21/01/2026
MAINTENANCE: Your Ability to Pay.
Maintenance is meant to support, not to punish or cripple the paying party.
Where a maintenance order has been made and the person ordered to pay applies for a variation due to changed financial circumstances, the court has a duty to assess the means of the parties.
No one should be compelled to pay or continue paying a sum that is clearly beyond their current means. The law does not require the impossible.
Courts must strike a balance between: The needs of the child or former spouse, and the present financial capacity of the paying party.
This principle was reaffirmed in Chimuka v Sibanda (Appeal 126 of 2016) [2020] ZMSC 142, where the court held that maintenance must remain fair, realistic, and responsive to changed circumstances.
Know your rights.
Maintenance must be reasonable, not ruinous.
Humphreylaw Attorneys
Legal and marriage clinic with Humphrey Oses
