Maintenance Payments And COVID-19

Has COVID- 19 resulted in you being retrenched, or your salary being reduced?

Most maintenance payments are made in terms of a court order and there are legal consequences if you do not pay in terms of your order.

COVID 19 is not a ‘get out of jail free card’. If you do not pay your maintenance in terms of your court order, it is still contempt of a court order.

If you are unable to pay in terms of your maintenance order the correct court procedures still need to be followed, and you cannot simply just not pay.

Section 6 of the Maintenance Act requires you to open a complaint with the maintenance officer, and to show Good Cause for the substitution or discharge of your current order.

“Good Cause” can be interpreted to mean change in circumstances.

You will be successful in the application for a substitution or discharge of your maintenance order if you can prove (with bank statements and salary slips) that you have had a reduction in income and cannot pay the current maintenance amount.

If COVID-19 has resulted in you being retrenched, or your salary been reduced and you cannot pay the current maintenance order, you would be successful in a maintenance reduction as you have had a change in circumstances.