{"id":5070,"date":"2024-06-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/?p=5070"},"modified":"2024-09-09T09:11:31","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T01:11:31","slug":"family-law-divorce-redefining-spousal-support-financial-independence-in-divorce-proceedings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/family-law-divorce-redefining-spousal-support-financial-independence-in-divorce-proceedings\/","title":{"rendered":"FAMILY LAW \u2013 DIVORCE \u2013 REDEFINING SPOUSAL SUPPORT &#8211; FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE IN DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>1. <strong><u>Illustrative scenario<\/u>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>X (husband) and Y (wife) are both employed as insurance agents. They registered their marriage in October 2014 and welcomed their son, Z, in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, their marriage deteriorated due to frequent arguments and conflicts. Y accused X of having extramarital affairs based solely on a shirtless selfie. Y further escalated tensions by uploading a video with disparaging remarks about X, knowingly tarnishing his image and reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2019, Y and Z left the matrimonial home. In October 2020, Y filed for divorce, and X responded with a cross-petition in December 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Y seeks a one-time spousal maintenance payment of RM750,000 from X, and maintenance for Z either as a lump sum of RM1.8 million or a monthly amount of RM15,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Issues:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Should financially independent women expect spousal maintenance from their former husbands upon divorce?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the current age of gender equality, should financially self-reliant women share the responsibility of maintaining themselves and their children after divorce?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>2. <strong><u>Laws &amp; Legal Principles<\/u>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em><u>Section 77(1) of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (LRMDA)<\/u><\/em><\/strong> grants the court discretionary power to order spousal maintenance, as indicated by the use of the term &#8216;may&#8217;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When assessing maintenance, the court considers the degree of responsibility for the marriage breakdown and applies the &#8216;means and needs&#8217; test according to <strong><em><u>Section 78 of the LRMDA 1976<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Key factors in the &#8216;means and needs&#8217; test:<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The current and foreseeable future income, earning capacity, property, or financial resources of each party;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The current and foreseeable future financial needs, obligations, and responsibilities of each party;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the marriage breakdown;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any existing health, physical, or mental disabilities of the parties;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The respective contributions of each party to the welfare of the family; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The duration of the marriage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>3. <strong><u>Application to Scenario:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In this scenario, the court is likely to find that the marriage&#8217;s irretrievable breakdown was due to Y&#8217;s actions, as there is no solid evidence supporting her allegations of adultery against X.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Regarding the &#8216;means and needs&#8217; test, the fact that Y never sought interim maintenance while living apart from X raises questions about the urgency of her financial needs. Given Y&#8217;s ability to earn sufficient income, it would be unjust for X to bear perpetual spousal maintenance. The court will likely require Y to share the financial responsibility for their child, Z.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>4. <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Reference cases:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em><u>ACH v PAY<\/u><\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>[2024] 8 MLJ 114<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Shameni Pillai a\/p PB Rajedran v. S Arulselvam a\/l Sanggilly and Rafidah bt Mat Taib (responden bersama)<\/u><\/em><\/strong> [2010] MLJU 1333; [2011] 6 CLJ 782<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>V Sandrasagaran Veerapan Raman v. Deetarassar<\/u><\/em><\/strong> [1999] 5 CLJ 474<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A divorce case involving two insurance agents raises crucial questions about spousal maintenance for financially independent women and their shared responsibility in child support. The court will assess each party&#8217;s financial capacity and contributions, considering modern principles of gender equality and the &#8216;means and needs&#8217; test under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5070"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5074,"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070\/revisions\/5074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yhalaw.com.my\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}