Law Legal Studies

Family and Marriage Law

1,817 Questions

Prepare for legal studies with practice questions on family and marriage laws, including the Hindu Marriage Act, dower in Muslim law, and divorce procedures. These questions cover custody, adoption, and domestic violence regulations. They are highly useful for law students and competitive legal exams.

Hindu Marriage ActMuslim law and dowerDivorce and alimonyChild custody and adoptionDomestic violence provisionsMarriage validity and restrictions

Family and Marriage Law Questions

Multiple choice

Anita marries Aman on September 1, 2009. Both are sapindas to each other. Only Aman’s custom allows marriage between two sapindas.

Which of the following is correct?

  1. The marriage is void abinitio.

  2. The marriage is valid under Hindu Marriage act.

  3. The marriage is valid under Special Marriage Act, but not under Hindu Marriage Act.

  4. The marriage is voidable at the option of Anita.

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

As per section 5 of Hindu marriage Act 1955, the marriage between two sapindas is possible if custom or usage of each of them permits a marriage between two.

Multiple choice

Under Hindu Marriage Act, which of the following is not a condition for a Hindu Marriage?

  1. Parties must not have a spouse living at the time of marriage.

  2. Parties should not be within the degrees of prohibited relationship, unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits a marriage between the two.

  3. Bridegroom must have completed the age of twenty one years and the bride must be of eighteen years at the time of marriage.

  4. Party must not be incapable of giving a valid consent due to unsoundness of mind.

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

All of the conditions mentioned above are required for a valid marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act.

Multiple choice

Which section of Hindu Marriage Act provides that if cohabitation between parties to marriage after the passing of a decree of restitution of conjugal rights is not resumed, then a petition for the dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce may be presented?

  1. Section 12

  2. Section 13(1) A

  3. Section 13B

  4. Section 13(2)

  5. Section 11
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Section 13 (1) A of Hindu Marriage Act 1955 provides that if cohabitation between the parties to the marriage after the passing of a decree of restitution of conjugal rights is not resumed then a petition for the dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce may be presented by either party.

Multiple choice

Under which of the following grounds can a Muslim wife not sue for divorce under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act 1939?

  1. The husband has not been known for a period of four years.

  2. The husband has failed to provide her maintenance for a period of two years.

  3. The husband was impotent since the time of marriage.

  4. The husband has been insane for a period of one year.

  5. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Under section 2(vi) of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, a woman married under Muslim law may sue for divorce if the husband has been insane for a period of two years.

Multiple choice

Muta marriage is recognised by:

  1. Hanafi School

  2. Maliki School

  3. Ithna Ashari School

  4. Hanbali School
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Muta marriage is a temporary form of marriage recognized specifically by the Ithna Ashari (Shia) school of Islamic law.

Multiple choice

X, a married woman of 40 years old with her own free will leaves her husband's house and began to live with her paramour Y as husband and wife. The husband of the wife files a criminal case against Y. Point out the correct answer.

  1. Y is libale for keeping the woman as wife

  2. Y is not liable because the woman has left her husband's house by her own free will

  3. Y is not liable because neither she has been kidnapped nor abducted

  4. Y is liable for bigamy
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Under the Indian Penal Code (prior to the decriminalization of adultery), adultery required the man to have sexual intercourse with a woman without the consent of her husband. If the woman left of her own free will, it did not constitute the offense of kidnapping or abduction.

Multiple choice

Two lovers nut allowed by their parents to marry agreed to commit suicide but later on gave up the idea of suicide. Decide the liability of the lovers:

  1. They are guilty U/s 120 B of the Indian Penal Code

  2. They are not guilty U/S 120 B of the Indian Penal Code

  3. They are guilty U/S 34 of the Indian Penal Code

  4. They are guilty U/S 309 of the Indian Penal Code
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Attempt to commit suicide was an offense under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (though the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 has significantly limited its application).

Multiple choice

You are a Superintendent of Police (SP) in a district. You are approached by a boy and a girl who are seeking police protection. They claim that they are adults and are of marriageable age and are ready to furnish documentary evidence to this effect. They want to marry each other, but they belong to different castes and their families and communities are opposed to the marriage. Further, the girl’s family and community have threatened the boy with dire consequences. You are personally not in favour of marriages which involve elopement and believe family blessings are important for a strong foundation of marriage. Besides, your work force is hard pressed for man power on account of some political agitation which is going on. In such a situation you would

  1. Convince the boy and the girl to return to the their families and seek their blessings before marriage

  2. Take the telephone numbers of their parents, speak personally to their parents and try to convince them to allow the boy and the girl to marry

  3. Seek a report/complaint in writing from the boy and girl and then allow police protection

  4. Ask them to come after a week as you are busy and lack man power to give police protection
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

