Maintenance refund refused

A divorced man has failed in his court bid to recoup more than R40 000 in maintenance for his two children that he claimed he had paid in error.

Last week the Cape Town High Court dismissed his claim and Acting Judge Nolwazi Boqwana had harsh words for parents who tried to evade maintaining their children.

The man agreed to pay R500 a month for each child when he and his wife divorced in 2004. The couple cannot be identified to protect their minor children. The amount would increase by 10% each year. Three years later they agreed to increase the amount to R1500 for each child. The new agreement did not provide for an annual increase.

Despite this, the father paid inflation-linked increases for four years, until 2011, when, he said, he discovered that he had paid too much. He went to court to recover the money.

He claimed his former wife lived in a house "worth millions" and was married to "a millionaire".

The judge said his claim was "far-fetched" and "irrelevant" because the woman's husband had no legal duty to pay for the upkeep of the children.

Because they had agreed on the increases, the woman said she did not owe him any money and the court agreed .

"To suggest that the applicant would pay a flat rate of R1500 for all the years with no adjustments is most unlikely and could not be in the best interests of the children," Boqwana said. "The claim for repayment of the maintenance offends public policy and totally ignores the reciprocal obligations of both parents towards minor children."