TRW & Co · Family Law
Maintenance Case Lawyer in Chittagong (Chattogram)
A maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong helps wives and children claim khorposh, the support a husband and father must provide, and helps payers answer claims fairly. Claims for wives and children go to the Family Court under the Family Courts Act 2023, often joined with dower, and can now be filed through the Chattogram e-Family Court.
Key pointA divorced wife's maintenance generally ends with iddat, but a child's maintenance is an independent right: the High Court Division confirmed in a judgment reported in July 2026 that it does not depend on the parents' divorce dispute.
At a glance
Family Court jurisdiction
Maintenance is one of five matters reserved to Family Courts under the Family Courts Act 2023, with a Tk 200 court fee for the suit.
Wife's claim ends with iddat
The Appellate Division in 1998 reversed a ruling extending a divorced wife's maintenance beyond iddat, so post-divorce support generally ends then.
Children's right is independent
A High Court Division judgment reported in July 2026 held a minor child's maintenance does not depend on the parents' divorce dispute.
Parents claim separately
Parents' maintenance from adult children falls under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013 and goes to a magistrate, not the Family Court.
Online filing available
The Chattogram e-Family Court, introduced at the end of November 2025, accepts maintenance cases online with remote hearings.
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What maintenance (khorposh) covers in Bangladesh and in Chattogram
A maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong helps wives, children and their families claim the financial support the law requires, and helps husbands and fathers answer claims fairly. Maintenance, known in Bangla as khorposh or bhoronposhon, covers food, clothing, housing, medical care and, for children, education. It is one of the commonest claims in the Chattogram Family Courts.
Several different obligations sit under the same word. A Muslim husband must maintain his wife during the marriage and during the iddat period after a divorce. A father must maintain his minor children, whoever has custody. Adult children must maintain their parents. Hindu wives have a statutory right to maintenance and, in some circumstances, separate residence. Each obligation has its own forum and its own rules.
Maintenance becomes a legal question when payments stop: a husband who moves out or remarries, a husband working abroad who stops sending money, or a divorce after which the children's school fees go unpaid. Claims are often joined with dower, custody or divorce, so the strategy has to cover the whole family dispute.
The legal framework for maintenance claims
Family Courts Act 2023
The Family Courts Act 2023 gives Family Courts jurisdiction over five matters: dissolution of marriage, restitution of conjugal rights, dower, maintenance, and guardianship and custody of children. The court fee for a suit is Tk 200. Maintenance for parents is outside the Family Court's jurisdiction and is dealt with under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013 before a magistrate.
Before the 1985 Family Courts Ordinance, wives often used section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to claim maintenance from a magistrate. A Special Bench of the High Court Division held in 1997, in Pochon Rikssi Das v Khuku Rani Dasi, that the Family Court's exclusive jurisdiction ousts the magistrate's jurisdiction for these claims, so a maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong will normally file in the Family Court.
Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961
Section 9 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 lets a wife whose husband fails to maintain her adequately, or fails to maintain co-wives equitably, apply to the Chairman, who forms an Arbitration Council. The Council can issue a certificate fixing the maintenance payable. In Chattogram city that application goes to the Chattogram City Corporation. The route is useful where both sides will engage, but the Family Court is usually more effective against a husband who will not.
Other relevant laws
- The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 makes failure to maintain a wife for two years a ground for her to seek divorce.
- The Hindu Married Women's Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act 1946 gives Hindu wives a right to maintenance and, on listed grounds, separate residence.
- The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 allows courts to make protection, residence and compensation orders where there is domestic violence.
- The Guardians and Wards Act 1890 governs guardianship of a child's person and property, which often sits alongside maintenance.
How the courts have shaped the claim
In Hefzur Rahman v Shamsun Nahar Begum, the High Court Division held in 1995 that a divorced wife could claim maintenance beyond the iddat period, but the Appellate Division reversed that decision in 1998, so post-divorce maintenance for the wife generally ends with iddat. Children are treated differently. In a judgment reported in July 2026, the High Court Division confirmed that a minor child's maintenance is an independent right that does not depend on the parents' dispute about divorce, and ordered payment of arrears under a Family Court decree.
