Maintenance of parents by a well-off child under Iraqi law
Most writing on maintenance in Iraq concerns wives and children. The Personal Status Law also creates an obligation running the other way, from grown or well-off children to parents in need. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat explains here when a son or daughter must support a father or mother, how this differs from support owed between other relatives, and why the timing of a claim affects how much can be awarded, under Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959.
The baseline: everyone lives from their own means
Article 58 sets the general rule. Each person is maintained from his or her own property, with the single exception of a wife, who is maintained by her husband. So a father or mother with enough to live on has no claim against the children. Parental maintenance is not a reward for being a parent; it arises when a parent's need meets a child's ability to pay.
The two conditions in article 61
Article 61 provides that a well-off child, whether adult or minor, must maintain his or her poor parents even if they are able to earn. Two conditions follow from the text:
- The child has means. The child has property or income beyond his or her own needs. The duty is not limited to adult children: a minor who owns property is also bound, and the support comes out of that property.
- The parent is poor. The father or mother lacks what is needed to live.
The phrase "even if they are able to earn" matters. A poor parent does not first have to prove inability to work before turning to a child. That is what makes this obligation broader than the one owed to other relatives.
The one exception: a father who refuses work
The article contains a single qualification: "unless the father has shown that he insists on choosing unemployment". If a father is able to work and work is available, but he deliberately and persistently refuses it, he cannot claim. The exception names the father only; the mother is not mentioned in it.
Whether a father has shown that insistence is a question of fact, such as offers of work turned down or a pattern of walking away from available jobs. The court decides on the evidence.
How this differs from other relatives
Article 62 makes every poor person who is unable to earn the responsibility of those well-off relatives who would inherit from him, each in proportion to his share of the inheritance. Set side by side, the two articles differ in two ways:
- For other relatives, the person in need must be both poor and unable to earn. For parents, poverty alone is enough.
- For other relatives, the burden is divided among the well-off heirs according to their inheritance shares. Article 61 does not apply that measure to parents.
Where the legislation is silent, as on how support for a parent is shared among several well-off children, article 1 directs the court to the principles of Islamic Sharia most consistent with the Law, guided by the rulings of Iraqi courts and Islamic jurisprudence.
Timing: support runs from the date of claim
Article 63 provides that maintenance of relatives is awarded from the date of the claim. A parent who waits a year before going to court does not recover support for that year, because the award starts on the day the claim is filed. This is different from a wife's maintenance, which article 24 treats as a debt for a past period of up to one year. A parent in need who cannot resolve matters within the family therefore loses nothing by filing sooner and may lose something by waiting.
Living with a married son
Paragraph 3 of article 26 is closely related. It requires a husband to house his parents, or either of them, with his wife in the marital home, and says the wife may not object. The law therefore protects parents' housing, not only their financial support. By contrast, paragraph 1 of the same article bars a husband from housing a co-wife in the same home without the wife's consent.
Bringing the claim
A claim for parental maintenance goes to the Personal Status Court. The parent has to establish two things: his or her own need, and the child's means. The usual documents prove the parent-child relationship and show the parties' finances, such as salary records or property ownership. The judgment is enforced through the Execution Directorate like any other maintenance award; the general process is described on the maintenance claim page.
Since Law No. 1 of 2025 added paragraph 3 to article 2, a Muslim may ask for the rulings of the Ja'fari school to govern his or her personal status; where every party to the claim has made that choice, the court decides under those rulings on the matters they cover.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Must a son support a father who is able to work?
Yes, if the father is poor and the son is well off. Article 61 applies even where the parents can earn, unless the father has shown he insists on not working.
Does it cover mothers?
Yes. The article refers to "his poor parents", and the exception about refusing work is stated for the father only.
From when is it counted?
From the date of the claim under article 63. No award is made for the period before filing.
Related topics and articles
- 01The maintenance claim: wife and children, increase and lossThe maintenance claim before the Personal Status Court under articles 23 to 33 and 58 to 63 of Iraq's Law No. 188 of 1959: scope, interim award, increase, loss.
- 02Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959: what applies todayReading Iraq's Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959 as amended: articles 1 and 2, Law No. 1 of 2025, and the Jaafari code ratified by Decision No. 10 of 2025.
- 03The obligatory bequest in Iraqi law for children of a predeceased son or daughterThe obligatory bequest under article 74 of Iraq's Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959: a predeceased child's share passing to his or her children within one third, its priority, and voluntary wills.
- 04Judicial separation and its grounds before the Personal Status CourtGrounds for judicial separation under articles 40 to 45 of Iraq's Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959: harm, discord and arbitration, wife's grounds, and effect.
- 05Registering a divorce in court, and revocable versus irrevocable talaqRegistering talaq at the Personal Status Court under article 39 of Iraq's Law No. 188 of 1959, when talaq does not take effect, proxies, and article 38 types.