During divorce proceedings, it comes as no surprise that the division of marital assets is usually one of the main disputes between spouses following the breakdown of a marriage. In Malaysia, the Court will consider each spouse’s contribution before dividing the marital assets.
Child maintenance for non-Muslims is governed under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (“LRA”). In Peninsular Malaysia, additional powers are given to the Court under the Married Women & Children Maintenance Act 1950 (“MWCMA”).
In divorce proceedings, marital assets are frequently one of the most contested issues where spouses will respectively seek to lay their claim over these assets. It is not uncommon, especially in high net worth divorces, that a party will attempt to hide/dispose assets in order to defeat or reduce the value of the other party’s claim to it. This typically involves transferring assets to a third party such as a family member, channelling assets into a trust, or transferring monies to an offshore bank account.
In our previous article, we discussed about the enforcement of a Court Order obtained after the divorce proceedings. One of the terms that often included in the Court Order is spousal and/or children maintenance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many businesses, resulting in people suffering from job losses or pay cuts whereby their income has been completely stopped or significantly reduced. In turn, this would undoubtedly affect a divorced or separated spouse’s ability to meet their spousal and/or child maintenance obligation as ordered by the Court.
