Part X of the Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) is headed Enforcement of Decrees. An order for maintenance is only as good as the means of enforcing it.
Section 86 — attachment and sequestration
Subject to the Rules, the Court may enforce by attachment or by sequestration an order made by it under this Act for —
- payment of maintenance or costs; or
- in respect of custody of or access to children.
Attachment here means attachment of the person — arrest and detention for contempt in failing to comply with the order. Note subsection (2)’s reference to release “from custody”.
Sequestration is a writ under which the defaulter’s property is taken into the hands of sequestrators until the order is obeyed.
The reach of section 86(1) is worth noting: it covers custody and access orders, not only money. A parent who withholds a child in breach of an order made under section 74 may be attached.
The Court shall order the release of a person attached on being satisfied that he has complied with the order; and may at any time, if satisfied that it is just and equitable, order release notwithstanding that he has not complied.
Where a person attached for failure to comply with an order for maintenance or costs becomes a bankrupt, he shall not be kept in custody for more than six months after he becomes a bankrupt, unless the Court otherwise orders.
Subsection (2) makes that clear: compliance produces release as of right, and the Court may release a person who still has not complied where that is just and equitable — typically where it has become plain they cannot pay.
Subsection (3) makes the same point about a bankrupt. Imprisoning someone with no assets achieves nothing. See the Insolvency Act (Chapter 253) on bankruptcy.
Section 87 — recovery under decrees
Where a decree orders the payment of money to a person, the money may be recovered as a judgement debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.
A decree may be enforced, by leave of the Court and on such terms and conditions as the Court thinks proper, against the estate of a deceased party.
Subsection (1) opens the ordinary armoury of civil execution — writs of levy, garnishee proceedings against a bank or an employer, charging orders. The creditor is not confined to the matrimonial machinery.
Subsection (2) means death does not extinguish arrears. A payer who dies owing maintenance leaves the liability against the estate, subject to leave. That protects a former spouse and children who would otherwise lose everything on the payer’s death.
Leave is required because the estate is administered for creditors and beneficiaries generally, and the court controls how a matrimonial claim takes its place among them.
Section 88 — registering in a lower court
Where the Court has made an order for payment of maintenance, the order may be registered, in accordance with the Rules, in a court of summary jurisdiction; and an order so registered may, subject to the Rules, be enforced in the same manner as if it were an order for maintenance of a deserted wife made by that court.
| Without registration | After registration |
|---|---|
| Enforcement in the National Court | Enforcement in the local District Court |
| Lawyer usually necessary | Established summary maintenance procedure |
| Travel to a National Court registry | The court where the payer lives |
| Slower, more expensive | Faster, cheaper, repeatable for each default |
Maintenance defaults are small and repeated. Returning to the National Court each month is not practical for a payee with no money — which is the whole reason the order exists.
Section 88 moves enforcement to the District Court, which handles maintenance work as ordinary business, and treats the order as if it had been made there. Registration also unlocks attachment of earnings: Schedule 2.3 allows an application to the National Court or to a court in which the order is registered under section 88.
Where the payer has moved to another country, or an order made elsewhere is to be enforced in Papua New Guinea, the Maintenance Orders Enforcement Act (Chapter 279) provides the reciprocal machinery. For other means of enforcement, see sections 89 to 91 and the injunction power in section 96.
Sources
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Marriage Act (Chapter 280) and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.