Maintenance arrears calculator

There is an order. The money is not arriving, or it arrives late and short, and you have lost track of what is owed. This calculator rebuilds the arrears month by month so you can walk into the Maintenance Court with a schedule instead of an argument.

What this tool works out and who it is for

You enter the monthly amount the order requires, the date of the first payment that was missed or short, the date you want the arrears worked out to, the total actually paid in that period, any unpaid school fees or medical costs the order covers, and an interest rate.

The tool gives you the number of instalments that fell due, the total that should have been paid, what was actually paid, how many instalments are still unpaid, the date of the oldest one still owing, the arrears, the interest and the total owed.

It is for a parent or guardian not receiving maintenance under an existing order, and equally for the paying parent checking a figure before agreeing to it. Both sides benefit from the same schedule, because a court follows arithmetic more easily than two people remembering different things.

It works on an order already in place. If there is no order yet, apply for one first, and the amount is worked out differently. Read how is child maintenance calculated for that.

How the calculator decides

The tool runs the same steps every time, in this order.

It sets the due day. It takes the day of the month from the date of the first missed payment and treats that as the day each instalment falls due. If your order says the 5th, enter a date on the 5th. In a month too short for the day you chose, the instalment falls due on the last day of that month, so an order due on the 31st falls due on 28 or 29 February.

It counts the instalments. Starting at the first missed payment, it steps forward one month at a time and counts every instalment that fell due on or before the end date. Leave the end date blank and it uses today. The end date cannot be earlier than the first missed payment.

It applies the payments to the oldest instalments first. The tool takes the total paid and works down the list from the oldest instalment, settling each in full before moving on. A part payment settles part of the oldest instalment and nothing else. This is the usual approach and one a maintenance officer will recognise, but a court can allocate payments differently.

It works out interest on each unpaid instalment separately. Interest runs on each outstanding instalment from its own due date to the end date, at the annual rate you entered, on a simple daily basis over a 365 day year. An instalment missed in January therefore carries far more interest than one missed in November. There is no compounding. Leave the rate at zero and the tool shows arrears only, and reminds you that you can still claim interest.

It adds unpaid extras as capital. School fees, medical costs and anything else the order covers are added as capital, with no interest, because they do not fall due in a monthly pattern the tool can model. Any payment left over once every instalment is settled reduces the extras.

It adds it up. Arrears plus interest is the total owed.

The warnings it can raise

If the total comes out at zero or less, the tool says nothing appears outstanding, and suggests you ask the other parent for their own schedule so you can compare.

If you left the rate at zero and there are arrears, it reminds you that interest can be claimed on arrear maintenance, and that where the order sets no rate the prescribed rate applies. The prescribed rate is the repo rate plus 3.5 percentage points at the time, so it moves. Look up the rate for your period and enter it.

If three or more instalments are unpaid, it tells you that is enough to ask the Maintenance Court for enforcement, and that waiting makes the money harder to recover.

If you entered extras, it reminds you that school fees and medical costs are claimable only if the order actually covers them.

The law behind it

Maintenance orders, the Maintenance Court, maintenance officers and the enforcement routes all come from the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998. The Act makes the Maintenance Court a free, walk-in court. You do not need an attorney, there is no filing fee, and a maintenance officer helps you prepare the complaint.

A maintenance order is a court order, and that has two consequences worth knowing. Arrears do not fall away after three years the way an ordinary contract debt can, because an order is enforceable in the way a judgment is, for far longer. And failing to pay maintenance is a criminal offence, so a court can impose a fine or imprisonment as well as ordering the arrears paid.

The enforcement tools are practical. An emoluments attachment order takes the maintenance out of the payer's salary before it reaches them. A warrant of execution lets the sheriff attach and sell their possessions. A third party who owes the payer money can be ordered to pay you instead.

