Family Law (UGC/ NET)

Class II heirs are divided into nine categories. Father, son’s daughter’s son, son’s daughter’s daughter, brother, sister, etc.

A guardian appointed by the will of natural guardian is known as testamentary guardian. Natural guardians are father, mother and husband.

Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act provides three types of natural guardians. In case of a boy or an unmarried girl, the natural guardian will be the father and after him, the mother. In case of an illegitimate boy or an illegitimate unmarried girl, the natural guardian will be the mother and after her, the father. In case of a married girl, the natural guardian will be the husband.

A family court is a court convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law.

Decision given under Section 25 is termed as order of a court. Any order made by a court under Section 25 shall be appealable in the court to which appeal ordinarily lies from the decisions of the court given under the exercise of its original jurisdiction.

A Hindu wife shall be entitled to be maintained after the death of her husband by her father-in-law under Section 19 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act and such obligation of father-in-law shall cease on the remarriage of the daughter-in-law.

Section 25 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act clearly provides that the amount of maintenance fixed may be altered subsequently if there is a material change in the circumstances justifying such alteration.

Section 17 of the Hindu Marriage Act provides punishment for bigamy. It states that while granting punishment for bigamy, Sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code will apply accordingly. Section 494 provides provisions regarding marrying again during the lifetime of husband or wife and Section 495 provides for when bigamy is committed by concealment of former marriage from person with whom subsequent marriage is contracted.

Epilepsy is a group of neurological diseases. The word “epilepsy” has been removed by the 2009 amendment for declaring the marriage void. So, now there exists no ground for declaring a marriage void that a party is suffering from recurrent attacks of insanity.

Maintenance during the pendency of proceedings is known as maintenance pendent lite. An application for interim maintenance can be made both at a trial court as well as at an appellate court.

While granting alimony, a court has to consider that the amount of alimony shall not exceed one-fifth of the husband’s net average income for the last three years.

The obligation of parents to maintain their unmarried daughter extends in so far as the unmarried daughter is unable to maintain herself out of her own earning or other property. This provision is given under Section 20 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act.

Widow daughter of a deceased is a dependent defined under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act provided she is unable to maintain maintenance from the family of her husband.

Per alium is a Latin word which means "by another". It means pregnancy of a woman at the time of her marriage by someone other than her husband. If the husband was unaware of the true facts of pregnancy, then the marriage is voidable.

Section 19 falls under the part of jurisdiction and procedure for the petitions under the Hindu Marriage Act. Section 19 deals with a court to which petition shall be presented.

A divorced wife can claim a divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act as stated above. Under the CrPC, a wife can claim maintenance under Section 125. In this section, the definition of wife includes a woman who has been divorced by or has obtained a divorce from her husband and has not remarried.

If there is no person left to succeed his or her property, such property shall devolve on the government and the government shall take the property subject to all obligations and duties under Section 29 of the Hindu Succession Act. This is known as escheat.