The Grand Ayatollah Sistani Fatwas About “Maintenance”

Question: If a wife and husband are both working, and the husband incurs some debts, is it obligatory for the wife to help the husband in paying his debt or she can use her money as she wishes.

Question 1: I would like to have more information regarding the depth and extent of a husband’s obligations for maintenance and expenses of the wife. Is it true that the husband should provide the same level of life (luxuries, maids, education) as the wife had before marriage? Does the answer differ from one scholar to another? Are there any Hadith and/or rulings in this regard?

Question 2: What is the quantity of the maintenance which a husband should provide his wife with? Moreover, can a man force his wife out of his home during Iddah (waiting period)?

Question 3: A woman, who is not obedient to her husband and does not carry out her matrimonial obligations, had, without his consent, left her matrimonial home and stayed with her parents for seven months. She, then went to a non-Islamic court, filed a divorce application, and demand maintenance and custody of the children. Has such a woman, who has violated her marital duties, any right in anything from her husband?

Question 4: If a wife and husband are both working, and the husband incurs some debts, is it obligatory for the wife to help the husband in paying his debt or she can use her money as she wishes.