Who can claim maintenance, and where
A maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong first identifies who is claiming, against whom and under which law. That decides the forum.
| Claimant | Against | Main law | Forum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muslim wife during marriage | Husband | Muslim personal law; 1961 Ordinance | Family Court, or Arbitration Council via City Corporation or Union Parishad |
| Divorced Muslim wife (iddat period) | Former husband | Muslim personal law | Family Court |
| Minor children | Father | Personal law; Family Courts Act 2023 | Family Court, usually with the mother as next friend |
| Hindu wife | Husband | Hindu Married Women's Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act 1946 | Family Court |
| Parents | Adult children | Parents Maintenance Act 2013 | Magistrate's court |
| Victim of domestic violence | Respondent family member | Domestic Violence Act 2010 | Court under that Act |
Most wives join maintenance with a claim for unpaid dower, and sometimes with dissolution or custody, so all money issues are decided together. Our dower page and Family Court page explain how the claims fit together.
How the amount is assessed
There is no statutory formula for maintenance in Bangladesh. The Family Court looks at the husband's or father's income and means, the family's standard of living, the claimant's reasonable needs, and the needs of children, including schooling and medical care. It also considers any income the wife has of her own and any payments already being made.
Evidence of the payer's means is often the hardest part. Husbands sometimes understate income, especially from business, property rents or overseas employment. A maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong will gather what can be shown: salary slips, business and trade licence records, property holdings, remittance patterns, lifestyle evidence and social media. Courts can draw reasonable conclusions where the payer will not disclose.
Courts have historically been cautious about awarding a wife arrears for long periods before the suit was filed, unless there was an agreement or demand, so claims should be filed promptly once payments stop. Children's arrears and amounts due under an existing decree stand on a firmer footing.
A father's duty to maintain his children does not end with the marriage, and it is not something either parent can sign away in a divorce settlement.
Step by step: a maintenance suit in Chattogram
- Assess the claim. Identify who is claiming, under which law, and whether dower, custody or dissolution should be joined. Check whether pre-suit mediation through the district legal aid office is required at the time of filing.
- Make a written demand. Send a written demand for maintenance to the husband or father, with a copy kept and proof of delivery. This marks the date from which non-payment is clear.
- Prepare the plaint. Draft the plaint setting out the marriage, the children, the payer's means, the claimant's needs and the amount sought, with supporting documents.
- File in the Family Court. File in the Family Court with jurisdiction where the wife ordinarily resides, physically or through the Chattogram e-Family Court, and pay the Tk 200 court fee.
- Seek interim maintenance. Ask the court to fix interim maintenance for the wife and children while the suit is pending.
- Pre-trial reconciliation. The court attempts reconciliation or compromise before trial. Many cases settle at this stage with a recorded agreement.
- Trial and decree. If there is no settlement, the court hears evidence and passes a decree fixing the monthly amount and any arrears.
- Execution. If the payer defaults, file for execution of the decree.
Pre-suit mediation and interim support
Since September 2025 the government has made mediation through the district legal aid office mandatory before certain family disputes, including Family Court matters, can be filed, starting in a group of pilot districts and extending to more districts in July 2026 under the amended Legal Aid Services law. Chattogram was not among the districts named in the announcements we have reviewed, but the rollout is continuing, so a maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong will confirm the current position on the day of filing.
Even where mediation is not compulsory, it can be worth trying. A mediated agreement on a monthly figure, recorded properly, can be in place within weeks rather than months. If mediation fails or is unsuitable, for example where there is violence, the Family Court route remains open.
Interim maintenance matters because suits take time. A wife with young children should ask for an interim order at the first opportunity, supported by a budget and evidence of the husband's income, so that the family is not left without support while the case is heard.
The article on claiming maintenance for wife and children in Chattogram sets out each stage, and the guide to Family Court procedure covers the court process from plaint to decree.
Documents and evidence
- Registered kabinnama or certified copy from the kazi's register.
- Children's birth registration certificates and school records, with receipts for fees and medical costs.
- National ID cards of the parties.
- Evidence of the payer's income and assets: payslips, business records, property documents, bank and remittance records.
- Evidence of non-payment: the written demand, messages, bank statements showing when payments stopped.
- A household budget showing the claimant's and children's reasonable monthly needs.
- Any divorce notice, khula agreement or previous decree.
Prepare a simple monthly budget with receipts for rent, school fees, tuition, medicine and food. Courts fix maintenance on evidence, and a claimant who can show what the children actually cost is far more persuasive than one who asks for a round figure. Keep the receipts in date order and update them while the case runs.
