Maintenance is an amount of money that a person has to pay towards another person based on a legal duty to support that person. A legal duty to support a person is based on the relationship between the persons, the need to be supported and the ability to support.
Parents, guardians and or the caregivers of the child can apply for maintenance on behalf of a child. All children are entitled to receive maintenance from their parents, irrespective of whether the child is born during a marriage or out of wedlock. Adopted children are also entitled to receive maintenance from their parents, however they are not allowed to receive maintenance from their biological parents. Parents are also allowed to receive maintenance from their children if the parents have little to no income and only if the children have the financial means to do so.
An application for maintenance can be made against a defendant (a person who must pay maintenance) at any Maintenance Court in the district where the complainant (the person who applies for maintenance) or the child, on whose behalf maintenance is claimed, resides or works.