What happens to the man's property after a divorce? Who gets alimony? Do live-in relationships have legal protection? A top divorce lawyer answers all this and more. Listen up, ladies.
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00:00Is a prenuptial agreement valid in India under Hindu Marriage Act and Special Marriage Act?
00:05Is it necessary for a man to provide alimony to his partner even if the partner is well-to-do?
00:10What are the legal protections available to women in live-in relationships?
00:14Is there such thing as a perfect relationship?
00:18What are the things to keep in mind while getting a divorce if there are children involved?
00:24Is it necessary to provide alimony to a spouse?
00:32If a child's custody is given to either of the parents, who will be able to look after the
00:37welfare and future of the child? To the extent of education, their upbringing or even for that
00:44matter if it's a girl's child, then even their marriages. Under Hindu Marriage Act, there is a
00:48provision of maintenance which is applicable to a girl before she gets married till the time she
00:52does not get married and to the son only till the age of 18. There are a lot of factors which
00:57are considered which is children's age, whether the child is a male child or a female child.
01:05Their statements are also taken on record, whether they prefer staying with the mother,
01:09if so, yes, why? If the father, then why? It also depends on case to case.
01:14What are the legal protections available to women in live-in relationships?
01:17And what happens if they get pregnant and want to keep the baby?
01:21As such in India, there is no legislation which approves of it. However, under the Protection of
01:27Women Against Domestic Violence Act 2005, it provides protection, maintenance and also gives
01:33the right of alimony to the effective or the aggrieved party. A alimony would be an alimony
01:39granted or provided to a former partner in a relationship like this. Regarding a child,
01:47he or she will have the right of a legitimate child as if it would have been out of a legal
01:54match. Is the prenuptial agreement valid in India under Hindu Marriage Act and Special Marriage Act?
02:01If not, then what alternative to a prenup would you advise?
02:04In India and especially under the Hindu Marriage Act, marriages are considered sacred
02:12and prenuptial agreements are actually governed by Indian Contract Act. However,
02:17they are applicable to Special Marriage Act. In Goa, it is applicable under Portuguese Civil Court
02:24and there they do have these prenuptial agreements. Under Hindu Marriage Act,
02:28it is not still got any legal sanctity. But the alternative that you're talking about
02:34are the memorandums of understanding that is made between the two parties.
02:39What if one person is not willing, is not ready to give up on marriage and
02:46does not want to go ahead with divorce? There are two kinds of cases that we can
02:50find under this. We can find contested divorce, which is filed by one party,
02:56could be ending of this vows. And the other is divorce by mutual consent.
03:01Now, if you're asking me a time frame, time frame, I cannot tell you because there are
03:06other peripheries also around it. It's not simply divorce. The other alternatives available to
03:11women primarily will be filing for maintenance, domestic violence cases, going to the women's
03:17cell. Is it necessary for a man to provide alimony to his partner even if the partner is well to do?
03:23Alimony is generally given in cases where both the parties decide. Alimony is granted by the
03:29court again on the basis of a lot of factors, which could be the financial status of both the
03:35parties. It is not a mandate. However, yes, it's a legal right that the wife has. Now, in this case,
03:42it's not only about husband and wife, the alimony question, you know, because it has to be regarding
03:47children, the families, if there is something that the woman deserves or is her right. So it is not
03:54that if a woman is well to do, then the man cannot give her alimony or should not give her alimony.
04:00I want to know if a man is entitled to alimony in any type of case across any religion.
04:07There are laws which entitle men for maintenance. However, in that also, he has to be mentally or
04:14physically disabled or probably handicapped to get any maintenance from his wife.
04:20If all the properties are in the name of the husband, will the wife get 50% ownership post
04:25divorce in those? It is not possible in India that if a wife is seeking divorce and she will
04:30get 50% share in husband's property. There are a lot of criteria that is looked at when this
04:36segregation or distribution of properties happen. If you have registered your marriage under special
04:42marriage act and then perform a religious ceremony, can I file for divorce under Indian law
04:50and not the Muslim act? The sanctity will only be of the Indian divorce act because
04:56the person's marriage was solemnized under special marriage act. And once a special
05:00marriage act comes into play, the personal laws of a particular religion take a back seat.