On 19 September 2025, the Ministry of Law (“MinLaw“) announced that Phase 2 of the Maintenance Enforcement Process (“MEP“) would commence on 1 October 2025 to include first-time applications to enforce payment of maintenance arrears of S$10,000 or more owed to applicants under maintenance orders (i.e. maintenance orders made under the Women’s Charter 1961, the Guardianship of Infants Act 1934, the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966 and the Maintenance of Parents Act 1995). However, this excludes where there is any pending appeal against the maintenance order, or the time for appeal has not yet lapsed.
The MEP seeks to: (i) deter non-payment of maintenance; (ii) make enforcement easier when there is non-payment of maintenance: (iii) facilitate sustainable maintenance outcomes; and (iv) increase access to justice for applicants, especially those who are self-represented. Following the passing of the Family Justice Reform Act 2023 in Parliament on 8 May 2023, Phase 1 of the MEP commenced on 16 January 2025, where the MEP was made available to eligible repeat maintenance enforcement applications. This refers to applications to enforce a maintenance order in respect of which: (i) there is at least one concluded maintenance enforcement application (i.e. the application and any appeal have been disposed of, and/or the time for appeal has lapsed); and (ii) there is no pending maintenance enforcement application.
In future phases, the MEP will be expanded to cover more categories of maintenance enforcement applications. For more information on the MEP, please refer to our December 2024 – January 2025 NewsBytes article titled “Commencement of Phase 1 of New Maintenance Enforcement Process (w.e.f. 16 January 2025) to Deter Non-Payment and Facilitate Enforcement“.
The MEP process for Phase 2 is as follows:
- Application: Applicants who wish to enforce a maintenance order can file their applications directly with the Family Justice Courts (“FJC“) or through an authorised agency (e.g. the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations and ServiceSG Centres at Our Tampines Hub and OnePunggol). The FJC will refer eligible maintenance enforcement applications to Maintenance Enforcement Officers (“MEOs“) from MinLaw’s Maintenance Enforcement Division (MED). If the application is not eligible for the MEP, the FJC’s existing maintenance enforcement process will apply.
- Conciliation: The MEOs will conduct conciliation to facilitate amicable and sustainable settlement between the parties. In conciliation, which replaces the existing mediation process, the MEOs will play a more active role in seeking information and recommending solutions to the parties.
- Information-gathering: The MEOs are also empowered to obtain information from the parties and, if necessary, banks and other third parties (including public agencies such as the Central Provident Fund Board, the Housing & Development Board, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Land Authority and the Land Transport Authority). This will ensure that the resolution of the maintenance enforcement application is based on the parties’ true financial circumstances.
- Report: The MEOs will then submit a report to the FJC, which will enable the FJC to more accurately determine the parties’ financial circumstances and distinguish between respondents who cannot pay maintenance and those who refuse to pay, and to make more targeted and effective enforcement orders to recover maintenance arrears.
- Fees: As with Phase 1, respondents referred to the MEP because of their failure to pay maintenance as ordered will have to pay a fee of S$180 for the follow-up undertaken by the MEO.
Click on the following link for more information:
- MinLaw Press Release titled “Next Phase of the Maintenance Enforcement Process to Commence on 1 October 2025” (available on the MinLaw website at mlaw.gov.sg)
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