1 There were two applications before me: MSS 98 and 188 of 2026 (“MSS 98”) and (“MSS 188”). Both applications were fixed for trial before me on 20 May 2026.

2 I heard the trial and allowed both applications after hearing oral arguments from parties. These are the reasons for my decision.

3 I begin by sketching out a brief history of the dispute between parties. The Wife had filed for divorce, and proceedings had concluded with the extraction of the final judgment on 19 March 2024.

4 The ancillary matters were settled by consent. It provided, amongst other things, that the Husband would transfer, on the 15th day of every month, a sum of $1837 as maintenance for the two children.

5 The Husband subsequently took out applications seeking sole custody, care and control of the two children. He also sought an order that the Mother pay a monthly sum of $613 as her share of the children’s expenses.

6 These applications were heard by District Judge Chia Wee Kiat (“DJ Chia”). The Husband had exhibited DJ Chia’s grounds in his bundle of documents. ¹ Those grounds made clear that the Mother was ordered to pay a monthly sum of $631 with effect from March 2025.

7 As it transpired, parties had each accrued arrears in respect of the child maintenance which they were supposed to pay pursuant to the court orders that had been made. That was how parties came to file cross-applications against each other for the enforcement of maintenance arrears.

8 MSS 98 was the Wife’s application against the Husband. She sought to enforce arrears which came up to $2704.31 as of 20 May 2025.

9 MSS 188 was the Husband’s application against the Wife. He sought to enforce arrears which came up to $7268 as of 20 May 2025.

10 For MSS 98, I found that the arrears came up to $2704.31. Neither the Wife, nor the Husband, disputed this figure.

11 For MSS 188, I found that the arrears came up to $6743. The Wife admitted that she did not pay the monthly maintenance of $613 from March 2025 to January 2026. While the Husband also claimed arrears for the month of February 2025, on the basis that the sum of $525 formed part of the Wife’s obligation to maintain the children, there was no merit to his claim for the simple reason that, in the month of February 2025, there was no court order for the Wife to pay maintenance.

12 The next question I came to was whether these sums should be enforced against the Husband and Wife respectively.

13 I saw no reason as to why these sums should not be enforced against both the Husband and the Wife. For one, the Wife had told me that she did not pay the monthly sum of $613 as she thought that she could set it off against the arrears that the Husband owed to her.

14 The Husband had also provided a similar reason. He explained that while he had paid the monthly maintenance of $1837, he discovered from the children that they did not have money for their school expenses. These were expenses which, according to the Husband, should have been borne by the Wife out of the $1837 monthly sum that he was paying her. The Husband explained that he had to step in to pay for the children’s expenses and so decided to unilaterally set off these sums against what was owed under the court order. This led to him paying less than the $1837 monthly sum which he had to pay pursuant to the consent order.

15 Crucially, while the Husband acknowledged that he had to comply with the court order to pay the $1837 monthly sum, he sought to justify what he had done on the grounds that this was the logical thing to do in order to ensure that the children were clothed and fed.

16 Ultimately, court orders must be complied with. That is what court orders are for. It is not for parties to, unilaterally, take matters into their own hands and then seek to justify their non-compliance thereafter at the enforcement stage. Doing so would only frustrate the legitimate expectations set by the court order.

17 In my judgment, these arrears must be enforced against both the Husband and the Wife. The next question I had to consider was the manner in which these arrears are to be enforced. One potentially practical way of doing so would be to set off the sums owed against each other.

18 I was not minded to do so for the simple reason that both the Husband and the Wife had demonstrated a clear willingness to take matters into their own hands and disregard maintenance orders made by the court. It was clear to me that this was, in part, driven by the acrimonious relationship between them. In addition, I also considered that allowing the sums to be set off would send the wrong signal: that one party could escape the consequences of their failure to pay maintenance by virtue of the fact that their accrued arrears was smaller than that of their spouse.

19 In the circumstances, I made the following enforcement orders:

(a) The Husband shall:

(i) Pay off the arrears of $2704.31 in instalments of $225 on or before 30 June 2026 and the remaining $2479.31 in instalments of $225 on or before the last day of each month with effect from 01 July 2026.

(ii) These payments are to be made to the Wife’s designated bank account.

(iii) The Husband shall show proof of payment for the months of June, July and August.

(iv) In the event the Husband defaults on showing proof of payment of the maintenance arrears, he shall be imprisoned for 2 days.

(b) The Wife shall: 

(i) Pay off the arrears of $6743 in instalments of $562. The first instalment shall be paid on or before 30 June 2026 and the remaining $6181 in instalments of $562 on or before the last day of each month with effect from 01 July 2026.

(ii) These payments are to be made to the Husband’s designated bank account.

(iii) In the event the Wife defaults on showing proof of payment of the maintenance arrears or the payable maintenance, she shall:

(A) Serve 2 days imprisonment for non-payment of the maintenance arrears;

(B) Serve 2 days imprisonment for non-payment of payable maintenance.

20 Given the orders I had made, I declined to make the attachment of debt or earnings order that the Husband sought.

21 I would strongly urge parties to try and move forwards with their lives, and to leave their unhappy past behind them.