Divorce & custody9 min read
Maintenance (nafaqa) in Qatar: for a wife, for children, and how it is set
Faysel Al-MohannadiLawyer admitted before the Court of Cassation · Reviewed on
Short answer
In Qatar, a husband must maintain his wife during the marriage and her waiting period (iddah), and a father his young children. Maintenance covers food, clothing, housing and medical care. Judges set the amount by the payer's means, the recipient's situation and economic conditions (Article 62), can order temporary maintenance, and the Enforcement Court enforces judgments.
What types of maintenance does Qatari law recognise?
Qatar's Family Law, issued by Law No. 22 of 2006, sets out who is owed maintenance and who must pay it. A wife's maintenance covers food, clothing, housing, medical care and everything customarily needed for daily life (Article 61).
| Type | Who pays, and to whom | What it covers | Articles |
|---|---|---|---|
| A wife during the marriage | The husband, under a valid contract, unless she refuses to live with him as his wife | Food, clothing, housing, medical care and daily needs, including a suitable home where he lives | 61, 64 |
| Waiting period (iddah) | The former husband, after a talaq or an annulment (faskh), unless the annulment was caused by her. A pregnant woman is maintained until she gives birth | Maintenance for the whole waiting period | 70 |
| A widow's waiting period | The estate. Any temporary maintenance is deducted from her inheritance share | Housing in the marital home during the waiting period, and temporary maintenance if she asks | 71 |
| Children | The father, for a young child with no money, until a daughter marries and a son can earn a living, unless he is a student making normal progress | Food, clothing, housing, medical care, schooling and necessary travel | 75, 76 |
| Custody fee | The child's guardian pays the custodian once the marriage has actually ended, until women's custody ends | A fee set by the guardian's and the custodian's situation | 178 |
| Custody housing | The child's guardian, if the child or the custodian has no home | Suitable housing, or rent | 181 |
| Parents and relatives | A child with means, for parents in need; then relatives with means who would inherit | What is reasonably needed | 74, 80, 82 |
- A father also maintains an adult child who cannot earn and has no money, and a daughter who is divorced or widowed with no money of her own (Article 75).
- If the mother cannot breastfeed, the father pays the cost of nursing the child, and it counts as maintenance (Article 77).
- A mother with means must maintain the child if the father or paternal grandfather is missing and they have no money, or if they cannot pay (Article 78).
Mut'ah is not maintenance but a separate payment owed to a divorced wife when the husband caused the divorce (Article 115). Our guide to child custody in Qatar covers the custody fee and housing in more detail.
When does a wife's maintenance stop?
A wife is not owed maintenance if the law treats her as nashiz (withdrawing from the marriage without a lawful excuse). Article 69 lists these cases, and each one applies only where there is no lawful excuse:
- She refuses to live with her husband as his wife, or refuses to move to the marital home.
- She leaves the marital home.
- She stops her husband from entering the marital home.
- She refuses to move with her husband when he relocates, or travels without his permission.
- She works outside the home without her husband's consent, unless he is unreasonable in refusing it.
During the waiting period after a revocable talaq, maintenance lapses if the wife leaves the marital home without a lawful excuse (Article 72). The duty to maintain a wife ends on payment, on release by the wife, or on the death of either spouse (Article 73). Whether an excuse exists is for the judge to assess on the facts.
How does the court set the amount?
The law sets no fixed figure and no fixed share of salary. Article 62 tells the judge to weigh three things: the payer's means, the recipient's situation, and economic conditions at the time and place. Other articles then shape the claim itself:
| Rule | What it means in practice | Article |
|---|---|---|
| List every item | The claimant must include all financial claims in one case. Anything left out cannot be claimed in a new case until a year after the first-instance judgment | 59 |
| A wife's past maintenance | No more than three years before the case was registered, unless the spouses agreed otherwise | 61 |
| Proving past payment | While the spouses lived together, the husband is presumed to have paid. The wife must prove otherwise, or the husband's word on oath is accepted | 61 |
| Children and relatives | Maintenance runs from the date the case is registered | 79, 84 |
| Increase or reduction | Allowed when circumstances change, but a claim is heard only a year after the amount was set, unless the payer's finances change. The change runs from the date the new case is registered | 60, 61 |
| Dispute over the guardian's means | The guardian must prove he cannot pay. Otherwise the custodian's word on oath is accepted | 179 |
| Several people owed maintenance | The wife comes first, then the children, then parents, then other relatives. Ongoing maintenance ranks ahead of all other debts | 83 |
Evidence of income and real expenses matters, such as a salary certificate, a tenancy contract and school and medical bills.
Can maintenance be ordered while a case is pending?
Yes. The law allows urgent maintenance before a final judgment in three situations:
- During a case, the judge can order temporary maintenance for the wife at her request, and the order can be enforced straight away (Article 63).
