Maintenance arrears are considered provable debts in bankruptcy, requiring court leave for recovery under the Insolvency Act.

[1] This application concerns a short but interesting point whether leave of the Court is required under s 8(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1967 to attach the earnings of a bankrupt to recover arrears of maintenance payable under a Court order made in matrimonial proceedings.

Background Facts

[2] The respondent is the ex-husband of the petitioner ("the wife"). There are two children in this marriage.

[3] The parties were granted a decree of divorce on 9 October 2019 and the husband was ordered, among others, to pay spousal and children maintenance of RM1,500.00 and RM2,000.00, respectively. The Court order directed as follows:

(a) Responden harus membayar pempetisyen nafkah pasangan sejumlah RM1,500.00 dan dimasukkan ke dalam akaun RHB pempetisyen no 10103500391364 dan akan terus membayar sehingga beliau berkahwin semula. Responden akan membayar nafkah bagi anak-anak perkahwinan tersebut sejumlah RM2,000.00 setiap seorang sehingga mereka mencapai umur 18 tahun atau sehingga mereka menghabiskan pengajian ke peringkat menara gading. Kesemua bayaran tersebut harus dibuat sebelum 7 haribulan setiap bulan dan ianya bermula secara serta merta dari tarikh perintah ini;

(b) Responden akan membayar bagi pendidikan tinggi anak-anak untuk membolehkan kedua-dua Rayshirlene Sharysha Raymond Simon dan Shirelene Rysha Raymond Shilendran untuk menghabiskan pengajian ijazah pertama dari sebuah universiti;

(c) Responden harus menanggung kesemua hutang tertunggak atau mana-mana kekurangan bagi kereta BMW dengan nombor pendaftaran WC 2825N yang telah dilelongkan oleh bank (Maybank). Manakala bagi kereta Honda City dengan nombor pendaftaran JSDF 6572 memandangkan ianya di bawah nama pempetisyen, pempetisyen akan sambung membayar bagi pinjaman tersebut termasuk mana-mana jumlah tertunggak kepada bank (Hong Leong Bank Berhad); dan

(d) Responden akan membayar kos sebanyak RM8,000.00 bagi petisyen ini.

[4] The husband was adjudged a bankrupt on 9 February 2022. The wife entered a proof of debt on 28 June 2022 with the Insolvency Department to claim the sum of RM136,448.19 as arrears of maintenance due under the Court order (at [3]).

[5] A few days thereafter, to be specific, on 4 July 2022, the wife filed two applications. The first was to seek for an order to attach the earnings of the husband under ss 4 and 8 of the Married Women and Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) Act 1968 and the second was for security for costs pursuant to O 23 of the Rules of Court 2012. The application for security for costs was subsequently withdrawn and struck out.

[6] In her application for the attachment of earnings order, the wife sought the following orders:

(i) Pendapatan responden ditahan dan dibayar kepada pempetisyen dan anak-anak sebagai peruntukan nafkah yang dibenarkan dan diputuskan menurut Perintah Mahkamah Tinggi Shah Alam bertarikh 9 October 2019 dan juga Perintah Mahkamah Rayuan bertarikh 30 September 2020 sejumlah wang sebanyak RM5,500.00 setiap bulan dimana ianya termasuk nafkah pasangan sebanyak RM1,500.00 dan nafkah anak-anak sebanyak RM2,000.00 bagi setiap anak;

(ii) Kesemua tunggakan nafkah pasangan, anak-anak, bayaran rumah Bandar Putra, bayaran kereta BMW dan kos petisyen perceraian harus dibayar dan diselesaikan dengan segera; dan

(iii) Kos prosiding penahanan pendapatan ini ditanggung oleh Responden.

[7] In her affidavit in support, the wife averred that the attachment order is necessary as the husband has persistently failed to comply with his maintenance obligations although his current monthly salary is RM18,228.00. She complained that she is facing hardship as the husband has been paying only RM500.00 to the Insolvency Department to settle his debt to her and two other cr