# Maintenance of parents in Pakistan: can a court make sons pay? > Yes. A mother or father left dependent and without means can go to the Family Court. The sons get a full hearing too. - Topic: Family - Court: Lahore High Court - Citation: Writ Petition No. 58342 of 2025 - The myth: "Maintenance (kharcha) cases are only for wives and children." Verdict: Wrong: dependent parents can claim it from their sons in the Family Court. - Watch: https://failegal.site/media/maintenance-of-parents-pakistan-family-court-sons-2025 (video https://failegal.site/media/maintenance-of-parents-pakistan-family-court-sons-2025/reel.mp4, 1:09) - Published by FAI Legal on 2026-11-11 Parents can claim maintenance (kharcha) from their sons in court. On 27 October 2025 the Lahore High Court held that a mother or father, if left dependent and without means, can file a suit for maintenance against their sons in the Family Court, and that the court can fix a monthly amount while the case is being heard (Writ Petition No. 58342 of 2025, paras 7 and 8). The same ruling protected the sons' right to be heard: the quick penalty that the law gives wives and children, shutting out a defendant who does not pay on time, cannot be used in a parent's case (para 8). ## Key points - A parent can sue: "this Court has no hesitation in holding that a mother or father, if left dependent and without means, can competently invoke jurisdiction of the Family Court to seek maintenance from their sons." (para 7). - The law's own list says only "Maintenance". Had the legislature meant to limit it, the Court said, "it would have explicitly written Maintenance of wife and child at serial No.3" (para 6). - The duty comes from Islamic law, as the Court quoted it: "Children in easy circumstances are bound to maintain their poor parents, although the latter may be able to earn something for themselves." (para 7). - A monthly amount can be fixed while the case runs: "the Family Court is fully empowered to fix and direct the payment of interim maintenance during the pendency of a suit filed by any parent and enforce such judicial orders" (para 8). - The sons must be heard. Striking off a defence for late payment is for a wife's or a child's case only; here the decree was set aside and the suit is to be "decided afresh strictly in accordance with law" (paras 8, 9 and 12). ## Maintenance of parents in Pakistan: the short answer You are old, your savings are gone, and your sons earn well but send nothing. Can a court order them to pay your kharcha? Yes. The Lahore High Court decided the point on 27 October 2025: a mother or father, if left dependent and without means, can go to the Family Court for maintenance from their sons (para 7). People search this as maintenance of parents, can a parent claim maintenance from a child, parents maintenance case, and in Roman Urdu waldain ke huqooq. Many believe a maintenance case is only for wives and children. The Court called that reading wrong, and this page sets out why. ## The case: a mother and her four sons A mother in Lahore sued her four sons for maintenance. She said she was "an aged and dependent lady having no independent source of income", and that her sons were "well-placed and capable of maintaining her". One son answered that she was financially independent (para 2). The High Court did not decide who was right on those facts; that is for the Family Court. She then filed another suit for maintenance against two of the sons. In it the Family Court, on 20 May 2025, fixed interim maintenance and told the sons to pay "on or before 14th day of each month". On 3 June 2025 the same court struck off their defence and decreed the suit, and on 3 September 2025 the appeal court upheld that (paras 1 and 2). ## The objection: only wives and children? One son took the matter to the Lahore High Court. His counsel's first point was that "the Family Court has no jurisdiction to entertain claim of maintenance of any parent". The second was about section 17-A of the Family Courts Act, 1964, which lets a court strike off the defence of a defendant who does not pay interim maintenance on time: that section, he said, is only for a wife or a child (para 3). The mother's counsel answered that sons are religiously, morally and legally bound to maintain their parents, particularly a parent left without means (para 4). A lawyer appointed to assist the Court said the word "maintenance" in the Act's Schedule is wide enough to cover parents (para 5). ## We read it in FAI Legal The judgment is on FAI Legal's Judgment Search, marked as a citation from the court record, with every paragraph open in the judgment reader. The paragraphs quoted on this page are paras 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12. The Schedule of the Family Courts Act, 1964 is on Statute Search. ## The ruling: a mother or a father can The Court began with the Act's own list. Part I of the Schedule names the matters a Family Court hears: dissolution of marriage, dower, maintenance, restitution of conjugal rights, custody and more. Item 3 is one word. If the legislature had meant only a wife's or a child's maintenance, the Court said, "it would have explicitly written Maintenance of wife and child at serial No.3", as it did use such specific words elsewhere in the same Act (para 6). So: "A claim of maintenance by dependent parents against their sons, being a family dispute rooted in familial obligations, squarely