Separation goes ahead against a spouse who cannot be found
The Family Section pronounced a separation against an absent wife, found her solely at fault, ended her maintenance and gave the husband the rented home. It matters to any spouse whose partner has left and cannot be traced.
Mr Justice Antonio G. Vella, sitting in the Civil Court (Family Section), on 8 April 2026 pronounced the personal separation of a couple for reasons imputable solely to the wife. The wife had left and could not be traced, so deputy curators represented her. The court ended the maintenance order in her favour and gave the husband sole rights over the government-rented home.
The facts
In JB vs XLB, the parties married in 2011 and had no children together. They lived in a flat owned by the government and rented to the husband since before the marriage. His children from an earlier marriage lived with them.
The husband argued that his wife had subjected him to grave insults, threats and constant psychological abuse. He argued that she deserted the marriage after an incident at home in March 2022, when, he said, she came at him with a knife.
During family mediation, the court issued two decrees on 10 August 2022. One ordered the husband to pay his wife maintenance equal to half his pension. The other ordered her eviction from the matrimonial home.
The wife's whereabouts were unknown when the case was filed, and the court appointed deputy curators to represent her. The curators argued that the sworn application was null, because the applicant's oath did not appear in the record, in breach of article 156(3) of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure (Chapter 12 of the Laws of Malta). They reserved further pleas.
What the court held
The court found that, according to the husband, the relationship ended in March 2022, after 11 years of marriage, when the wife left the home. Her residence was still unknown.
That shaped the evidence. The court held that "il-provi kollha li gew imressqa mill-attur mhux biss ma gewx kontradetti, izda anke gew ikkorroborati minn dokumenti u provi ohra" (all the evidence brought by the plaintiff was not only uncontradicted but also corroborated by documents and other evidence). The judgment does not discuss the curators' plea of nullity; the court went on to decide the merits.
On maintenance, the court noted that a decree of 23 June 2025 had already revoked the mediation order. It declared that no maintenance is due from the husband to the wife and revoked the decree of 10 August 2022.
On property, the court found that the community of acquests held little. The home was rented from the government in the husband's name before the marriage, and the wife had already been evicted. The court declared the tenancy rights his alone, and held that the flat ceased to be the matrimonial home from the date of her eviction.
The husband held three bank accounts and the wife one, which she had used to receive her maintenance. The court assigned his accounts to him, ordered hers closed and its balance transferred to him. It assigned all other movables, including vehicles, to the husband.
The court applied against the wife the provisions of article 48 and articles 51 to 61 of the Civil Code (Chapter 16 of the Laws of Malta). It dissolved and liquidated the community, leaving each party the assets they held and their own debts.
On costs, the court ordered the husband to bear them for now, recoverable from the wife once she is found.
Why it matters
A spouse whose partner has disappeared can still obtain a separation with a finding of fault. The court can end maintenance and assign a pre-marriage tenancy to the spouse who remains, on uncontradicted and documented evidence.
Lawyers should expect the applicant to advance the costs. They should also check that the oath appears in the record, since curators will look for procedural defects.
Where it sits
The Civil Code sets out the grounds for personal separation. Article 38 covers adultery, article 40 covers excesses, cruelty, threats and grievous injury, and article 41 covers desertion. The husband pleaded cruelty, threats and desertion.
Article 48 lists what the spouse at fault for adultery or desertion loses. Those losses include rights of succession, gifts from the other spouse, a share of acquests made chiefly through the other's work after a date the court fixes, and the right to demand maintenance. Under article 51, a separation on the grounds in article 40 may carry some or all of those effects, at the court's discretion.
Here the court applied articles 48 and 51 together, on a separation it found attributable solely to the wife. The judgment names no authority. The court decided on the articles and the evidence alone.
Source
Civil Court (Family Section), 247/2024, 8 April 2026.