Interest on an overdue amount comes from the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act 55 of 1975. Where a court order or an agreement fixes its own rate, that rate governs. Where it does not, the prescribed rate applies, and the prescribed rate is the repo rate plus 3.5 percentage points. It changes whenever the repo rate does, which is why the calculator asks for it instead of storing one.

Worked example

This example is illustrative. An order requires R3 000 a month, payable on the 5th. The first payment missed is the one due on 5 January 2024. You work the arrears out to 5 December 2024.

The tool counts the instalments due on the 5th of each month from January to December inclusive. That is 12 instalments. Twelve times R3 000 is R36 000 that should have been paid.

R9 000 arrived over that period. Applied to the oldest instalments first, that R9 000 settles January, February and March in full and nothing else. Nine instalments remain unpaid, the oldest still owing is the one due on 5 April 2024, and the arrears are nine times R3 000, which is R27 000.

Now add interest. Say the rate is 10% a year. The April instalment has been outstanding from 5 April to 5 December, which is 244 days, so it carries R3 000 times 10% times 244 divided by 365, about R200.55. The December instalment has been outstanding for no days and carries nothing. Each is worked out the same way and the results added together. That interest, added to the R27 000, is the total owed. If R6 000 of school fees the order covers is also unpaid, it goes on as capital with no interest, and the arrears become R33 000.

What this tool does not decide

The tool does not decide what the order requires. It takes your figures at face value. If the order carries an annual escalation or changed part way through, adjust by hand or split the period into separate runs.

It does not decide what was paid. Where the two of you disagree about the total, bank statements settle it, not a calculator.

It does not decide what interest is allowed. A maintenance officer investigates the complaint, and the court decides what is owed and what interest, if any, it grants. The schedule you bring is an argument, not an outcome.

It does not enforce anything. Producing the number is the easy part. Getting the money takes the court's enforcement machinery.

When to get advice, and the free route

The free route is the Maintenance Court at your nearest magistrate's court. It costs nothing, you do not need an attorney, and a maintenance officer will help you complete the complaint. Take your identity document, the order, your bank statements for the period, and the schedule this tool produces. A clear schedule with statements behind it is the single most useful thing you can bring.

Do not wait. Three missed instalments is enough to act on, and the longer arrears run the harder they are to collect. Read what to do if maintenance is not being paid for the step-by-step.

If circumstances have changed, the answer may be to vary the order rather than only to enforce it. Arrears keep running while a variation application is pending, because the existing order stands until a court changes it. Read how to change a maintenance order.

Get advice from an attorney where the payer is self-employed and hiding income, where there are assets to trace, or where the order is disputed as invalid. If you cannot afford one, our legal aid page explains who Legal Aid South Africa helps and how to reach them on 0800 110 110.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. Check your order and your bank statements before you rely on any figure here.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim interest on arrear maintenance?

Yes. Where the order sets a rate, that rate applies. Where it does not, the prescribed rate applies, which is the repo rate plus 3.5 percentage points at the time. It changes, so look up the rate for your period. Whether interest is granted is for the court, so treat the figure as a claim rather than a certainty.

Do maintenance arrears prescribe after three years?

No. An ordinary contract debt can prescribe after three years, but a maintenance order is enforceable in the way a judgment is, for far longer. Old arrears are still worth pursuing, although proving and collecting them gets harder with time.

The other parent lost their job. Do the arrears still build up?

Yes. The order stands until a court changes it, so instalments keep falling due and arrears keep running even while a variation application is pending. Apply to vary the order promptly rather than simply stop paying, because a change is not usually backdated.

What if only part of each month was paid?

Enter the total actually paid over the whole period. The tool applies it to the oldest instalments first, so part payments show up as fewer fully unpaid months rather than many partly paid ones. The arrears figure is the same either way.

Can I refuse contact because maintenance is not being paid?

No. Maintenance and contact are separate. Withholding contact because money has not arrived does not help your case and can count against you. Enforce the order through the Maintenance Court instead.