falls within the domain of family affairs and is therefore well within the jurisdiction of the Family Court." (para 6). Who owes it comes from Islamic law, and the Court quoted the rule: "Children in easy circumstances are bound to maintain their poor parents, although the latter may be able to earn something for themselves." And for a father: "A son, who, though poor, is earning something, is bound to support his poor father who earns nothing." (para 7). The holding is one sentence: "this Court has no hesitation in holding that a mother or father, if left dependent and without means, can competently invoke jurisdiction of the Family Court to seek maintenance from their sons." (para 7). ## Why the sons won this round The son was right on his second point. Section 17-A speaks of interim maintenance "for wife or a child", and it carries a heavy penalty: a defendant who does not pay by the fourteenth loses his defence and the suit is decreed. A penalty like that is read strictly, the Court said, so it "cannot be pressed into service by the Family Court in a suit for maintenance filed by parents against their sons." (para 8). There was a second fault. The sons had until the 14th, yet "coercive measures were initiated on the 3rd day of the following month, even before the expiry of the prescribed period." The Court said this "amounts to denial of due process." (para 9). Both decrees were set aside, and: "The matter is remanded to the Judge Family Court where the suit shall be deemed to be pending, which shall be decided afresh strictly in accordance with law." (para 12). A parent is not left waiting, though. The Court added that "the Family Court is fully empowered to fix and direct the payment of interim maintenance during the pendency of a suit filed by any parent and enforce such judicial orders", and that "every endeavor should be made to decide such cases within the period of six months prescribed in section 12A of the Act ibid." (para 8). ## Dependent parent? What you can do If you have no means of your own and your sons can support you, the place to go is the Family Court, with a suit for maintenance. Be ready to show two things: that you are dependent and without means, and what your sons earn. You can ask the court to fix a monthly amount while the case is being heard (paras 7 and 8). Expect your sons to be heard as well; the court decides the amount on the evidence of both sides. Your case may be different: talk to a lawyer about your own papers. Many families settle this without a court, and the ruling does not stop that. ## Find rulings like this on FAI Legal FAI Legal is a website: open failegal.site in your phone's browser, there is nothing to download. Ask your question in plain words, read the Family Courts Act on Statute Search, and see this judgment in full on Judgment Search. Your case may be different, so ask about yours. ## The case at a glance - **Facts:** A mother sued her four sons for maintenance, saying she was aged, dependent and without any income of her own, and that they were well placed; one son said she was financially independent (para 2). In a second suit against two of the sons the Family Court at Model Town, Lahore fixed interim maintenance on 20 May 2025, payable on or before the 14th of each month; on 3 June 2025 it struck off the defence under section 17-A and decreed the suit; the appeal court upheld that on 3 September 2025 (paras 1 and 2). One son filed a constitutional petition. - **The question:** Whether a parent can file a suit for maintenance against children in the Family Court, and whether section 17-A of the Family Courts Act, 1964 (interim maintenance, and the striking off of the defence) applies to a parent's suit (paras 3 and 6). - **What the Court held:** A mother or father, if left dependent and without means, can invoke the jurisdiction of the Family Court to seek maintenance from their sons (para 7). Section 17-A's penalty is confined to a wife's or a child's maintenance and cannot be used in a parent's suit, but the Family Court can fix and enforce interim maintenance for a parent (para 8). The petition was allowed, both decrees were set aside and the suit is to be decided afresh (para 12). - **Why:** Item 3 of Part I of the Schedule says only "Maintenance"; the legislature used restrictive words elsewhere and did not use them here (para 6). The Act does not say who owes maintenance to whom, so Islamic law applies, under which children in easy circumstances must maintain their poor parents (para 7). A provision with penal consequences is construed strictly (para 8). Acting on the 3rd of the month, before the 14th, denied due process (para 9). - **Limits:** This is a single judge's ruling of the Lahore High Court. It settles a question of law; it does not decide whether this mother is entitled to maintenance or how much, which went back to the Family Court (para 12). The Court left open the son's objection that this was a second suit between the same parties (para 10). The holding speaks of sons; a claim against daughters was not before the Court. The parent has to be dependent and without means. ## The law it relies on - **Family Courts Act, 1964, Section 5 and the Schedule, Part I, item 3 (Maintenance); section 17-A (interim maintenance):** Section 5 gives the Family Court exclusive jurisdiction over the matters listed in Part I of the Schedule. Item 3 of that list is one word, "Maintenance."; item 