How to Obtain Maintenance If the Husband Is Outside Jordan?

The right to maintenance under Jordanian law does not lapse merely because the husband resides outside the Kingdom; maintenance remains owed so long as its grounds exist. Article 68 of the Personal Status Law addresses the maintenance of an absent man's wife, allowing the judge to impose maintenance for her based on evidence establishing the marriage and her inability to maintain herself.

Article 69 provides that the judge imposes maintenance against an absent person who has present property, a debtor, or someone whose maintenance he owes, after verifying that the marriage subsists and the ground for maintenance is established. Children's maintenance likewise remains owed by an absent father under Article 187, assessed according to his means under Articles 64 and 189.

A husband's absence outside Jordan therefore does not exempt him from maintenance, and the entitled person may claim it before the Sharia Court after proving the marriage or lineage and the ground for maintenance.

Assessing whether the marriage and the ground for maintenance are established, and the amount, remains within the court's competence on the facts and evidence in each case.

This is a general explanation based on Jordanian Personal Status Law and does not replace advice from a qualified lawyer in a specific dispute.