PETALING JAYA: The bank accounts of ex-husbands who ignore court orders to pay nafkah (alimony) to their ex-wives will be frozen, following an amendment to Schedule 11 of the Financial Services Act 2013, Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 and Financial Institutions Act 2002, which was passed and gazetted on Feb 10.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun said the ministry would hold meetings with related ministries and agencies to implement the measure as soon as possible.
“The ministry will assist in streamlining the processes to ensure that the victims get justice.
“As such, the ministry will hold further discussions with related ministries and agencies.
“Given that the announcement has already been made, the next step is the implementation. We hope to see it realised by this year, based on the discussions with the related agencies,” she said at an event yesterday.
Freezing the bank accounts of ex-husbands who disregarded court orders to pay alimony to their ex-wives is among the measures decided upon by the government recently as a gesture of appreciation and to preserve the rights of women, especially those who were divorced.
The government would also instruct banks to channel the payments decided upon by the courts directly to the former spouses.
“The fact is that there are many cases of ex-husbands failing to pay alimony to their former spouses despite being instructed to do so by the courts.
“As such, following this announcement, once a court order is issued, the ex-husband’s bank account will be frozen and the money will be channelled directly to the woman.
“This is a welcome development and should be heralded by all women,” Rina said.
