WHAT IS MAINTENANCE ?
Maintenance refers to the kind of financial assistance given to either of the litigating parties on an application made by them and only through an order passed by the court having jurisdiction to do so and upon execution of decree in this regard.
It is often referred to as “Alimony” or a kind of monetary support from the spouse i.e Spousal Assistance. Maintenance on the other hand, is an act of bearing the financial expenses or reducing the burden of the spouse whose
burden increases and economical position gets materially changed on the decree of divorce.
WHY MAINTENANCE IS GRANTED ?
The whole concept of maintenance was initiated in order to see that if there is a spouse who is not independent economically then the other spouse should help him/her in order to make the living of the other person possible and independent. The maintenance may be in a gross sum or on a periodical or monthly basis. In no case, the maintenance shall be owed beyond the life of the non-Applicant. The income and property of the non-Applicant shall be considered while determining the permanent alimony.
WHY DO WOMEN REALLY NEED MAINTENANCE ?
The concept of maintenance aims at putting the wife back to the same position of comfort and lifestyle as she was at the time when her marriage existed. Maintenance to wife refers to the payments, which a husband, under certain circumstances is under an obligation to pay. Obligation of payment of maintenance can either during the subsistence of the marriage or after the dissolution of the marriage. The most important aspect of maintenance is that the party which relies on maintenance has no independent source of income to support himself/herself.
WHETHER ALL WOMEN GET MAINTENANCE FROM THEIR SPOUSE AFTER DIVORCE ?
There is no fixed amount of maintenance that the husband is liable to pay to his wife, and it is upon the discretion of a family court to fix the amount of maintenance that the husband needs to pay either on a monthly basis or in form of a lump sum. Maintenance to wife is a very complicated issue under Hindu Marriage Act. It is often stated as a mean to exploit the husband by asking alimony for life.
WHETHER MAINTENANCE CAN BE CLAIMED AS A MATTER OF RIGHT ?
The right to claim maintenance is a right recognised under different laws in India, each one is different from other in main and another particulars. The child, wife, aged parents, divorced wife, other near relations must obtain some subsistence for themselves. Maintenance in most cases is due to the fact of marriage. Family tie and family obligations of more or less pressing type, call for the need of maintenance.
Litigations to obtain maintenance take the shape of legal battles in various countries, so also in India Government tries to solve the problem by way of certain Acts passed in the legislature. Statutory enactments try to solve the problem for mitigating the hardships of unemployed wife, children, old and
infirm parents who are unable to maintain themselves, obviously, for the reason that they have no income of their own. The anti-vagrancy measures adopted by government of India can be better utilized at the initiative of victims and for this, people in general should be legally conscious and active to obtain their statutory benefits.
WHO ALL ARE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE MAINTENANCE ?
Maintenance may be allotted to :-
- Dependent children,
- Parents
- legally wedded wives
- a divorced spouse,
- Mistress
- Legitimate or illegitimate children, etc.
WHETHER HUSBAND CAN ALSO CLAIM MAINTENANCE ?
In certain cases under personal law, the Indian courts have adopted a lenient view and granted the husband the right to receive maintenance. Such right however, is conditional and typically conferred upon the husband, only if he is incapacitated due to some accident or disease and rendered incapable of earning a livelihood. Such an entitlement is not available to an able person, doing nothing for a living or a “wastrel”.
DOES A WORKING WOMAN ALSO ENTITLED FOR MAINTENANCE ?
There is a misapprehension that a working woman is not entitled to profess maintenance as she is earning and is thus able to maintain herself. The Indian courts have recognised the right of maintenance of a working woman and held that an estranged woman can claim maintenance from her husband even is she earns a monthly income, which is not enough for her to maintain herself. Thus, earning wife is entitled to maintenance under maintenance law for wife in India.
DOES THE SECOND WIFE ALSO ENTITLED FOR MAINTENANCE ?
The issue of right to maintenance to the second wife has been faced by various High Courts as well as the Supreme Court, and the courts have given different views depending upon the facts and situations of each case, thus giving diverse interpretation to the expression “wife” under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The interim maintenance is payable from the date of presentation of the petition till the date of dismissal of the suit or passing of the decree. Interim maintenance is supposed to meet the immediate needs of the petitioner.
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