MARRIED WOMEN AND CHILDREN (ENFORCEMENT OF MAINTENANCE) ACT 1968

Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 794 MARRIED WOMEN AND CHILDREN (ENFORCEMENT OF MAINTENANCE) ACT 1968 (Revised—2017) REVISED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968 2017 1 2 Act 794 Laws of Malaysia MARRIED WOMEN AND CHILDREN (ENFORCEMENT OF MAINTENANCE) ACT 1968 Revised up to … … … … 2 October 2017 Date of publication in the Gazette of this revised edition … … 16 October 2017 Date appointed for coming into operation of this revised edition pursuant to paragraph 6(1)(xxiii) of the Revision of Laws Act 1968 [Act 1] … … … … 16 October 2017 First enacted in 1968 as Act of Parliament No. 8 of 1968 Previous Revision First Revision … … … 1988 (Act 356 w.e.f. 1 December 1988) Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) LAWS OF MALAYSIA 3 Act 794 MARRIED WOMEN AND CHILDREN (ENFORCEMENT OF MAINTENANCE) ACT 1968 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section 1. Short title 3. Interpretation 2. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Application Power of court to make an attachment of earnings order Nature of attachment of earnings order Effect of attachment of earnings order Duty of defendant and employer to comply with attachment of earnings order Additional powers of court in attachment of earnings order proceedings Power of court to determine what are earnings Payment of money under attachment of earnings order Where earnings paid by Government or out of Consolidated Fund Penalties for non-compliance with attachment of earnings order and for giving false notice or statement 13. Order to make payment to court 15. Modification 14. Application to States 4 Laws of Malaysia Act 794 5 Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 794 MARRIED WOMEN AND CHILDREN (ENFORCEMENT OF MAINTENANCE) ACT 1968 An Act to provide for the enforcement of maintenance orders. [21 March 1968] Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) Act 1968. Application 2. This Act applies to Peninsular Malaysia. Interpretation 3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “defendant”, in relation to a maintenance order or a related attachment of earnings order, means the person liable to make payments under the maintenance order; “court” means a court of competent jurisdiction to make a maintenance order; “employer” means a person by whom, as a principal and not as a servant or agent, earnings are to be paid to a defendant; 6 Laws of Malaysia Act 794 “earnings”, in relation to a defendant, means any sums payable to him— (a) by way of wages or salary, including any fees, bonus, commission, overtime pay or other emoluments payable in addition to wages or salary by the person paying the wages or salary or payable under a contract of service; or (b) by way of pension, including gratuity and an annuity in respect of past services, whether or not the services were rendered to the person paying the annuity, and including periodical payments by way of compensation for the loss, abolition or relinquishment, or any diminution in the emoluments, of any office or employment; “maintenance order” means— (a) an order made under section 3 of the Married Women and Children (Maintenance) Act 1950 [Act 263]; (b) an order for the payment of periodical sums by way of maintenance or alimony to a wife or for the benefit of any child under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 [Act 164]; and (c) a maintenance order confirmed by the court under the Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act 1949 [Act 34], and where this Act are applicable by virtue of an authorization under section 14 to or in respect of a maintenance order made by a Syariah Court, includes such order; “attachment of earnings order” means an order made under section 4. Power of court to make an attachment of earnings order 4. (1) Notwithstanding any written law to the contrary, the court may, upon the application of the person for whose maintenance the order is made or the guardian of such person, make an attachment of earnings order if the court considers it just so to make. Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) 7 (2) An application for an attachment of earnings order may be made in the proceedings in which a maintenance order is applied for or in any subsequent proceedings. Nature of attachment of earnings order 5. (1) An attachment of earnings order shall require the person to whom the order in question is directed, being a person appearing to the court to be the defendant’s employer, to make out of the earnings which are to be paid to the defendant payments in satisfaction of the order. (2) The amount to be prescribed in an attachment of earnings order shall be such sum as to the court shall seem reasonable after taking into account the resources and needs of the defendant and the needs of persons for whom the defendant must or reasonably should provide. (3) An attachment of earnings order shall contain, so far as the particulars are known to the court making the order, such particulars as may be prescribed for the purpose of enabling the defendant to be identified by the person to whom the order is directed. (4) An attachment of earnings order or any variation of the order shall not come into force until the expiration of seven days from the date when a copy of the order is served on the person to whom the order is directed. (5) An attachment of earnings order shall designate the officer to whom the payments under the order are to be made. Effect of attachment of earnings order 6. (1) When an attachment of earnings order is made, all other proceedings for the enforcement of the related maintenance order begun before the making of the attachment of earnings order shall be suspended. 