Divorce Laws in India Revisited

The recognition of the legal or formal union of two people as partners in a personal relationship is marriage and when a marriage is legally or formally ended the legal or formal ending of a marriage is divorce.

Couples going through divorce are quite perturbed by the ensuing events during and aftermath of a divorce. The entire separation procedure beginning with having to deal with emotional trauma to contesting in the blasted courts to get a divorce decree is undoubtedly a traumatic event and for one to overcome and recover may take a very long time.

Nonetheless, with laws and social awareness progressing, it has resulted in the simplification of the divorce process in India aiding couples to get relief from rocky relationships.

In India, both marriage and divorce take place according to personal laws and personal laws are aligned to the people’s religion. Marriage and divorce would be according to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains while The Muslim, Christian, and Parsi communities, on the other hand, have separate laws for marriage and divorce.

Marriage and divorce for couples who belong to various communities and castes are according to the Special Marriage Act, 1956 while divorce laws in marriages where either spouse is of a different nationality The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969, is the applicable law.

MUTUAL CONSENT DIVORCE

In cases where both the husband and the wife are willing to dissolve their marriage, they do have the option of filing for mutual consent divorce. Once each of the spouses grants their mutual consent on separating peacefully and amicably there is no other legal way of the annulment of the marriage. The only other two points to agree on are maintenance or alimony and child custody. According to the law, there isn’t any minimum to maximum range fixed for maintenance or alimony.

The maintenance or alimony amount can be mutually fixed among the parties. Who gets custody of the child depends on the mutual understanding of the couples as couples may exclusively or jointly take custody of the child. According to Section- 13 (B) of the Hindu Marriage Act the parties can look for mutual consent divorce with the filing of a petition before the family court.

Suggested Read: Know the step by step procedure of filing mutual divorce in India

CONTESTED DIVORCE

When it comes to contested divorce, prior to filing a petition certain specific criteria need to be fulfilled prior to a petition being filed.

Suggested Read: How to get Divorce in India

What are the provisions relating to child custody?

Courts usually honor the parent’s decision in a mutual consent divorce, nonetheless the courts ought to look after the child’s best interests. As and when a divorce proceeding is contested, the courts analyze the parent’s ability to take custody of the child. Money, for example, isn’t the most vital factor under consideration. Stay-at-home moms often get child custody; the expectation being that the father would provide financial alms.

BASIS OF VOID MARRIAGES

Must Read: All you need to know about divorce procedures in India

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