Child Support in Jordan
Child support is one of the most sensitive and most frequent personal status files before the Jordanian Sharia courts, because it touches a daily need of the child that cannot be postponed, and it usually intersects with divorce and custody disputes and becomes as complicated as they are. The legislature regulated its rules in the Jordanian Personal Status Law No. 15 of 2019, which made the child's interests the foundation and placed the primary responsibility for providing maintenance on the father, but left the assessment of the amount, the conditions of entitlement and the questions of when it ends to the court's discretion according to the facts of each family. Because the difference between sufficient maintenance and deficient maintenance, or between a right that is preserved and a right that is lost through an error in timing or in drafting the claim, is often decided in fine details, managing this file begins with an assessment by a lawyer specializing in Sharia cases before filing the lawsuit or responding to it.
1. Who Is Obliged to Pay Child Support?
The basic rule is that a minor child's maintenance (nafaqa) is owed by the father as the natural guardian, as long as the child has no property of their own. If the child has property of their own, they are provided for from it; if they have none, maintenance falls on the father alone, without the mother sharing in it as a basic rule.
When the father is absent or unable to provide maintenance, the child is not left without maintenance; it passes to whoever is obliged by Sharia in a specific order, and it remains a debt owed by the father that can be recovered from him when he becomes solvent. Determining who is obliged to pay maintenance when the father is absent, and whether recourse against him is possible later, are among the matters the lawyer examines according to the family's circumstances and the order of those responsible for maintenance.
2. Conditions of Entitlement to Maintenance and How Long It Lasts
Entitlement to a minor child's maintenance rests on two basic elements: that the child be poor, with no property to be provided for from, and that the child be unable to earn because of young age or a disability or impairment that prevents them from working. Whenever these two descriptions are present, maintenance is owed by the father.
How long it lasts differs between sons and daughters:
| Aspect | Son | Daughter |
|---|---|---|
| When maintenance continues | Until he reaches the age at which others like him earn a living, extended if he is devoted to study and qualified for it until he completes the first university degree | Until she marries or works with earnings sufficient for her |
| Reason for continuation | Devotion to education together with aptitude for it | Remaining without marriage or earnings |
| When it ends | Independence through sufficient earnings or the ability to earn them | Marriage or attaining earnings |
This distinction is not a theoretical detail; disputes often arise over whether the son is "qualified for education and devoted to it" or able to earn, a point the lawyer assesses according to the student's actual situation and course of study before claiming maintenance or pleading that it has ended.
3. How Is Child Support Assessed?
The law does not set a fixed figure for maintenance or a mathematical formula that every father applies; it leaves its assessment to the court on the basis of a balance between two elements: the father's solvency or hardship on the one hand, and the child's actual need on the other, provided that maintenance is in no case less than the level of sufficiency that meets the necessities. For this reason, the maintenance awarded differs greatly from one family to another depending on the father's income, the family's standard of living and the number of children.
Because the assessment is discretionary by nature, the evidence presented to the court of the father's real income and the child's needs is what makes the difference in the amount awarded. Proving the father's real solvency when he conceals it, or proving the actual need when the other party denies it, is among the most delicate tasks the lawyer handles in these lawsuits.
Practical note: The maintenance awarded is not necessarily final; it can be increased when the father's circumstances improve or the cost of living rises, and reduced when his financial situation deteriorates, by means of a separate lawsuit. The timing and basis of a request to modify it are among the matters a specialist lawyer assesses according to the circumstances that have arisen.
4. What Child Support Covers
Maintenance is not limited to food and clothing, but extends to everything on which the child's decent living depends: food, clothing, housing, medical treatment and education expenses. The law obliged a solvent father to educate his children up to the first university degree, and he may choose the type of education that suits his circumstances, subject to rules governing his withdrawal from the choice of private education or transferring the child from their school.
Education and medical expenses are considered part of the maintenance owed, and in some of their forms they may be counted as a debt owed by the father, to be recovered when he becomes solvent, if someone else bore them on his behalf. Determining what falls within maintenance and what is claimed by a separate lawsuit is among the points the lawyer arranges when structuring the lawsuit, so that no element of the child's right is lost.
5. The Custodian's Housing Allowance
The housing allowance is an independent financial right the law grants the custodial mother to secure suitable housing for the child in custody, and it is considered an element of the child's maintenance because housing is one of the necessities of the child's living. The custodial mother is entitled to it when she has no owned home or suitable home in which she lives with the children; if she has one, the allowance is not owed.