8 Laws of Malaysia Act 794 (2) The court by which an attachment of earnings order has been made may, if it thinks fit, on the application of the defendant or a person entitled to receive payments under the related maintenance order, make an order discharging or varying the attachment of earnings order. (3) An attachment of earnings order shall cease to have effect— (a) upon the issue of a warrant directing that the amount payable under the related maintenance order shall be levied in the manner provided by law for levying fines; (b) upon the making of an order sentencing the defendant to imprisonment for failure to comply with the related maintenance order; and (c) upon the rescission of the related maintenance order. (4) Where an attachment of earnings order ceases to have effect under subsection (3), the court making such order shall give notice of the cessation to the person to whom the order was directed. Duty of defendant and employer to comply with attachment of earnings order 7. (1) A person to whom an attachment of earnings order is directed shall, notwithstanding anything in any other written law but subject to this Act, comply with the order or, if the order is subsequently varied under section 6, with the order as so varied. (2) Where on any occasion on which earnings are to be paid to a defendant there are in force two or more attachment of earnings orders relating to those earnings, then, for the purpose of complying with this Act the employer shall— (a) deal with those orders according to the respective dates on which they came into force disregarding any later order until all earlier orders have been dealt with; and (b) deal with any later order as if the earnings to which it relates were the residue of the defendant’s earnings after the making of any payment under this Act in pursuance of any earlier order. Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) 9 (3) An employer, who in pursuance of an attachment of earnings order makes a payment under this Act, shall give to the defendant a statement in writing specifying the amount of that payment. (4) Where the person to whom an attachment of earnings order is directed has, during the period of one month immediately preceding the day on which the order is served on him, on no occasion been the defendant’s employer, he shall forthwith give notice in writing to that effect in the prescribed form to the court. Additional powers of court in attachment of earnings order proceedings 8. (1) Where proceedings relating to an attachment of earnings order are brought in any court, the court may either before or at the hearing— (a) order the defendant to give to the court, within such period as may be specified by the order, a statement signed by him of— (i) the name and address of his employer, or of each of his employers if he has more than one; (ii) such particulars as to the defendant’s earnings as may be so specified; and (iii) such prescribed particulars as may be so specified for the purpose of enabling the defendant to be identified by his employer; and (b) order any person appearing to the court to be an employer of the defendant to give to the court, within such period as may be specified by the order, a statement signed by him or on his behalf of such particulars as may be specified by the order, of all earnings of the defendant which are to be paid by that person during such period as may be so specified. (2) A document purporting to be such a statement as is mentioned in subsection (1) shall, in any such proceedings as are so mentioned, be received in evidence and be deemed to be such a statement without further proof unless the contrary is shown. 10 Laws of Malaysia Act 794 Power of court to determine what are earnings 9. (1) The court by which an attachment of earnings order has been made shall, on the application of the person to whom the order is directed or of the defendant or of the person in whose favour the order was made, determine whether payments to the defendant of a particular class or description specified by the application are earnings for the purposes of that order; and the person to whom the order is directed shall be entitled to give effect to any determination for the time being in force under this subsection. (2) A person to whom an attachment of earnings order is directed who makes an application under subsection (1) shall not incur any liability for failing to comply with the order as regards any payments of the class or description specified by the application which are made by him to the defendant while the application, or any appeal in consequence of the order, is pending. (3) Subsection (2) shall not apply to such payments if the person subsequently withdraws the application or, abandons the appeal, as the case may be. Payment of money under attachment of earnings order 10. (1) The court to whom an employer pays any sum in pursuance of an attachment of earnings order shall pay that sum to such person entitled to receive payments under the related maintenance order as is specified by the attachment of earnings order. (2) Any sums received by virtue of an attachment of earnings order by the court shall be deemed to be payments made by the defendant so as to discharge— (a) firstly, any sums for the time being due and unpaid under the related maintenance order (a sum due at an earlier date being discharged before a sum due at a later date); and (b) secondly, any costs incurred in proceedings relating to the maintenance order which were payable by the defendant when the attachment of earnings order was made or last varied. Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) 11 Where earnings paid by Government or out of Consolidated Fund 11. (1) In relation to earnings which are to be paid by the Government or out of the Consolidated Fund, the earnings shall be treated as to be paid by the chief officer of the department, office or other body concerned. (2) Subject to subsection (3), if any question arises in connection with any proceedings relating to an attachment of earnings order— (a) as to the