Resolution Of Child Maintenance Neglect After Divorce (A Study At The Department Of Women's Empowerment, Child Protection, And Family Planning Of North Sumatra Province)

Abstract

This study examines how the North Sumatra Provincial DP3AKB resolves cases of child support neglect following parental divorce, and how its mediation-based approach relates to the Islamic legal characterization of paternal maintenance as wajib 'ain. Using empirical legal research with a qualitative approach, primary data were obtained through interviews with DP3AKB staff and leadership and observations of mediation sessions, with supporting documentary data from case records for 2024–2025. Private individuals' identities in the case material are pseudonymized. Findings show that DP3AKB follows a three-stage, non-litigation procedure — complaint intake and assessment, mediation and counseling, and referral — that addresses three common neglect patterns (total non-payment, irregular payment, severed communication). Applying Soekanto's legal-effectiveness framework, the mechanism is strong in legal substance and culture but weak in facilities and enforcement, as mediation outcomes lack executive force. Read against wajib 'ain, this creates a normative tension: a right owed unconditionally is resolved through a consent-dependent process. The study recommends a Memorandum of Understanding with the Religious Court, a post-mediation monitoring system, and beneficiary-inclusive follow-up research.

Keywords: Child Maintenance Neglect; Divorce; DP3AKB; Wajib 'Ain; Legal Effectiveness