THE Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) says there has been a surge in cases of spouses tampering with their payslips to avoid paying higher maintenance figures for their minor children. Ropafadzo Mapimhidze
ZWLA programmes director Abigail Matsvai said her organisation was inundated with reports of women who were finding it difficult to get their spouses to pay child maintenance.
Matsvai said most spouses were not aware that the law allowed them to dispute a ‘doctored’ payslip during maintenance hearing proceedings in court.
“So, before it (a payslip) is presented to court it is given to the person claiming maintenance to say whether or not they agree with what it is saying,” she said.
Matsvai said it was important for women to know that they can ask the court to get a payslip directly from the employer.
She said at times men failed to see that it was all about taking care of their children as stipulated by the law.
“You will see someone coming with a $100 payslip and yet the person claiming maintenance will say that the lifestyle they led was far beyond the $100 monthly pay slip presented,” Matsvai said.
“The woman is able to explain in court the standard of living they were used to as opposed to what the spouse would have presented to justify what he earns. That is able to create background information on what kind of income that he actually has.”
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She said if someone defaulted on maintenance payment, it was up to the person who claimed maintenance in the first place to go back to court and get a warrant of arrest.
She said once the children reached the legal age of majority, they were no longer eligible to claim maintenance.
“The reality is that it is difficult for a child, for example, a university student, to go to court and bring his/her father to court for maintenance.
“The law is saying one thing and yet the practice on the ground is reflecting a different story.”
