Maintenance of Parents Act 1995

This Act is the Maintenance of Parents Act 1995.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“applicant” includes a person in whose favour a maintenance order has been made under this Act;“approved person or organisation” means a person or an organisation that the Minister has approved in writing for the purposes of this Act;“child”, for a person, includes an illegitimate child, an adopted child or a stepchild of the person;“Commissioner” means the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents appointed under section 12(1) and includes a Deputy Commissioner and an Assistant Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents;“conciliation officer” means —

where the Commissioner conducts any conciliation under this Act — the Commissioner; or

any person designated by the Commissioner to conduct any conciliation under this Act;“destitute person” means a destitute person, as defined in section 2(1) of the Destitute Persons Act 1989, who is admitted, or temporarily admitted, into a welfare home under that Act;“mediator” means any person appointed as a mediator under section 13(12);“protector” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Vulnerable Adults Act 2018;“record or purported record of abandonment, abuse or neglect”, for a person, means any record against or relating to the person that is prescribed to be a record or purported record of the person’s abandonment, abuse or neglect of a child of the person;“respondent” includes a person against whom a maintenance order has been made under this Act;“Tribunal” means the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents established under section 13;“vulnerable adult” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Vulnerable Adults Act 2018;“welfare home” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Destitute Persons Act 1989.

Subject to section 3B(1), any person domiciled and resident in Singapore who is of or above 60 years of age and who is unable to maintain himself or herself adequately (called in this section the parent) may apply to the Tribunal for an order that one or more of the person’s children pay him or her a monthly allowance or any other periodical payment or a lump sum for his or her maintenance.

Subject to section 3B(1), an approved person or organisation in whose care a parent resides may apply to the Tribunal for an order that one or more of the parent’s children pay the approved person or organisation a monthly allowance or any other periodical payment or a lump sum for the purpose of defraying the costs and expenses of maintaining the parent.

Any person (except the Commissioner) who wishes to make an application under this section, whether on the person’s own behalf or on behalf of a parent, in respect of any claim for which no application had previously been made under this section must, before making the application, refer the claim to the Commissioner for the purposes of section 12(5).

Where the parent ceases to be in the care of the approved person or organisation, any part of the monthly allowance, other periodical payment or lump sum remaining, after deducting the reasonable costs and expenses of maintaining the parent, must be held in trust for the parent.

For the purposes of this section, a parent is unable to maintain himself or herself if the parent’s total or expected income and other financial resources are inadequate to provide the parent with basic amenities and basic physical needs including (but not limited to) shelter, food, medical costs and clothing.

Even though a person is below the minimum age specified in subsection (1), this Act applies to that person if the Tribunal is satisfied that the person is suffering from infirmity of mind or body which prevents the person from maintaining or makes it difficult for the person to maintain himself or herself or that there is any other special reason.

The president or a deputy president of the Tribunal may dismiss any application made under this section, if he or she is of the opinion that the application is frivolous or vexatious, or if the applicant has failed to comply with subsection (3) or section 3A or 3B, and give the reasons for the dismissal.

An applicant who is aggrieved by any decision made under subsection (7) may, within 14 days of the decision, appeal in writing to the Tribunal.

The president or deputy president (as the case may be) who made the decision under subsection (7) that is under appeal must not participate in the proceedings or determination of the appeal.

The president or a deputy president of the Tribunal may dismiss an application under subsection (7), and the Tribunal may determine an appeal made under subsection (8), without informing or involving the respondent.

A child who is below 21 years of age is not liable to maintain the child’s parent.

If a child is below 21 years of age —

Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) affects the application or operation of regulation 10(1) of the Maintenance of Parents (Amendment) Act 2023 (Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024 (G.N. No. S 563/2024).

When a claim is referred to the Commissioner under section 3(3) for the maintenance of a parent by any child of the parent, the claim must be accompanied by a declaration, in the form and manner that the Commissioner specifies, from the appropriate person mentioned in subsection (2) stating (to the best of the appropriate person’s knowledge and belief) whether the parent has any record or purported record of abandonment, abuse or neglect of the child.

For the purpose of subsection (1), the appropriate person is —

Any person who intends to make an application under section 3 for the maintenance of a parent by a child of the parent (called in this section the intended application) must first obtain permission under this section to make the intended application if —

The application for permission must be made to the Tribunal and must be dealt with and disposed of under this section without informing or involving the child, except where —

After the application for permission is made to the Tribunal, the president or a deputy president of the Tribunal may —

If the application is referred to the Tribunal under subsection (3)(b), the Tribunal may grant permission for the intended application to be made or refuse such permission.

The members of the Tribunal required to form a quorum under section 13(5) (for the hearing and determination of the application for permission) may include the president or deputy president of the Tribunal who referred the application to the Tribunal under subsection (3)(b).

Subject to subsection (2), section 14 applies to the Tribunal’s hearing and determination of the application for permission.

Permission may be granted under this section for the intended application to be made if there is a good arguable case that —

A respondent may serve notice in the prescribed form on other persons liable to maintain the respondent’s parent, joining them as respondents in the action.

The Tribunal may make a maintenance order against a respondent in respect of the respondent’s parent if it considers that it is just and equitable that the respondent should maintain the parent and that —

When ordering maintenance, the Tribunal must have regard to all the circumstances of the case including (but not limited to) the following matters:

Without prejudice to the Tribunal’s powers under the Act, the president or a deputy president of the Tribunal may, with the consent of the applicant and the respondent, make a maintenance order reflecting the terms of any agreement reached between the parties in respect of a claim, and the order is deemed to be a maintenance order made by the Tribunal under this Act and enforceable in accordance with its terms.

If the Tribunal is satisfied upon due proof that the parent abandoned, abused or neglected the respondent, it may dismiss the application or may reduce the quantum of maintenance ordered by an amount determined by the Tribunal to be just.

The onus of proving abandonment, abuse or neglect is on the respondent alleging it.

Where there is more than one respondent, the Tribunal may apportion the maintenance among the various respondents in a manner determined by the Tribunal to be just.

The Tribunal must, before hearing an application under this section, refer the differences between the parties to a mediator for mediation between the parties.

A maintenance order made against a respondent in respect of the respondent’s parent may provide for the payment of a lump sum, or a monthly allowance or periodical payment for a period determined by the Tribunal.

The Tribunal may, in its discretion, when awarding maintenance, order the respondent to secure the whole or any part of the maintenance by vesting any property in trustees upon trust to pay the whole or any part of the maintenance out of the income from that property.

The Tribunal may, in awarding maintenance, order the applicant to —

The Tribunal may, in awarding maintenance, give directions as to the manner or method of payment.

The Tribunal may, in awarding maintenance, also give directions for all or any of the purposes specified in subsection (6), if the Tribunal is of the opinion that this would —

The purposes mentioned in subsection (5) are —

The management or resolution of conflicts mentioned in subsection (6)(b) includes, without limiting that provision, matters relating to —

The Tribunal may, in awarding maintenance, order that the payment of the maintenance (or any part of the maintenance) is subject to compliance by the parent (or the applicant) with any direction given by the Tribunal under subsection (5), and may make any other order necessary for, or incidental to, the proper carrying into effect of the firstmentioned order.

Where the applicant is the parent, a reference to the applicant in subsection (6)(b)(i), (7)(b) or (8) includes a reference to a related person.

In this section —