The question of whether a Jewish father with custody of a minor child can get maintenance for him paid by the mother depends on whether she is Jewish or not and upon the minor’s age.

This is because his maintenance obligation depends on his personal law, Jewish religious law. If his wife is not Jewish their child is not Jewish, and his maintenance obligation will be covered by civil law as Jewish religious law will not oblige him to support the minor.

If the wife/mother is Jewish then the father is not entitled to file the mother for maintenance if the child is under 15 because the burden of supporting the minor falls solely on the father until that age. From 15 onwards, both parents are responsible for supporting the child, depending on their relative incomes.

Alternatively, if the wife/mother is non-Jewish the father may be entitled to get some maintenance for the child as civil law –the Family Law (Maintenance) Amendment Act of 1959- shares the burden between both parents, depending on their relative incomes, irrespective of the minor’s age.