On 23/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 23/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 23/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 28/03/2013.
PART VIII
MAINTENANCE OF WIFE AND CHILDREN
68. Except where an agreement or order of court otherwise provides, it shall be the duty of a parent to maintain or contribute to the maintenance of his or her children, whether they are in his or her custody or the custody of any other person, and whether they are legitimate or illegitimate, either by providing them with such accommodation, clothing, food and education as may be reasonable having regard to his or her means and station in life or by paying the cost thereof.
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69.
—(1) Any married woman whose husband neglects or refuses to provide her reasonable maintenance may apply to a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court and that Court may, on due proof thereof, order the husband to pay a monthly allowance or a lump sum for her maintenance.
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(2) A District Court or a Magistrate’s Court may, on due proof that a parent has neglected or refused to provide reasonable maintenance for his child who is unable to maintain himself, order that parent to pay a monthly allowance or a lump sum for the maintenance of that child.
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(3) An application for the maintenance of a child under subsection (2) may be made by —
(a)
any person who is a guardian or has the actual custody of the child;
(b)
where the child has attained the age of 21 years, by the child himself;
(c)
where the child is below the age of 21 years, any of his siblings who has attained the age of 21 years; or
(d)
any person appointed by the Minister.
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(4) The court, when ordering maintenance for a wife or child under this section, shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case including the following matters:
(a)
the financial needs of the wife or child;
(b)
the income, earning capacity (if any), property and other financial resources of the wife or child;
(c)
any physical or mental disability of the wife or child;
(d)
the age of each party to the marriage and the duration of the marriage;
(e)
the contributions made by each of the parties to the marriage to the welfare of the family, including any contribution made by looking after the home or caring for the family;
(f)
the standard of living enjoyed by the wife or child before the husband or parent, as the case may be, neglected or refused to provide reasonable maintenance for the wife or child;
(g)
in the case of a child, the manner in which he was being, and in which the parties to the marriage expected him to be, educated or trained; and
(h)
the conduct of each of the parties to the marriage, if the conduct is such that it would in the opinion of the court be inequitable to disregard it.
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(5) The court shall not make an order under subsection (2) for the benefit of a child who has attained the age of 21 years or for a period that extends beyond the day on which the child will attain that age unless the court is satisfied that the provision of the maintenance is necessary because —
(a)
of a mental or physical disability of the child;
(b)
the child is or will be serving full-time national service;
(c)
the child is or will be or (if an order were made under subsection (2)) would be receiving instruction at an educational establishment or undergoing training for a trade, profession or vocation, whether or not while in gainful employment; or
(d)
special circumstances, other than those stated in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), exist which justify the making of the order.
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(6) An order under subsection (2) ceases to be in force on the day on which the child attains the age of 21 years unless the order is expressed to continue in force for a period ending after that day.
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(7) An order under subsection (2) may direct payment to the person having custody or care and control of the child or the trustees of the child.
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(8) When ordering the payment of maintenance under this section or at any time after the making of the order, the court may, if it considers just, order the person liable to pay the maintenance to secure the whole or any part of it by vesting any property belonging to the person in trustees upon trust to pay the maintenance or any part of it out of the income from the property, and subject thereto, in trust for the settlor.
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(9) The court shall have the powers conferred by section 85 in respect of proceedings relating to maintenance under this section.
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70.
—(1) Where a person has accepted a child who is not his child as a member of his family, it shall be his duty to maintain that child while he remains a child, so far as the father or the mother of the child fails to do so, and the court may make such orders as may be necessary to ensure the welfare of the child.
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(2) The duty imposed by subsection (1) shall cease if the child is taken away by his father or mother.
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(3) Any sums expended by a person maintaining that child shall be recoverable as a debt from the father or mother of the child.
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(4) An application for an order under subsection (1) may be made by —
(a)
any person who is a guardian or has the actual custody of the child;
(b)
where the child has attained the age of 21 years, the child himself;
(c)
where the child is below the age of 21 years, any of his siblings who has attained the age of 21 years; or
(d)
any person appointed by the Minister.
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(5) Subsections (4) to (9) of section 69 shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to the making of an order under this section.
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71.
—(1) If any person fails to make one or more payments required to be made under a maintenance order, the court which made the order may do all or any of the following:
(a)
for every breach of the order by warrant direct the amount due to be levied in the manner by law provided for levying fines imposed by a Magistrate’s Court;
(b)
sentence him to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month for each month’s allowance remaining unpaid;
(c)
make a garnishee order in accordance with the rules made under this Act;
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(d)
order the person to furnish security against any future default in maintenance payments by means of a bankerʼs guarantee which —
(i)
shall be valid for such period (not exceeding 3 years) as the court may determine, starting from the date the order for security is made; and
(ii)
shall be for an amount not exceeding 3 months of maintenance payable under the maintenance order;
(e)
if the court considers it in the interests of the parties in the maintenance proceedings or their children to do so, order the person to undergo financial counselling or such other similar or related programme as the court may direct;
(f)
make a community service order requiring the person to perform any unpaid community service for up to 40 hours under the supervision of a community service officer.
