Abstract:
The Women’s Charter (Cap 353, 2009 Rev Ed) was amended in 2016 to allow incapacitated husbands to apply for spousal maintenance. However, there remains little discussion as to who would constitute an “incapacitated husband” for the purposes of maintenance even a decade later. This article explores the legislative intent behind allowing incapacitated husbands to apply for maintenance, and examines how the term has been understood in the few select cases that have come before the courts. This author concludes that the courts could be more alive to the distinct statutory elements that must each be satisfied before an applicant may properly be regarded as an “incapacitated husband”. The author also suggests that the purpose of an award of maintenance to an “incapacitated former husband” is primarily needs-based, which differs conceptually from the principles that underpin spousal maintenance for a former wife.