Maintenance after Khulla, for you and the children

What Khulla ends, and what it does not

In Khulla, the wife usually gives up her dower, or returns dower she received, as the price of her release; see Haq Mehr in Khulla. That is the trade. It does not, by itself, cancel:

• maintenance the husband failed to pay while the marriage lasted;
• maintenance for the iddat period after the marriage ends;
• the children’s maintenance;
• her dowry, which is always hers: see recovering dowry articles.

Maintenance for the marriage itself

A wife’s right to maintenance starts with the Nikah. In Ambreen Akram v. Asad Ullah Khan (September 2025) the Supreme Court held it does not depend on rukhsati or consummation, especially where the husband never provided a home.

If the husband did not maintain her, she can claim the unpaid months as past maintenance, together with the Khulla. She must prove she was not maintained: courts have refused past maintenance where it was not proved. While the case runs, she can ask for interim maintenance (Family Courts Act, s.17-A). Ask us about the time limit for older months.

Maintenance during iddat

The Supreme Court has said that Khulla releases the dower but does not affect the husband’s liability to maintain his wife during iddat, and the Sindh High Court has upheld decrees for maintenance until the end of iddat.

Iddat is generally three months, or until delivery if she is pregnant. Ask us when it starts in your case, since the Khulla takes effect only after the Union Council process: see after the Khulla decree. Read any settlement carefully: if it says she gives up “all claims”, that may include iddat maintenance.

The children's maintenance

Children’s maintenance is the children’s right, not the mother’s. A parent cannot give it up or reduce it as a bargaining chip, and the Family Court must assess the child’s needs itself. So a husband cannot make “no child maintenance” the price of agreeing to Khulla.

The father’s duty continues after Khulla, whoever the children live with. For how the amount is set, see how child maintenance is worked out; for who keeps the children, see hizanat ages.

Claiming it all in one case

A Khulla suit can include claims for unpaid dower, dowry articles, past and iddat maintenance, and the children’s maintenance. Filing them together saves time and keeps the evidence in one place. List each claim separately in the plaint, with its own amount and proof.