8/10/2019 MFS Product
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Insurance against Alimony:
It is estimated that in India 1 out of 100 or 11 out of 1000
marriages end up in divorce.
The divorce rates in India are however one of the lowest is in
the world but it has
increased rapidly in the recent years. This may be due to the
effects of western culture,
increase in the stature of women, financial independence of
women, increased andprogressive thinking of the society etc. This
is leading to the a payment of a rather good
amount by one of the spouses irrespective of the sex to the
other under various
conditions like amount and duration of the alimony, number of
years the marriage
lasted, age of the spouse, economic condition of the spouse,
health of the spouse,
career of the spouse etc.
The divorce rate in a conservative state like Punjab has
increased an astounding 150%
in the recent years, in Mumbai 2 out of 5 marriages end up in
divorce according to a
report from TOI, Bangalore has come to be known as the divorce
capital of South India
as the city gets at least 25 divorce cases every day. It is
estimated that on an average,7,500 cases are filed in Mumbai, 9,000
in Delhi and 3,000 in Chennai, every year.
With such high rates prevailing, it could prove beneficial to
the spouse if such an event
occurs which will secure the person with respect to the payments
he/she has to make.
The Court decides to grant maintenance only when an application
is filed before it. It is
entirely at the discretion of the Court to decide if at all any
maintenance deserves to be
awarded to the applicant/ petitioner, and if so, then the amount
of maintenance to be
granted. Whilst doing so, the Court takes into account various
factors that would affect
the quantum of maintenance to be decided upon, such as, the
status and financialposition of the parties concerned, the number
of dependants on the respondent, etc.
Although the wife who makes the application for maintenance is
earning sufficiently well
for herself, she can yet be entitled to alimony in case her
husbands income exceeds
way beyond her own. This reasoning being on the premise that the
wife is entitled to live
as per the standard and status of her husband.
Irrespective of ones caste, creed or religion; any person can
file an application for
maintenance, under section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Besides the wife and
husband, the parents and children of the respondent, can also
vice versa claim
maintenance under this particular section.
The order of maintenance is subject to change. In other words,
the amount of
maintenance once fixed by the Court can be altered if there is a
reversal of
circumstances. There can be an enhancement or reduction of the
same depending on
the circumstances at that particular time.