Enforcing a maintenance decree
A decree is only useful if it is paid. Bangladesh's family court legislation has long allowed a money decree for dower or maintenance to be executed either as a civil court decree or as if it were a fine imposed by a magistrate, with short imprisonment for wilful default as a last resort. Execution in Chattogram is taken in the Family Court that passed the decree.
The July 2026 High Court Division judgment underlines that a husband cannot stall execution simply by filing a new suit claiming an earlier divorce; the decree stands until a competent court stays it. Where the payer has a salaried job, an attachment of salary can be effective. Where he has property, attachment and sale of that property are possible. A maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong will choose the method most likely to produce regular payment rather than a one-off recovery.
Where the payer lives abroad, enforcement is harder but not impossible. Assets and family property in Bangladesh can be targeted, and in some cases a settlement secured by a guarantor or a standing remittance instruction is the most practical outcome. Our NRB divorce page covers cross-border family disputes.
Risks and common mistakes
Waiting too long to claim
Wives often wait months or years after payments stop, hoping the husband will resume or out of concern for the family's reputation. Delay makes arrears harder to recover and weakens the evidence of non-payment. A written demand, sent as soon as payments stop, fixes the date and shows the husband was asked. It does not commit anyone to litigation, and it often prompts negotiation. A maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong can send a measured demand that keeps settlement open.
Signing away children's maintenance
In divorce or khula negotiations, mothers are sometimes asked to agree that they will never claim maintenance for the children. A child's right to maintenance belongs to the child, and the High Court Division has confirmed it is independent of the parents' dispute. Such clauses are unlikely to stop a later claim, but signing them causes confusion and delay. Keep the children's maintenance separate and record a realistic monthly figure instead. Our child custody page explains related issues.
Filing in the wrong forum
Claims for wives and children belong in the Family Court, while parents' claims go to a magistrate under the Parents Maintenance Act 2013, and domestic violence orders follow their own Act. Filing in the wrong forum wastes months. Similarly, a Hindu wife's claim rests on different legislation from a Muslim wife's. Identify the correct law and forum before drafting, and join related family claims in one Family Court suit where the law allows.
Understating or overstating the payer's means
A claim that ignores the husband's business income or overseas earnings will produce a low award. A claim that inflates his means without evidence loses credibility. Gather what can be proved: payslips, trade licences, property records, remittance patterns and lifestyle evidence. Where the payer refuses to disclose, ask the court to draw reasonable inferences. For husbands defending a claim, full and honest disclosure usually produces a fairer result than concealment.
Treating a decree as the end of the matter
A decree that is not executed does not feed the children. Diary the payment dates, keep records of every payment received, and apply for execution promptly when payments stop. If circumstances change significantly, such as a large rise or fall in the payer's income, an application to vary the amount may be appropriate. Execution is a separate stage that needs the same attention as the suit itself.
Advice for husbands and fathers
A maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong acting for a husband or father will focus on a fair figure supported by evidence. That means disclosing income honestly, showing existing commitments such as other dependants or loan repayments, and proposing a realistic monthly amount early. A proposal made at the reconciliation stage is often accepted, saving both sides the cost and delay of a trial.
Fathers should keep proof of every payment made, preferably through bank transfer or mobile financial services, because cash payments are easily disputed. A father who wants contact with his children should keep maintenance and contact separate: withholding money to force contact damages his position in any custody or guardianship case.
Maintenance claims involving probashis
Chattogram has many families in which the husband works in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia or further afield. When remittances stop, the wife and children in Chattogram can file in the Family Court here, and service on the husband abroad can be arranged. The Chattogram e-Family Court, introduced at the end of November 2025, handles maintenance cases online and makes remote participation easier for both sides.
Husbands abroad who want to resolve the claim can sign settlement documents before a notary and have them attested at the Bangladesh mission. TRW & Co's offices in Dhaka, Singapore, Dubai and London help with signatures, attestation and coordination. Where a foreign court has made a maintenance order, its effect in Bangladesh needs specific advice.
How TRW & Co helps as your maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong
We act from our office at Room 4022, Annex 2, District and Sessions Judge Court Building, Court Hill (Porir Pahar), Kotwali, Chattogram 4000. The firm's Bangladesh advocates appear in the Family Courts and appellate courts of the Chattogram judgeship.
