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Meaning and Definition of Maintenance

Under Hindu law, a wife has the right to maintenance from her husband if she is unable to support herself financially after divorce or separation. The amount is decided by the family court based on both spouses' incomes and expenses. A wife can claim lifetime maintenance under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956 if the husband deserts her, treats her cruelly, or takes a second wife or concubine. The only exceptions are if the wife is unchaste or converts to another religion.

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180 views3 pages

Meaning and Definition of Maintenance

Under Hindu law, a wife has the right to maintenance from her husband if she is unable to support herself financially after divorce or separation. The amount is decided by the family court based on both spouses' incomes and expenses. A wife can claim lifetime maintenance under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956 if the husband deserts her, treats her cruelly, or takes a second wife or concubine. The only exceptions are if the wife is unchaste or converts to another religion.

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aryan jain
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© © All Rights Reserved
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MEANING AND DEFINITION OF MAINTENANCE

Maintenance is the financial assistance that a husband would pay to his wife if, during the
divorce and post-divorce proceedings, she is not able to manage financially by her own.
Maintenance is provided by the husband on a monthly or lump sum basis so that the wife can
make use of basic living facilities such as food , clothes, housing, etc.

The maintenance idea seeks to get the wife back to the same place of ease and lifestyle as she
was at the time of her marriage. There is no fixed sum of maintenance that the husband is
responsible for paying to his wife, and the amount of maintenance that the husband must pay
either on a monthly basis or in the form of a lump sum is to be decided at the discretion of a
family court.

In addition to a divorce petition and other legal formalities, a divorce lawyer in India must be
appointed to lodge or defend a maintenance petition in India. A woman's maintenance rights are
regulated by the personal laws applicable to her, and under Hindu , Muslim, Christian and Parsi
laws, the maintenance rules vary.1

MAINTENANCE UNDER HINDU LAW

Under Hindu law, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act lays down rules relating to a
woman's maintenance rights. Under the Act, there is a right to demand maintenance by the wife,
daughter-in - law, children, elderly parents and other dependents.

In the event of a divorce, when she is unable to maintain herself financially, the wife has the
right to demand maintenance from her husband. If the wife works and receives any money or not
does not affect her right to demand her husband's maintenance.

The amount of maintenance that the husband is expected to pay to his wife, however, depends on
the wife's income, the husband's income and properties, his personal expenses, and the expenses

1
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in
borne by him from his dependents. . Top divorce lawyers in India must be appointed to file or
defend a maintenance petition in a family court in India.2

Under Hindu law, the right of maintenance is very old and it was one of the essential necessities
of the joint family structure. The maintenance of women in the joint family structure was an
essential factor, according to my understanding, and this was practiced as a custom that regulated
families. It was the responsibility of the head of the family (karta) to look after the wives of the
family before they were married, namely their wives and their daughters. It was the
responsibility of their children to the mother and other old women in the family later as the
women grew older. On the part of women, the unchastity do not entitle them to maintenance.
Their remarriage ended the right and the sum of maintenance depended on different variables
such as family status, required conditions, desires, age, etc. Section 24 provides for maintenance
under the Hindu Marriage Act, (HMA) 1955.

Also, within this Act, only a wife is allowed to claim maintenance. The Hindu husband has a
legal duty during his lifetime to maintain his wife. However, if a wife ceases to be Hindu or lives
apart, she also loses the right to claim maintenance. Also, if she is unchaste or converts to
another religion, a Hindu wife within this Act will not be entitled to separate house and
maintenance from her husband. Only if the husband remarries and the other wife lives in the
same house will the wife claim separate residency.

Under this Act ( Section 19), a (Hindu) wife is entitled to be maintained by her father in-law
after the death of her husband, given that she has no source of earning her own earnings.
However, if her father in law has no means to do so and if the wife remarries, the right will not
be enforced.

A Hindu 's responsibilities to retain others are personal responsibility and responsibility based on
ownership of property if the former arises from mere relationships between the individuals and
the latter arises because of ownership of property. 

Maintenance of Wife under Section 18, the Hindu Adoptions and


Maintenance Act, 1956
2
ibid
Under Section 18(1) of the HAMA, the 1956 wife has right to claim maintenance for lifetime by
her husband, i.e. until she dies or her husband dies, she will receive maintenance. A Hindu wife
is entitled to live apart from her husband under section 18 of this Act without ceasing her right to
demand maintenance. The reasons under which she may live apart are :-

(1) Husband is guilty of desertion

(2) The Husband has treated the wife with cruelty

(3) The husband is suffering from a virulent form of leprosy

(4)The husband has any other wife living with him.

(5) The husband keeps a concubine elsewhere

(6) The Husband has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion and

(7) If there is any other reason justifying living apart3

But there are two grounds that prohibit a wife from claiming maintenance, i.e. I if she is
unchaste or (ii) if she ceased to be a Hindu by converting to any other religion.

If her husband is guilty of desertion, if he submits women to abuse, whether he suffers from
leprosy, if he has any other wife residing, whether he keeps a concubine in the house where his
wife lives, whether he has ceased to be a Hindu, or whether there is any other reason that excuses
her residing separately pursuant to Section 18(2) The exception provided in this section,
according to me, that a wife can not demand maintenance if she is converted into a Hindu from
any other religion, is not correct. Now that the wife is connected to a Hindu family and if she is
married as per the Hindu religion and is ruled by Hindu law, she should not be excluded from the
rights of other women as a Hindu woman.

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http://www.legalserviceindia.com

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