2.5 marks for Option (c) 1 mark for Option (b) 0 marks for Options (a) and (d) Rationale/ Reasoning (c) The best course of action is to allow police protection as per the established procedure. This is important as the boy and girl have expressed threat to life and as police authority it is your duty to protect them Option (c)  (b) Trying to convince the parents shows your concern and readiness to go out of your way to help others. This is a positive virtue as a human being. But here the help is being sought from the police authority/ the State to protect the life of human beings. In the present situation this is your foremost duty. As such Option (b) is not the best course of action. (a) Trying to counsel others based on your own personal conviction is not what is being expected from a police authority. The boy and girl have come to seek protection and not counseling or sermon. As such Option (a) is inappropriate. (d) Option (d) displays a negative trait, which is to ward off complainants and shrug off responsibility. This would be denial of justice and may endanger the life of the complainants. Principle/ Value Tested Readiness to discharge one’s official duties even in the cases of ordinary citizens Ability to distinguish between personal beliefs and conviction and call of official duty 

Multiple choice

Principle: Surrogacy is a method of reproduction whereby a woman (referred to as surrogate) agrees to carry a pregnancy and give birth as a substitute for the contracted party/parties. A surrogacy arrangement shall be governed by a contract amongst parties, which will contain all the terms requiring consent of surrogate mother to bear the child, agreement of her husband and other family members for the same, medical procedures of artificial insemination, reimbursement of all reasonable expenses for carrying child to full term, willingness to hand over the child born to the commissioning parent(s), etc.

Fact: A couple, been unable to bear to a child, finally decides to opt for a surrogacy arrangement with a young female C. The couple signs a contract to include all important issues with C. C, at the same time is involved in an intimate relationship with her boyfriend D. C conceives and her boyfriend D, coerces her to have an abortion, as he considered parenthood was too premature at the time.

Which of the following is valid? 

  1. C should abort the foetus as asked by her boyfriend.

  2. C should take the baby to its full term as her surrogacy contract.

  3. C should undergo a paternity test and then decide the course of action.

  4. C should call off the contract and carry the pregnancy to its full term.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Option 1: No, C has signed a surrogacy contract with the couple and is responsible to carry the couple’s child to full term. Option 2: Not necessarily, until C herself is confident that the baby is of the couple. This is not the case since she is intimately involved with her boyfriend as well.  Option 3: Yes, this can be a wise option to clear all doubts regarding the father of the baby. Option 4: No, C cannot call off the contract.  

Multiple choice

Principle: The expression “Desertion” means the desertion of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage without reasonable cause and without the consent or against the wish of such party, and includes the willful neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage, and its grammatical variations and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.

Which of the following is valid?

  1. A abuses his wife B and also keeps a mistress C in the presence of B. B is compelled to leave her matrimonial house. B is guilty of desertion.

  2. A’s wife B left him as she couldn’t adjust in A’s two room apartment which the couple shared with her in-laws citing lack of privacy. B is guilty of desertion.

  3. Post pregnancy, A’s wife decided to stay over at her parent’s house for better recovery and care. A’s wife is guilty of desertion.

  4. A, in a fit of rage, turned his wife B out of the house. B never returned to A’s house. B is guilty of desertion.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Option 1: B left A for a solid reason of abuse. Hence, this does not amount to desertion as there is a cause involved. Option 2: B left A for a cause that can be termed too unreasonable or ill-logical to leave one's spouse. Leaving one's husband for the reason that a two room apartment did not give enough privacy cannot be considered a valid cause. This amounts to desertion. Option 3: A's wife left him to live with her parents, for better recovery and care. Hence, there is a valid reason of staying away from her husband. Also, we may assume the husband's implicit consent and wish in this decision. Option 4: B left A's house due to domestic violence. Hence, a valid reason is there to leave A. This cannot be termed desertion.

Multiple choice

Assertion (A): A bigamous marriage is void under the Hindu law. Reason (R): A child born out of a void marriage is the legitimate child of his parent.

  1. Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

  2. Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).

  3. (A) is true, but (R) is false.

  4. (A) is false, but (R) is true.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1956 has declared bigamous marriage, i.e. second marriage ‘void’ during the subsistence of the first one, but the child born out of a void marriage is the legitimate child of his/her parent.

Multiple choice

Which country has similar situation like ours?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

Why do couples hanker after male progeny? They believe that the female child will be a liability, that they will have to provide dowry for her. A male child on the other hand, they believe, will look after them in their old age. If the government takes care of these two aspects of the problem, the issue of sex determination will automatically disappear. In Muslim countries like Malaysia and Brunei, which I have visited, I found female children were welcome. This is perfectly understandable. They don’t practice dowry. On the contrary, they take ‘bride price’ for their girls.

I think the hue and cry over pre-selection is unnecessary. After all, there is no 100 percent foolproof technique to ensure male progeny. It is only conception with the Y chromosome or male factor gaining ascendancy during fertilisation which allows the possibility of a male offspring. Couples who would like to exercise the option and try their luck should be allowed to do so.

In western countries, they don’t face this problem because they do not have to confront issues like dowry. Of course, in eastern countries like China, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the situation is somewhat similar to ours.

  1. Malaysia

  2. Brunei

  3. Western countries

  4. China
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The last line of the passage gives the answer.