Book of Maintenance
Introduction
…
Book of Maintenance

The husband is obliged to support his wife—providing food, clothing, and lodging—in a manner befitting someone of her standing. If they disagree, the judge assesses their respective circumstances. Accordingly, a well-to-do wife married to a well-to-do husband is allotted what suffices her needs from the finest bread available in the town, with its customary relish and meat, in the measure normally enjoyed by affluent people there, together with the sort of garments worn by women of her rank, whether silk or otherwise. For sleeping she is given a mattress, a blanket, a wrap, and a pillow; for sitting, a high-quality mat1 and a rug.

A poor wife married to a poor husband receives the cheapest bread customary in the locality, along with an appropriate relish, and the kind of clothing and seating normally used by women of her status.

Where both are of moderate means2—or where the wife is rich and the husband poor, or the reverse3—the allowance is set at an intermediate level in accordance with common practice.

The husband must also cover the cost of his wife’s personal cleanliness, but not the upkeep of her servant, nor medicines or a physician’s fee.

Section

The revocably divorced wife is entitled to maintenance, clothing, and housing just like a wife, though she no longer has the right to an allotted share of nights. A woman separated by annulment or an irrevocable divorce enjoys the same rights only if she is pregnant, and in that case the maintenance is for the pregnancy, not for her personally.

A woman who is imprisoned—even unjustly—or who becomes recalcitrant, or who undertakes a voluntary fast without her husband’s permission