(2) A sentence of imprisonment ordered under subsection (1)(b) shall not affect or diminish the obligation of the person against whom the maintenance order is made to make the payment or payments under the maintenance order which he has failed to make, except that the court may, if it thinks fit, reduce the amount of any such payments.
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(2A) The court may make an order under subsection (1)(d), (e) or (f) notwithstanding that any arrears of maintenance which gave rise to the proceedings in which the order is made have been paid up in part or in whole by the time the order is made.
(2B) If a person fails to make one or more payments payable under a maintenance order and an order is made by the court under subsection (1) stating the amount of arrears, any of the following persons may lodge a report to a designated credit bureau regarding the unpaid arrears stated on the order of court:
(a)
the person to or for whom the maintenance is payable;
(b)
the caregiver of such person; or
(c)
an authorised representative of such person.
(2C) The designated credit bureau may, on receipt of the report referred to in subsection (2B), provide the information, either on its own or consolidated with other information pertaining to the credit payment history of the maintenance defaulter, to the members of the credit bureau.
(2D) In this section, “designated credit bureau” means an entity that —
(a)
collects and maintains information about the credit payment history of a person and provides such information to its members for the purpose of enabling its members to assess the creditworthiness of a person; and
(b)
has been designated by the Minister as a credit bureau for the purposes of receiving a report lodged under subsection (2B).
(2E) For the avoidance of doubt, a community service order made by the court under subsection (1)(f) shall be deemed not to be a community service order made under the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (Act 15 of 2010) and sections 346 to 352 of that Act shall not, except as may be provided in this section, apply to a community service order made under subsection (1)(f).
(2F) An order made by the court under subsection (1) shall state the name, Singapore identity card number, contact number and address of the person who has defaulted on any maintenance payment and the complainant, except where the court determines it would be inappropriate to do so in any particular case.
(3) A maintenance order made by the High Court may be enforced by a District Court in accordance with subsection (1) as if that order had been made by the District Court, except that a District Court shall have no power to vary an order of the High Court.
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71A.
—(1) Where a person has been ordered by the court under section 71(1)(d) to furnish a bankerʼs guarantee, he shall hand the original bankerʼs guarantee to the person to whom maintenance is owed (referred to in this section as a “maintenance claimant”) within one month from the date of the order.
(2) Where —
(a)
a maintenance claimant makes a demand on the bankerʼs guarantee and no maintenance arrears is owing to the claimant at the time of the demand; or
(b)
the amount paid out under a bankerʼs guarantee to the maintenance claimant exceeds the actual amount of maintenance arrears owing to the maintenance claimant at the time the maintenance claimantʼs demand was made on the bankerʼs guarantee,
such amount as is payable or paid that is in excess of the amount of maintenance arrears owing (referred to in this section as “the excess”) shall be set off against the amount of any maintenance which becomes payable by the maintenance defaulter to the maintenance claimant at any time on or after the date of the demand on the bankerʼs guarantee (referred to in this section as “future maintenance liability”).
(3) Where there is no future maintenance liability against which the excess may be offset, the maintenance claimant who made the demand on the bankerʼs guarantee giving rise to that excess shall, upon demand by the maintenance defaulter, refund the excess to the maintenance defaulter.
(4) Where a refund is not made as required under subsection (3), the maintenance defaulter may recover the amount due to him under that subsection from the person liable to make the refund as if the amount were a civil debt due to the maintenance defaulter.
71B. Where a court has made an order under section 71(1)(e) requiring a maintenance defaulter to attend financial counselling or any other related programme but the maintenance defaulter fails to comply with the order, any of the following persons may make a complaint to the court regarding such non-compliance:
(a)
the person who is to have provided the financial counselling or conducted such related programme ordered by the court;
(b)
the Director, where the court has ordered a maintenance defaulter to attend financial counselling or such related programme under the direction or supervision of the Director.
71C.
—(1) A court shall not make a community service order under section 71(1)(f) against a maintenance defaulter unless the court is satisfied that suitable arrangements can be made for him to perform community service under such an order.
(2) Notwithstanding that a community service order has been made under subsection (1), the court may, upon an application by a community service officer and upon being satisfied that the maintenance defaulter concerned is medically unfit to comply with the community service order, rescind the order.
(3) The Minister may —
(a)
appoint any person to be a community service officer for the purposes of this section;
(b)
prescribe the duration within which community service to be performed under a community service order shall be completed; and
(c)
make rules, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, to make further provisions for the manner in which a community service order may be performed, including the imposition of additional requirements and the service of any instructions or notice on a maintenance defaulter in respect of whom such an order has been made.
72.
