to secure a gross or annual sum for a term not exceeding her life, and monthly or weekly payments for her maintenance, which the court can later modify if his circumstances change.[6]

Buddhist and other wives

Buddhist personal law in Bangladesh has no codified divorce procedure, but a Buddhist wife can sue in the family court for her own and her children's maintenance on the same basis as other citizens.[11]

Maintenance claims against NRB husbands

Many a maintenance case Bangladesh family courts decide involves a husband working in the Gulf, Malaysia, Europe or North America. Distance does not defeat the claim, but it changes the strategy.

Filing and service

The wife can sue in the family court where she ordinarily resides.[1] Give the court every address you have, including his family home in Bangladesh and his email address: email service is expressly permitted, and good evidence of service makes an ex parte decree much harder to reopen under the thirty-day procedure described above.[1]

Enforcing against a husband abroad

A Bangladeshi decree is most easily enforced against assets in Bangladesh: land, flats, bank accounts and business interests. Execution by attachment and sale is available through the civil route, and a warrant under the fine route can be executed when the husband returns.[1] Enforcing in the country where he works depends on that country's own rules on recognising foreign judgments and usually requires local proceedings. Where the husband is a foreign national or the family has ties to several countries, take advice on where to sue first. Our cross-border family matters practice handles these cases.

Parents' maintenance under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013

The Parents Maintenance Act 2013 (Act No. 49 of 2013) requires every child to ensure the maintenance of his or her parents. Maintenance is defined broadly to include food, clothing, medical treatment, accommodation and companionship. Where there are several children they must decide among themselves how to provide it. A child must not force a parent to live in an old people's home or elsewhere against the parent's will, and where a parent lives separately each child must pay a reasonable amount from his or her income regularly.[4] In the absence of the father or mother, the duty extends to paternal or maternal grandparents.[4]

Breach is an offence punishable with a fine of up to Tk 1,00,000, or in default imprisonment of up to three months, and a spouse, child or close relative who obstructs or fails to cooperate in maintaining the parents is liable to the same penalty as an abettor. The offence is cognizable, bailable and compoundable, and a court may take cognizance only on the written complaint of the parent concerned.[4] The court may refer the complaint for settlement to the local union parishad chairman or member, or to the mayor or councillor, and a settlement reached there is treated as a decision of the court.[4] Parents' maintenance complaints are also within the mandatory pre-case mediation schedule in notified districts.[9]

Maintenance case Bangladesh mistakes to avoid

• Filing under section 488. The provision no longer exists. Use the family court.[3]
• Skipping mediation in a notified district. A scheduled dispute filed without first applying to the legal aid office invites delay or rejection, and the mediation report must be filed with the plaint.[7]
• Claiming too narrowly. Plead arrears, future monthly maintenance, iddat maintenance, dower and each child's maintenance, with an annual increase. Relief not prayed for may be refused.
• Leaving documents out of the plaint. Documents not produced or listed at filing are admissible only with permission, granted in exceptional cases.[1]
• Delaying execution. Apply within one year after the time fixed for payment, and use the warrant route where the husband has no attachable assets.[1]
• For husbands, ignoring the summons. An ex parte decree is far harder to undo than a defence is to file, and the window to set it aside is thirty days.[1]
• For husbands, relying on a late talaq. A talaq pronounced during the suit does not erase arrears, iddat maintenance or the children's claim.

What to watch in 2026 and beyond

Three developments will shape any maintenance case Bangladesh families bring over the next year. First, mandatory pre-case mediation is spreading district by district, and Dhaka and Chattogram, still outside the scheme, are the obvious next candidates.[7] Second, practice under the Family Courts Act 2023 is still settling on points such as email service and the one-year execution window.[1] Third, the High Court Division continues to refine the law on interim maintenance, annual increases and execution, generally in favour of children's needs and against attempts to reopen final decrees.[12] [13] [14]

The earliest decisions carry the most weight: which forum, which district, what to claim and what evidence to gather before the husband is on notice. TRW's Islamic family law practice and family mediation and settlement practice act for wives, husbands and families on maintenance, dower and custody, including at the legal aid mediation stage. Contact TRW to discuss your case.

Frequently asked questions

How do I file a maintenance case in Bangladesh?

File a plaint in the family court where the cause of action arose, where you last lived together, or where you ordinarily reside, with your documents, a witness schedule and the Tk 200 court fee. In a notified district, first apply for mediation at the district legal aid office.[1] [7]

Can I still use section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure?

No. Sections 488 to 490 were omitted with effect from 1 November 2007. Maintenance claims by wives and children now go to the family court, or to the Arbitration Council under section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961.[2] [3]

Is a divorced Muslim wife entitled to maintenance after iddat?

No. The Appellate Division in Hefzur Rahman held that a husband is not obliged to maintain a divorced wife beyond the iddat period. She can still claim unpaid dower, arrears, iddat maintenance and her children's maintenance.[10]

Until what age must a father pay child maintenance?

Family court decrees typically order maintenance for a son until majority and for a daughter until her marriage. The date of birth recorded in reliable documents decides when a son's maintenance ends.[13]

Can the family court order interim maintenance?

Yes, in an appropriate case. Section 21 of the Family Courts Act 2023 allows interim orders, and the High Court Division has upheld interim maintenance for children pending trial.[1] [12]

Is mediation compulsory before a maintenance case?

In the thirty districts notified from 31 July 2026, yes. Family court disputes under section 5 of the Family Courts Act 2023, which include maintenance, must first go to the district legal aid office, and a certified settlement has the force of a decree.[7] [8]

What happens if the husband does not pay the decree?

On an application made within one year, the family court can execute the decree as a civil money decree, attaching property, or as a fine, issuing a warrant and imprisoning the husband for up to three months or until payment.[1]

Can a Hindu wife claim maintenance in Bangladesh?

Yes. Under the 1946 Act she is entitled to separate residence and maintenance on grounds including cruelty, desertion and her husband's second marriage, and she sues in the family court.[5] [11]

Can I file a maintenance case against a husband living abroad?

Yes. Sue where you ordinarily reside and ask the court to serve the summons by email as well as by post. The decree is enforceable against his assets in Bangladesh and by warrant when he returns.[1]

What can parents do if their children do not support them?

A parent may file a written complaint under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013 before a first-class Judicial or Metropolitan Magistrate. Breach is punishable with a fine of up to Tk 1,00,000, and the court may refer the matter for local settlement.[4]