A non-custodial parent fails to provide financial support for their child after separation
Premiumintermediate8 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“I am not paying anything. You chose to have the child — that is your problem now.”
Following separation or divorce, the non-custodial parent — typically the father — refuses to contribute financially to the child's upbringing. This leaves the custodial parent (usually the mother) solely responsible for school fees, medical expenses, food, and clothing. Many custodial parents in Kenya do not know that child maintenance is a legal obligation — not a favour — and that courts have effective enforcement powers including attachment of earnings and imprisonment for non-compliance.
The Fallacy
Parental Separation Ends Financial Responsibility
The refusing parent treats the end of the relationship with the other parent as ending their obligations to the child. Kenyan law is clear: parental responsibility for a child's maintenance and welfare belongs to both parents and does not end with separation, divorce, or the end of any relationship. The child's right to be maintained by both parents exists independently of the relationship between the parents. A court order for maintenance can be obtained against a non-cooperating parent and enforced with significant legal consequences for non-payment.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Children Act, 2022 (No. 29 of 2022)
Section 26 and 27 — Parental Responsibility and Maintenance Obligation
“Both parents of a child have parental responsibility for the child. Parental responsibility includes the obligation to maintain the child, which means providing for the child's basic needs including food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and education. Parental responsibility does not cease upon separation or divorce.”
Both parents are legally obligated to maintain their child. The obligation is proportionate to each parent's means. A parent who has the financial capacity to contribute to their child's maintenance and refuses to do so is violating the Children Act. The custodial parent can apply to the children's court for a maintenance order.
Children Act, 2022 (No. 29 of 2022)
Section 99 and 100 — Maintenance Orders and Enforcement
“A court may make an order requiring a parent to make periodic payments for the maintenance of a child. Failure to comply with a maintenance order may be enforced by attachment of earnings, distress on property, or committal to prison.”
A maintenance order from the children's court is legally binding and enforceable. If the non-paying parent ignores the order, the court can attach their wages directly, seize property, or imprison them for contempt. The child's right to maintenance is one of the most enforceable rights in Kenyan family law.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
1 Timothy 5:8 (NIV)
“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
Paul's statement is among the most direct in Scripture about financial obligation to family — particularly to one's own children. A father who abandons his children financially is not just legally in breach; he has abandoned a responsibility that Scripture describes as fundamental to faith. The law's enforcement mechanisms exist because many children in Kenya are left in poverty by the failure of this duty, and God's heart is consistently for the vulnerable child.
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What They'll Say Next
Common Counter-Arguments
After you respond, they may push back with these arguments. Members get the full rebuttal for each.
They might say: “We were never married — I have no legal obligation to a child from a relationship.”
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They might say: “I give gifts and buy things for the child sometimes — that counts as maintenance.”
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