KUALA LUMPUR: A man who remarried must continue to strictly fulfil financial obligations to his ex-wife under a spousal maintenance arrangement, a High Court ruled recently.
Judge Evrol Mariette Peters said remarriage could be considered a change in circumstances, but a closer look was needed to determine if it's significant enough to vary the terms of the financial arrangement.
She found that in this case, the man's entry into a new marriage did not change his financial responsibility to his ex-wife, identified only as "NAN", Free Malaysia Today reported.
Thus she dismissed an application from the man — anonymised as "PAN" — to alter the arrangement.
She said this in a 21-page judgment that was released on July 28.
PAN and NAN had separated in 2000, with the former agreeing to pay the latter RM5,000 monthly as "maintenance".
They divorced in 2015 and PAN agreed to pay the same amount.
PAN, who is 78 now, had sought to change the spousal maintenance to RM1,000 a month, citing his declining health and the cost of providing for his new family.
He also said in his application that he was paying RM10,000 a month for his daughter's education abroad.
Peters said courts generally do not view voluntary changes in financial circumstances as grounds to vary the terms of a spousal maintenance agreement.
She said PAN's decision to send his daughter overseas did not constitute an involuntary or unforeseen change in his financial situation.
"If PAN had refused to 'cut his coat according to his cloth', it would be unfair for NAN to be at the receiving end of PAN's action," she added.