Why Muslim Mothers Give Up On Claiming Child Support From Errant Ex Husbands

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Civil and Shariah lawyer Nor Liana Ali said legal fees for lawyers in the Klang Valley for a single family law case at the Shariah courts could range from an estimated RM5,000 to RM15,000, depending on whether it is contested and goes to trial. — Picture by Yusof Mat IsaMany Muslim women cannot afford the time and money to file a court claim for the ex-husband to pay for the child's financial support, and are forced to stop at just getting a divorce in court.It can take an estimated minimum RM5,000 in legal costs for Muslim women in the Klang Valley to file for divorce at the Shariah courts. Imagine repeatedly paying similar sums to file separate Shariah court claims for child custody and child maintenance.This is because the Shariah courts tends to hear such claims as separate court cases, unlike the civil courts where non-Muslim couples can settle it all in one case and only need to pay the legal fees onceKUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 —Imagine this scenario: a Muslim woman is now divorced and a single mother raising her young children.
She needs money from the ex-husband so that her children's needs are met, but she decides not to apply for a Shariah court order to claim for child maintenance.
Why?
Shariah lawyer Nor Liana Ali estimates that eight out of every 10 clients she had would only file for divorce at the Shariah courts, and would not file to claim for child support as they could not afford it.
“One, because they have no money. Another, the husband’s location is unknown, the husband is unemployed, or they feel it is not worth it,” she told Malay Mail.
How much does it cost? Imagine paying RM5,000 again and again
Nor Liana confirmed that a woman would typically have to file separate cases at the Shariah court for each step of the process, such as:
one case for divorce;
one case for child custody;
one case to get a court order on child maintenance;
one case to enforce the court order by getting the ex-husband to pay for child maintenance.
Because these multiple cases are filed separately, a client would have to pay legal fees multiple times to a Shariah lawyer, as each case would be considered a separate "file".
Asked for a ballpark figure for legal fees in the Klang Valley, Nor Liana said it could cost at least RM5,000 just to open a file with a Shariah lawyer.
If the other spouse disputes the matter and it has to go for trial, the legal bill could go up to RM15,000 for just one file, she said.
She said it could even possibly go up to RM30,000 for certain multi-stage Shariah court processes in family law cases.
But these are just rough estimates, with Nor Liana saying there are no standard rate for Shariah lawyers’ fees as they do not have a governing body like the Bar Council.
She said the legal fees could vary from state to state, and could be cheaper in smaller towns. For example, it could be as low as RM1,500 to open a file with a Shariah lawyer in Pahang, although legal fees would vary from town to town within the state too, she said.
What will the total bill look like?
In comparison, non-Muslim couples at the civil courts have the option of settling their divorce and related matters in just one case.
Nor Liana explained that there is the option of filing a joint petition for divorce in the civil courts, where couples can list out all the points they agree on in a divorce: including child custody, child maintenance, wife maintenance or alimony.
This means there is only a one-time payment (also estimated to start from RM5,000 in the Klang Valley) to settle everything from divorce to child support in the civil courts, she confirmed.

SIS Forum (Malaysia) communications manager Ameena Siddiqi said low-income mothers would give up on pursuing their child's right to financial support from their ex-husbands, because they do not have the money for legal costs. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
Low-income women or B40 group hit hard by legal cost barrier
Women’s rights advocacy group SIS Forum (Malaysia) communications manager Ameena Siddiqi said mothers may be reluctant to fork out another few thousands in ringgit to open a separate file with lawyers for child maintenance, after paying for the divorce case at the Shariah courts.
This is because they are uncertain how much the entire process will eventually cost after factoring in other legal costs, such as for lawyers’ court appearances.
Apart from legal costs and a time-consuming court process, mothers also have to consider other costs such as for transportation, and may also not have the luxury of using babysitting services while they go to court.
Ameena told Malay Mail an anecdote about a mother who lived quite far out from the court and who only had RM50 in hand at one time: ‘So whether I feed my children with this RM50, or do I go to court?’. So these kinds of stories, they don’t have the money, because it’s expensive.”
“Imagine someone who is in the B40 group, so a lot of them give up going to court,” she said of mothers who stop at the divorce stage without pursuing their children’s rights to financial support.
In SIS Forum’s February report titled The Financial Rights of Low-Income Muslim Women within the Islamic Legal System in Selangor and the Federal Territories, only 49 per cent of the women surveyed pursued financial claims at the Shariah court, while the rest did not pursue such claims.
The same survey found 35 per cent of the women had claimed for child support, and that their cases were resolved in less than a year at the Shariah court — mostly at the one at Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur.
For those who succeeded in child support claims, 74 per cent reported that their ex-husbands did comply with court orders to pay child support (most paying in the same year as the court order, and some only paying several years later). The rest did not receive child maintenance, even after getting the court order.
According to a November 2024 written reply at the Selangor state legislative assembly, child maintenance cases can take up to two years to resolve at the Shariah court, if both spouses could not come to an agreement at the mediation stage.
Proposal to streamline family cases at Shariah courts into just one case; more access
At SIS Forum's recent launch of its 2024 Telenisa report, Selangor lawmaker Nurul Syazwani Noh proposed to have a “one file, one process” solution just like in the civil courts, and said Muslims too should be allowed to settle and enforce divorce and other related matters in just one case.
“When filing for divorce, we discuss straightaway, how much is the child’s maintenance, who will care for the child, where to deduct the salary to. And we can bring this judgment and execute it directly, no need to go for it one by one,” the lawyer and Bersatu’s Permatang state assemblyman said.
Here are some proposals by SIS Forum in its Telenisa 2024 report to improve access to legal services:
Establish a subsidised Shariah legal aid scheme in every state for the B40 group;Train, mobilise more volunteer Shariah lawyers via NGOs and legal institutions;Develop an official digital information platform on women's rights and Shariah court procedures in simple and multilingual formats.- malaymail

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