—(1) On the application of any person receiving or ordered to pay a monthly allowance under this Part and on proof of a change in the circumstances of that person, his wife or child, or for other good cause being shown to the satisfaction of the court, the court by which the order was made may rescind the order or may vary it as it thinks fit.
(2) Without prejudice to the extent of the discretion conferred upon the court by subsection (1), the court may, in considering any application made under this section, take into consideration any change in the general cost of living which may have occurred between the date of the making of the order sought to be varied and the date of the hearing of the application.
73. The court may, at any time and from time to time, vary the terms of any agreement relating to the maintenance of a child, whether made before or after 1st June 1981, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in that agreement, where it is satisfied that it is reasonable and for the welfare of the child to do so.
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Application of section 121
74. Section 121 shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to any order for the payment of maintenance under this Part.
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75.
—(1) All orders made under section 37 of the repealed Minor Offences Ordinance (Cap. 24, 1936 Ed.) or under section 2 of the repealed Married Women and Children (Maintenance) Ordinance (Cap. 44, 1955 Ed.) and in force on 15th September 1961 shall be deemed to have been made under this Part by a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court, as the case may be, and the provisions of this Part shall apply to the same accordingly.
(2) Upon an application to vary any order made under section 37 of the repealed Minor Offences Ordinance (Cap. 24, 1936 Ed.) or under section 2 of the repealed Married Women and Children (Maintenance) Ordinance (Cap. 44, 1955 Ed.), the court may make under section 72 any order which it could have made upon an application under section 69 or under section 2 of the repealed Married Women and Children (Maintenance) Ordinance.
Power of District Court or Magistrate’s Court to refuse order where High Court proceedings more convenient
76.
—(1) If in the opinion of the District Court or the Magistrate’s Court the matters in question between the parties or any of them would be more conveniently dealt with by the High Court, the District Court or the Magistrate’s Court may refuse to make an order and in that case there shall be no appeal from its decision.
(2) The High Court or a Judge thereof shall have power, by order in any proceedings in the High Court relating to or comprising the same subject-matter as the application refused or any part thereof under subsection (1), to direct the District Court or the Magistrate’s Court to rehear or determine the same.
77.
—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part and Part VII, an appeal shall lie from any order or the refusal of any order by a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court under this Part and Part VII to the High Court exercising appellate civil jurisdiction under the provisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap. 322).
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(2) All appeals brought under this section shall be by way of rehearing and the High Court shall have the like powers and jurisdiction on the hearing of such appeals as the Court of Appeal has on the hearing of appeals from the High Court under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act.
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(3) No appeal made under the provisions of this Part and Part VII from any order shall operate as a stay of such order unless the High Court or the District Court or the Magistrate’s Court so directs.
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78. The High Court shall have the jurisdiction and powers which belong to and are exercisable by a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court under this Part.
79.
—(1) Except as otherwise provided in the rules made under subsection (1A), all applications to a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court under this Part and Part VII shall be made and heard in the same manner and in accordance with the same procedure as applications for summonses are made and heard by the District Court or the Magistrate’s Court under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68) and an application under this Part and Part VII shall be deemed to be a complaint for the purposes of that Code.
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(1A) The committee constituted under section 139 may make rules fixing and regulating the practice and procedure of any part of the proceedings under this Part as it deems fit.
(2) The Rules of Court for the time being in force made under the provisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap. 322) and applicable to appeals from District Courts brought under section 21 of that Act shall apply to all appeals brought under section 77.
(3) Where an appeal is so brought from a Magistrate’s Court, the Rules of Court shall be construed and applied as far as necessary as if references to a District Court were references to a Magistrate’s Court and references to a District Judge were references to a Magistrate.
(4) A court before which any application under this Part or Part VII is heard may make such order as to costs as it thinks fit.
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79A.
—(1) Notwithstanding anything in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (Act 15 of 2010), a summons issued against a person by a District Court or Family Court under this Part (except an application made under section 69 or 70) may be served on the person concerned —
(a)
by delivering it to the person personally;
(b)
by addressing it to the person and delivering it to an adult person who is a member of the family at the last known address of the place of residence of that person;
(c)
by addressing it to the person and delivering it to an adult person apparently employed at the last known address of the place of business of that person;
(d)
by sending it by pre-paid registered post to the last known address of the place of residence or business of the person;
(e)
by leaving a copy of the summons at the last known address of the place of residence or business of the person in an envelope addressed to him; and
(f)
where the personʼs last known address of the place of residence or business cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence, by publishing a copy of the summons in the Gazette.
(2) Any summons sent by pre-paid registered post to any person in accordance with subsection (1)(d) shall be deemed to be duly served on the person to whom the summons is addressed at the time when the summons would in the ordinary course of post be delivered.
(3) In proving service by pre-paid registered post, it shall be sufficient to prove that the cover containing the summons was properly addressed, stamped and posted by pre-paid registered post.