9, by contrast, names "a wife and a child". Section 17-A lets the court fix interim monthly maintenance "for wife or a child" and strike off the defence of a defendant who does not pay by the fourteenth of the month; the Lahore High Court held that this penalty cannot be used in a parent's suit (para 8). ## What this does not mean - It does not mean this mother won her maintenance. The High Court set the decree aside and sent the suit back; whether she is dependent and what her sons should pay is for the Family Court to decide on evidence (para 12). - It does not mean any parent can claim from any child. The Court's words are "if left dependent and without means" (para 7), and the amount depends on what the sons can afford. - It does not mean sons can be decreed against without a hearing. The fast penalty of section 17-A is for a wife's or a child's case; in a parent's suit the sons' defence has to be heard (para 8). - The reel's old father, his broken money pot and the courtroom are a picture of the question. The real case is a mother's; the ruling covers "a mother or father". Nobody in the case is named here. ## Questions people ask ### Can parents claim maintenance from their sons in Pakistan? Yes. On 27 October 2025 the Lahore High Court held that a mother or father, if left dependent and without means, can file a suit for maintenance against their sons in the Family Court (Writ Petition No. 58342 of 2025, para 7). ### Is a maintenance case only for a wife and children? No. Part I of the Schedule to the Family Courts Act, 1964 lists "Maintenance" without naming who can claim it. The Lahore High Court said that if the legislature had meant only a wife or child, "it would have explicitly written Maintenance of wife and child at serial No.3" (para 6). ### Can the court order monthly maintenance for a parent while the case is pending? Yes. The Court said the Family Court is fully empowered to fix and direct the payment of interim maintenance during the pendency of a suit filed by any parent, and to enforce its orders (para 8). What it cannot do in a parent's case is strike off the sons' defence under section 17-A for late payment. ### Which is the case law on maintenance of parents? Lahore High Court, Writ Petition No. 58342 of 2025, decided on 27 October 2025. It quotes the rule of Islamic law that children in easy circumstances are bound to maintain their poor parents, and that a son who is earning something is bound to support his poor father who earns nothing (para 7). ### Waldain ke huqooq: kya maa baap beton se kharcha le sakte hain? Ji haan. Lahore High Court ne 27 October 2025 ko kaha ke maa ho ya baap, agar mohtaj hon aur apna koi zariya na ho, to beton se kharche ke liye Family Court ja sakte hain. Court case ke dauran mahana kharcha bhi muqarrar kar sakti hai. ## Sources - A v. Additional District Judge and others (names withheld), Writ Petition No. 58342 of 2025, Lahore High Court, 27 October 2025. A mother or father, if left dependent and without means, can sue their sons for maintenance in the Family Court; item 3 of the Schedule to the Family Courts Act, 1964 is not confined to a wife or child. The Family Court can fix interim maintenance in a parent's suit, but section 17-A's striking off of the defence cannot be used; the decree was set aside and the suit sent back. - Family Courts Act, 1964, Section 5 and the Schedule, Part I; section 17-A (the Schedule checked in FAI Statute Search, 11 November 2026; section 17-A as the Court set it out (para 8)) (official text: https://punjabcode.punjab.gov.pk/en/show_article/VWBQZAY3VmU-) ## What the reel says Maintenance of parents in Pakistan: can old parents take their sons to court for kharcha? Here's a real case from Lahore. A mother said she had no income of her own, so she sued her four sons for monthly maintenance. The Family Court fixed a monthly amount. One son didn't accept that. He went to the Lahore High Court and said the Family Court is only for wives and children. Here's what the High Court said on 27 October 2025: 1. A mother or a father who's dependent and has no means can go to the Family Court for maintenance from their sons. 2. The law's own list just says "maintenance". It doesn't say "of wife and child", so the Court wouldn't read that in. 3. The duty comes from Islamic law: children who are doing well have to maintain their poor parents. 4. The court can fix a monthly amount while the case is being heard. 5. The sons get a fair hearing too. The first court had ruled against them on the 3rd, though they'd been given until the 14th to pay. So the case goes back to be heard again. So if you're a parent with nothing of your own, the Family Court's door is open to you. We can't tell you about your own case here, so talk to a lawyer. Full story: failegal.site/media/maintenance-of-parents-pakistan-family-court-sons-2025 Was the court right? Tell us what you think, no names. --- Educational legal information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Speak to a lawyer about your own case. Last checked: 11 November 2026. Review status: Pending advocate review. English: https://failegal.site/media/maintenance-of-parents-pakistan-family-court-sons-2025 ยท Urdu: https://failegal.site/media/ur/maintenance-of-parents-pakistan-family-court-sons-2025 FAI Media is part of FAI Legal (https://failegal.site), research on Pakistani statutes and judgments. Free to watch and read.