Claim assessment and demand
We identify the right law and forum, value the claim from evidence, and send a written demand that fixes the date of non-payment while keeping settlement open.
Family Court suits
We file and defend maintenance suits, joined with dower, custody or dissolution where appropriate, and seek interim maintenance early.
Settlement and variation
We negotiate maintenance agreements and record them before the court. Where circumstances change, we apply to vary the amount.
Execution and recovery
We execute decrees through salary or asset attachment and other methods available, including where the payer lives abroad.
See also our domestic violence page, the family law overview, the Chattogram office hub and our full list of practices.
Checklist before you claim maintenance
- Identify who is claiming, against whom and under which law.
- Collect the kabinnama, children's birth certificates and ID cards.
- Prepare a monthly budget with receipts.
- Gather evidence of the payer's income and assets.
- Send a written demand and keep proof of delivery.
- Decide whether to join dower, custody or dissolution claims.
- Check whether pre-suit mediation applies when you file.
- After a decree, diary payment dates and apply for execution promptly if payments stop.
To speak to a maintenance case lawyer in Chittagong in confidence, contact our Chattogram office, email info@trw.co or call +880 1779 127165.
Frequently asked questions
01How much maintenance will the court order?
There is no fixed formula in Bangladesh. The Family Court considers the payer's income and means, the family's standard of living, the claimant's reasonable needs and the children's schooling and medical costs, as well as any income the wife has. Evidence decides the figure, so a monthly budget with receipts and proof of the payer's earnings matter. We value the claim from the evidence before filing, so the amount sought is realistic and defensible.
02Can a divorced wife claim maintenance after iddat?
Generally no. In Hefzur Rahman v Shamsun Nahar Begum, the High Court Division held in 1995 that maintenance could continue after iddat, but the Appellate Division reversed that in 1998. A divorced Muslim wife can claim maintenance for the iddat period and any arrears owed during the marriage, along with unpaid dower. Children's maintenance continues after divorce regardless.
03Where do I file a maintenance case in Chattogram?
Claims by wives and children are filed in the Family Court with jurisdiction where the wife ordinarily resides, which in the city means the Family Courts of the Chattogram judgeship. Since the end of November 2025 the Chattogram e-Family Court also accepts maintenance cases online. A wife can alternatively apply to the City Corporation or Union Parishad Chairman for an Arbitration Council under section 9 of the 1961 Ordinance.
04What is the court fee for a maintenance suit?
The court fee for a Family Court suit under the Family Courts Act 2023 is Tk 200. Other costs include lawyers' fees, service of summons, certified copies and, for parties abroad, attestation of documents. Government legal aid is available to eligible people through the district legal aid office or the 16430 hotline. We give an estimate of professional fees after reviewing the facts.
05My husband works abroad and has stopped sending money. What can I do?
You can file a maintenance suit in the Chattogram Family Court, or through the e-Family Court, and the court can arrange service on your husband abroad. Send a written demand first and keep evidence of when remittances stopped. Enforcement can target assets and property in Bangladesh, and many cases settle with a regular remittance arrangement. Our international offices can help where documents must be signed abroad.
06Can maintenance be increased or reduced later?
Circumstances change: children grow, school costs rise, or the payer's income changes. Where there is a significant change, a party can ask the court to revisit the amount. The application should be supported by evidence of the change, such as new school fees or a documented loss of income. We advise on whether a change is significant enough to justify an application and prepare the evidence.
07Can parents claim maintenance from their children?
Yes. The Parents Maintenance Act 2013 requires adult children to maintain their parents. Those claims are not heard by the Family Court; they go to a magistrate's court under that Act. The Act also provides penalties for failure to maintain. We advise parents and children on these claims and on family arrangements that avoid litigation.
Sources and official materials
- Family Courts Act 2023 — Family Court jurisdiction over maintenance, dower, divorce and custody
- Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 — Section 9: maintenance through the Chairman and Arbitration Council
- Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 — Non-maintenance for two years as a ground for divorce
- Guardians and Wards Act 1890 — Guardianship of a minor's person and property
- Chattogram City Corporation — Arbitration Councils for maintenance applications in the city
- Chattogram Judgeship — District courts including the Family Courts of Chattogram
General information only, current as at 2 November 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an advocate–client relationship. It reflects the law of Bangladesh unless stated otherwise, and the law, court practice and official fees change frequently. Check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.
