Lahore High Court Rules Parents Cannot Compromise on Children’s Maintenance Rights
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has set aside a decision to reduce the monthly maintenance of two children to Rs30,000 each with the consent of their parents, ruling that parents cannot compromise on the legal rights of their children.
Justice Usman Ghani Rashid Cheema issued a six-page order in a case concerning the maintenance of minor children.
According to the order, parents may reach mutual agreements on various matters, but they cannot bargain away their children’s legal rights. The court ruled that parents cannot reduce or waive a minor child’s maintenance through mutual consent.
Allowing the petition filed by a minor girl, the Lahore High Court held that maintenance is the legal right of the child, not the parents. It further stated that a mother, acting as the child’s guardian, has no authority to waive or reduce the child’s maintenance entitlement.
The order stated that parents cannot reduce or extinguish a child’s legal rights through a mutual settlement. It also clarified that a family court is not bound to accept an agreement between parents and must independently assess the child’s needs and welfare when determining maintenance.
The court further observed that the father’s financial capacity and social status must also be considered while fixing the maintenance amount. It emphasized that the child’s needs and best interests take precedence over the parents’ consent.
The Lahore High Court remanded the matter to the family court, directing it to determine the maintenance afresh after assessing the children’s needs and the father’s financial capacity.
According to the case record, the family court had ordered monthly maintenance of Rs50,000 for the children in 2012, with an annual increase of 10 percent.
However, in 2024, with the mother’s consent, the monthly maintenance of the minor girl and her brother was reduced to Rs30,000 each.