The point where errors are common is that a judgment for child support (food, clothing and education) does not automatically include the housing allowance unless it is expressly provided for; nonetheless, its omission from the judgment does not extinguish the right to it, since the custodial mother may still claim it by a separate lawsuit. Its value is assessed on the basis of the provider's means, solvency or hardship, and it is counted from the date of the judicial claim for it. Because confusing the custodial mother's housing allowance in her capacity as custodian with the wife's housing in her capacity as wife may reverse the outcome of the lawsuit, characterizing the claim correctly is one of the first things the lawyer settles.
6. The Custodian's Right to Claim and Receive Maintenance
The custodian — usually the mother — has the right to claim and receive the child's maintenance and to file lawsuits relating to the child until the child reaches the age of majority. This procedural right makes the custodian the party who manages the maintenance file on the child's behalf, including claiming accrued arrears and enforcing the judgments issued for it through the enforcement departments when the father refuses to pay. Managing this enforcement track, including attachment and pursuit, requires close legal follow-up so that the maintenance actually reaches the person entitled to it.
7. When Does Child Support End or Change?
Child support is not a perpetual right at a single fixed level; it ends when its cause ceases to exist, as when the son becomes independent through sufficient earnings or is able to earn them, or the daughter marries or works with earnings sufficient for her. Its amount also changes, upward or downward, as the father's solvency and the child's need change. Past accrued maintenance has its own rules on claiming and lapse, and delay in claiming it may affect part of it.
Because the grounds for ending or modifying maintenance are raised by both parties — the father who seeks to end or reduce it, and the custodian who insists on its continuation or increase — determining whether a ground for ending it has actually arisen, and who bears the burden of proving it, is a delicate legal question the lawyer settles after reviewing the family's actual situation, not by hasty personal judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is obliged to pay child support under Jordanian law?
The basic rule is that maintenance is owed by the father as the natural guardian as long as the child has no property. When the father is absent or unable to pay, it passes to whoever is obliged by Sharia in a specific order, and it remains a debt owed by the father that can be recovered from him when he becomes solvent. Determining who is responsible for maintenance when the father is absent differs according to the family's circumstances.
How is child support assessed?
There is no fixed figure or uniform mathematical formula; the court assesses maintenance by balancing the father's solvency or hardship against the child's need, provided that it is not less than the level of sufficiency. For this reason, the amount awarded differs from one family to another and depends essentially on the evidence presented to the court of the father's real income and the child's needs, which is what the lawyer handles.
When does child support end?
Maintenance ends when its cause ceases to exist: when the son becomes independent through sufficient earnings or is able to earn them, or when the daughter marries or works with earnings sufficient for her. It may also change, upward or downward, as the father's circumstances change. Whether a ground for ending it has arisen in a particular case, and who bears the burden of proving it, is a matter the lawyer assesses according to the file.
Does child support include the custodian's housing allowance?
The housing allowance is an element of the child's maintenance, but it is not automatically included in the maintenance judgment unless it is expressly provided for. Its omission does not extinguish the right to it, since it can be claimed by a separate lawsuit whenever the custodial mother has no suitable home.
Until what age does child support continue?
A son's maintenance continues until he reaches earning age, extended if he is devoted to study and qualified for it until he completes the first university degree. A daughter's maintenance continues until she marries or works with earnings sufficient for her.
Can maintenance be increased or reduced after the judgment is issued?
Yes, maintenance can be modified by a separate lawsuit when circumstances change: it is increased when the father's circumstances improve or the cost of living rises, and reduced when his financial situation deteriorates. Assessing the basis and timing of the modification is among the matters the lawyer settles according to what has arisen.
Legal Consultation
Child support is a sensitive file from both sides at once: from the side of the custodian, who wants to secure the child's needs in full and fears losing part of the right through an error in drafting or timing the claim, and from the side of the father, who may face a claim that exceeds his real means and needs to set out his financial situation accurately. Because the assessment is discretionary and rests on evidence, and because elements of maintenance may be lost or curtailed merely through an error in characterizing the lawsuit, engaging a specialist lawyer early makes a real difference in the outcome. For those seeking an accurate assessment of their file, the firm provides specialist legal consultation in Sharia cases, informed by its work on related subjects such as the lawsuit for separation for discord and dispute, the paternity lawsuit under Jordanian law, the effect of a husband's drug use on divorce, custody and maintenance and the custody housing allowance and furniture allowance under Jordanian law. You can contact Alabwini Law Firm & Legal Consultancy to review the file and discuss the available options.
