Saturday 14 / November / 2026
Oman’s Personal Status Law, issued under Royal Decree 32/97, establishes the legal framework governing the maintenance of wife and children, specifying its scope, the basis for its assessment and the conditions of entitlement.
Speaking exclusively to the Times of Oman, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Zadjali, Chairman of Mohammed Ibrahim Law Firm, explained that “maintenance covers subsistence, clothing, housing, medical treatment and all that is essential to human life according to custom. Its assessment considers the provider’s capacity, the recipient’s status, and the economic situation at the time and place.”
He added that “the husband must maintain his wife from the date of a valid marriage contract, even if she is self-sufficient. He must provide her with an appropriate home suited to their circumstances. Maintenance is not due if the wife, without a legitimate excuse, withholds herself from her husband, refuses to move into the matrimonial home, abandons it, or prevents her husband from entering it, or if she refuses to travel with him without a legitimate excuse. A wife may be awarded no more than one year’s maintenance preceding the judicial claim, unless the spouses otherwise agree.”
“The father is responsible for maintaining his minor children who have no property or whose property is insufficient. This obligation continues for a daughter until she marries and for a son until he reaches the age at which his peers earn a living, unless he is pursuing his studies with consistent success. The father must also maintain an adult child who is unable to earn a living due to permanent disability or another cause, provided the child has no property from which he can spend. If the father is missing and has no property, or is unable to provide maintenance, the well-off mother must maintain the child, provided no guardian is capable of doing so,” he noted.
He added that “the father must bear nursing costs if the mother cannot nurse. Where the payer cannot meet all claims, maintenance priority goes to the wife, followed by children, parents and other relatives. The judge may award up to six months’ child maintenance from the father before the judicial claim.”
“After divorce, the judge determines the wife’s iddah maintenance and children’s maintenance upon request, in an order subject to expedited enforcement. During judicial divorce proceedings, the judge decides on necessary temporary measures to secure their maintenance,” he concluded.
* ((Mohammed Ibrahim Law Firm ([email protected]), (+968 244 87 600) was established on 14th December 2006 and is serving clients through its offices in Muscat and Sohar, as well as operating on a request basis in other areas).