- In a separation case, the judge must order the temporary measures needed for the maintenance of the wife and children, custody and visits (Article 102).
- After a talaq, at the request of those concerned, the judge issues an order setting maintenance for the waiting period, the children's maintenance, custody and visits, which can be enforced straight away (Article 114).
Create a National Authentication System (Tawtheeq) account, then log in to the courts' e-services portal yourself or through a lawyer.
Choose "Register a family case" and add the other party by Qatar ID or passport number.
Select the case type, list every maintenance item, attach the facts and documents, and ask for temporary maintenance if you need it.
Court staff review the request and return it to complete registration. Maintenance cases carry no court fee (Civil and Commercial Procedure Law, Article 537).
Our guide to the Family Court in Qatar explains registration, hearings and appeals step by step.
How is a maintenance judgment enforced if it is not paid?
The Enforcement Court alone enforces judgments, including maintenance judgments, under the Judicial Enforcement Law, issued by Law No. 4 of 2024 (Articles 2 and 3). Family judgments are enforced by the methods in that law, with police help if needed, and enforcement can be repeated as often as required (Article 45).
The person owed maintenance files an enforcement request online ("Register a civil/family enforcement request"), selecting the case, the judgment and the parties.
The court notifies the payer at their national address and gives them ten working days to pay (Article 31).
If the payer does not pay, the judge takes measures step by step, considering everyone's circumstances (Article 36).
| Measure | Limit | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Attaching and selling assets | Up to the value of the judgment | 36 |
| Attaching salary or pension | Up to a quarter of the total. When debts compete, half of the attached amount goes to maintenance | 57 |
| Attaching money held by banks and others | The judge can trace and attach the payer's money held by others, who must disclose it | 100, 101 |
| Travel ban | Where there are serious grounds to fear the payer will flee or hide assets | 39 |
| Detention | Up to three months in a year, if the payer can pay and was ordered to but did not. The law lists cases where detention is not allowed | 42, 43 |
Maintenance sums awarded by a court cannot themselves be attached, except up to a quarter to pay other maintenance owed (Article 53). If a husband fails to provide maintenance, the wife may also ask for separation on that ground, under the conditions in Articles 137 to 142 of the Family Law.
In 2019 the Supreme Judiciary Council announced a maintenance fund with the Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani Foundation for Social Care, which pays court-awarded maintenance that is hard to collect and recovers it from the payer. In 2023 it announced a prepaid card for receiving maintenance paid into court deposits. Ask the court whether these still run and apply to you.
When should you speak to a lawyer?
Many families agree on maintenance without a long dispute. Early legal advice can still help when:
- You disagree with the other party about their real income, or the children's actual expenses.
- You need urgent maintenance during a divorce, khula or custody case.
- Maintenance has not been paid for a long time, and you want to know what can be claimed for the past.
- Your circumstances or the other party's have changed, and you are thinking about asking for an increase or a reduction.
- A maintenance judgment has not been paid, or you have received notice of an enforcement request.
- One of you is not Qatari or lives outside Qatar, or you differ in religion or school of law, so another law may govern maintenance.
What the law says
This guide relies on Qatar's Family Law, issued by Law No. 22 of 2006, in particular Articles 4, 59 to 84, 102, 114, 115, 137 to 142, 178, 179 and 181. It also relies on Articles 2, 3, 31, 36, 39, 42, 43, 45, 53, 57, 100 and 101 of the Judicial Enforcement Law (Law No. 4 of 2024), Article 537 of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law (Law No. 13 of 1990), and Articles 16, 21 and 38 of the Civil Code (Law No. 22 of 2004). The texts were checked on Al Meezan on 18 October 2026, and we found no amendment to the Family Law articles cited.
Read on Al MeezanQuestions people ask
No. The judge sets maintenance case by case, weighing the payer's means, the recipient's situation and economic conditions at the time and place (Article 62). That is why evidence of income and real expenses carries weight.
A wife can claim past maintenance, but no more than three years before the case was registered, unless the spouses agreed otherwise (Article 61). Children's maintenance runs from the date the case is registered (Article 79).
Yes, it can be increased or reduced when circumstances change. A new claim is heard only a year after the amount was set, unless the payer's finances change (Article 60).
Not simply because she works. Article 69 treats a wife as nashiz if she works outside the home without her husband's consent, unless he is unreasonable in refusing it.
The Family Law applies to followers of the Hanbali school, and to others who ask for it or differ in religion or school (Article 4). Otherwise a wife's maintenance may follow the law of the husband's nationality at the time of the marriage, and maintenance between relatives the law of the payer's nationality (Civil Code, Articles 16 and 21), unless it conflicts with public order in Qatar (Article 38).
This guide is general information about Qatari law, not advice on your case.
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Ask about your situation
If you have a question about a wife's or children's maintenance, how it is set, or enforcing a maintenance judgment, you can ask us about your situation and the options open to you.