How child maintenance is worked out
There is no fixed formula or percentage for child maintenance in Pakistan. The Family Court looks at two things: the child's reasonable needs (food, schooling, health, housing, the standard the child is used to) and the father's real means (income, assets and earning capacity, not just what he declares). The amount is fixed per child per month, often with an annual increase, and can be paid from the date of the suit.
Legally reviewed by Fahmida Naz Sheikh, Advocate High CourtLast reviewed
- Formula
- None: needs and means, case by case
- While the case runs
- Interim maintenance (FCA s.17-A)
- Annual increase
- Often ordered, e.g. 10% a year
- Can a parent waive it?
- No: the right is the child's
Relevant Pakistani judgments
Grandfather’s maintenance: present capacity is separate from past liability
Allah Rakha alias Irshad v. Province of Sindh and another
Issue: Where a child's father has died, can the paternal grandfather be ordered to pay the child's monthly and past maintenance, and what…
Held: The grandfather remained liable for monthly maintenance of Rs. 7,000: he admitted income from a bakery and brought no evidence of incapacity. But the courts below had missed the mother's earlier bond undertaking to bear the child's expenses, which was…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.14, Family Courts Act 1964s.491, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
A section 12(2) application cannot simply reopen a contested family decree
Muhammad Afzal v. Maria Tariq and others
Issue: Can a party who fully contested a family suit reopen the decree under section 12(2) CPC, and is a claim that former…
Held: No on both points. The petitioner had contested the suit in full and his section 12(2) CPC application identified no fraud, misrepresentation or concealment of the kind the provision requires; a bare assertion that former counsel did not disclose the…
r.22, Family Courts Rules 1965s.12(2), Code of Civil Procedure 1908s.14, Family Courts Act 1964s.5, Limitation Act 1908
Article 199 cannot be used as a second maintenance appeal
Jawad Ahmed v. Mst. Salma and others
Issue: Can a husband use the High Court's constitutional jurisdiction to reopen past and iddat maintenance already decided by the Family Court and…
Held: No. Article 199 is supervisory, not a second appeal; it is confined to patent illegality, jurisdictional defect, perversity or material misreading or non-reading of evidence causing a miscarriage of justice. As the husband only sought a fresh assessment of the…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.14, Family Courts Act 1964
Common questions
Is there a fixed percentage of the father's salary?
No. The court decides on the child's needs and the father's real means in each case.
Can I claim maintenance from the date I filed?
Yes, ask for it. The court can order maintenance from the date of the suit, and interim maintenance while the case runs.
I agreed to a low amount before. Am I stuck with it?
Not necessarily. The right belongs to the child, and the court can look at the amount again when needs or means change.
The father lives abroad. Can I still claim?
Yes. Foreign residence does not remove the Pakistani court's jurisdiction. Tell the court about any foreign maintenance order so payments are not counted twice.
Legal basis
- Family Courts Act, 1964: s.5 and Schedule; s.17-AMaintenance suits; interim maintenance
- Maintenance judgments, Oct 2026: pension attachment, non-waivable child maintenance (our brief)
- Foreign maintenance orders, school costs, interim maintenance (our brief)
- Wife and child maintenance: procedure and service (our guide)
Want to know what to claim for your child?
Tell us the children's ages, their school costs and what you know about the father's income. We will help you work out a realistic claim.
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