MARIAMMA A/P SUPPAN v 1. ) SURESH KUMAR A/L VELU 2. ) KAALA DEVI A/P GOPALAKRISHNAN

Case Significance

Confirms that a child's completion of tertiary education can constitute a material change in circumstances justifying a downward variation of maintenance under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, and that maintenance received for a child no longer entitled may be ordered refunded.

This High Court decision at Seremban concerns an application to vary a child maintenance order made under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976. The parties had divorced by consent, and an earlier order required the former husband to pay maintenance for the three children of the marriage. That figure had already been reduced once — from RM5,000 to RM3,500 a month — on the basis that he had a new family to support. The present application, brought by the former husband, sought a further reduction of one-third on the ground that the eldest child had completed her tertiary studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia in September 2024 and had thereby ceased to be a dependant.

The governing question was whether a material change in circumstances had been shown sufficient to justify varying the order. The court accepted that a child who has graduated and is legally capable of entering the workforce is no longer entitled to maintenance, and that requiring a father to continue supporting such a child would impose a financial burden no longer justified by the child's needs. It was significant that the former wife had not informed the former husband that the eldest child had completed her studies, obliging him to make his own enquiries with the university. The court found her conduct in withholding that information, and in applying maintenance received for the graduated child towards the second child's expenses, to be mala fide; the proper course, it observed, would have been to apply to the court for an increase in the younger child's maintenance rather than to divert funds.

The court allowed the application, reducing the monthly maintenance from RM3,500 by one-third (RM1,167.00) to RM2,333.00 for the two remaining children, and ordered the former wife to return the sums overpaid after the eldest child's graduation. Costs were awarded. The judgment illustrates the approach to varying maintenance once a child completes tertiary education and is regarded as capable of self-support.