Concept Of Maintenance Under Hindu Adoption And Maintenance Act 1956

Introduction

Article 21 of our Indian Constitution discusses the Right to Life and Personal Liberty. The right to life also includes the Right to live with dignity. Dignified life talks about having minimum basic needs that include food, shelter, and clothing. But in our society, all the members of our family are not self-dependent. So those people needed someone in the family to maintain them. To get maintenance is a statutory right as well. For Hindus, the definition of Maintenance is provided under Section 3(b) of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. It describes maintenance as

1. In all cases, it includes provision for food, shelter, education, medical attendance, and treatment.

2. In the case of an unmarried daughter, reasonable expenses should be given that include the cost of marriage.

As per the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (Section 18-23) maintenance should be provided to the wife, legitimate and illegitimate minor children, unmarried daughter, parents, widow daughter-in-law, and Dependents.

Maintenance of Wife

According to Section 18(1), every Hindu wife is eligible to get maintenance from her husband for a lifetime on the condition that she lives with her husband.

Section 18(2) provides some exceptional grounds under which a wife living separately from her husband is entitled to maintenance. Those grounds are-

· If the husband is guilty of desertion that means without the wife's consent or against her wish he has abandoned her without any reasonable cause and is showing negligent behavior towards her.

· If the husband has treated the wife with so much negligence it causes a reasonable apprehension in her mind that it will be harmful to live with him.

· If the husband is accused of Bigamy.

· If the husband keeps his wife and a concubine in the same house or he habitually resides with a concubine elsewhere.

· If the husband has conversed to any other religion thereby ceases to be Hindu by religion.

· If there is any other reason that justifies the wife's separate living.

When the wife is not entitled to get any Maintenance

According to Section 18(3), a Hindu wife is not entitled to maintenance or separate residence under certain grounds. Those are-

· If the wife becomes immodest.

· If the wife changes her religion by conversion and she ceases to be Hindu.

Maintenance is also provided under Section 24 and Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act,1955

Alimony pendente lite- according to Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 when a divorce proceeding is pending in a court if the petitioner who may be husband or wife presents before the court that he or she has no independent source of income for maintenance and the expenses of court proceeding. After presenting the application by the petitioner, the court may order the respondent to provide maintenance to the petitioner. The maintenance may be provided on time or monthly basis. The Court decides the amount of maintenance depending upon the income of the Petitioner as well as the income of the respondent.

Permanent Alimony and Maintenance- according to Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 the court under whose jurisdiction the decree for divorce has been passed. If any of the parties whether the husband or the wife applies before the court for maintenance from the other party the court after being satisfied by the application may order the other party to pay maintenance.

Ways to pay Maintenance

The maintenance can be paid through lumpsum amount in one time or if both parties are agreed the maintenance amount can be paid on a periodical or monthly basis. It depends on the respondent's income and his property.

As per Section 25(2) after passing the order of maintenance if there is circumstantial change of either of the parties the court after being satisfied may modify or rescind any such order.

When the Maintenance order can be changed

The party under whose favor the judgment has been passed if she is a woman, either she has remarried or she has failed to remain unchaste, and in the case of the husband if he remarries or he has sexual relation outside the marriage in these circumstances if the court may deem it just it can vary, modify or rescind the order for permanent alimony.

Maintenance of daughter-in-law

Under Section 19 (1) of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 after the death of the husband the Hindu wife is entitled to get maintenance from her father-in-law depending on certain grounds. Those are-

· She is unable to maintain herself from her earnings or her property.

· She is unable to obtain maintenance from her husband's, father's, or mother's estate.

· It is also not possible to protect herself from her son or daughter's estate.

When the father-in-law can deny maintenance

· The possession of the coparcenary property is not sufficient to provide maintenance to the daughter-in-law.

· When she remarries.

Maintenance of Children and Aged Parents

According to Section 20 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, a Hindu person in his or her lifetime is bound to provide maintenance to legitimate as well as illegitimate son or daughter and aged or infirm parents.

According to Section 20(2), the father or mother of a legitimate as well as illegitimate child is obliged to provide maintenance as long as they are minor.

According to Section 20(3), a person is liable to provide maintenance to his or her unmarried daughter and aged parents so long as they cannot maintain themselves from their earnings or property. In this section, the childless stepmother is also included within the Parents definition.

Who are Dependents

Under Section 21 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 Dependants includes

· The person's father or mother

· The person's widow as long she does not remarry

· The person's son, grandson, or great-grandson (in the case of the grandson his father dies, and in the case of the great-grandson both the father and the grandfather have died) are dependents as long they are minors and they are unable to obtain maintenance in case of grandson from his parent's estate, in case of great-grandson from the estate of his parents as well as from his grandfather or grandmother's estate.

· The person's unmarried daughter, unmarried grand-daughter, and unmarried grand-daughter (in the case of the grand-daughter his father dies, and in the case of great grand-daughter both the father and the grandfather have died) are dependents as long they are unmarried and they are unable to obtain maintenance in case of grand-daughter from her parent's estate, in case of grand-daughter from the estate of her parents as well as from his grandfather or grandmother's estate.

· The person's widow daughter-in-law, grand widow daughter-in-law as long as she does not remarry, and she is unable to obtain maintenance from her husband's estate, from her son or daughter's estate, and her father-in-law's estate.

· The person's minor illegitimate son as long he is minor.

· The person's illegitimate daughter as long she is unmarried.

Maintenance of Dependants

According to Section 22 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 the heirs of a deceased Hindu is liable to provide maintenance to the deceased Hindu's dependants from the share they have received.

If any heir has not received any estate from the deceased Hindu he is not liable to provide maintenance.

The liability of those heirs will be proportionate to the value of the share they have taken.

The person whose obtained share amount is less than the amount he or she has to contribute for the dependants, or she is not liable for maintenance.

Maintenance Amount

According to Section 23(2) of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, the Court to decide the maintenance amount for the wife, children, and aged parents take into consideration the position and status of both parties, how much the claimant is wanting, how much property does the claimant has, amount of the claimant's earnings, whether the claimant has any justified reason for separate living if they are doing so, and the number of parties entitled for maintenance.

Section 23(3) provides some grounds under which the maintenance amount provided for dependants is decided. Those are-

After debt clearance what is the deceased net estate value, what was the relation between the deceased and the dependant, how much the dependant wants, the dependant's earnings and his or her income from own property, total number of dependants entitled to get maintenance from the deceased estate.

Conclusion

The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, of 1956 encompasses all the necessary ingredients regarding the maintenance of those people who come under the Hindu religion. Before this act came into being there might be some discrepancies regarding getting maintenance. But after the passing of this act any person who has been deprived of his or her right to get maintenance can get a remedy easily.

< ref > THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956, No. 78, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India) s.3 </ ref >

< ref > THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956, No. 78, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India) s.18 </ ref >

< ref >THE HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955, No. 25, Acts of Parliament, 1955 (India) s. 24. < / ref >

< ref >THE HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955, No. 25, Acts of Parliament, 1955 (India) s. 25. < / ref >

< ref > THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956, No. 78, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India) s.19 </ ref >

< ref > THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956, No. 78, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India) s.20 </ ref > < ref > THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956, No. 78, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India) s.21 </ ref > < ref > THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956, No. 78, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India) s.22 </ ref > < ref > THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956, No. 78, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India) s.23 </ ref >