Maintenance and alimony in divorce cases is one of the most fought over and emotionally driven money matters between husband and wife. As soon as divorce separation or matrimonial litigation starts, people worry not only “Will divorce happen?” but also “How much maintenance will the court order?” “Will I get interim maintenance?” Or if you are a husband: “Will I have to pay permanent alimony?” This is an article on Medium plain content only created based on topic, keyword brief and content instructions you have provided during the purchase. In India, there is no fixed formula applied by courts in each and every case. Forget about any chart. Wife will not get 25 percent, 33 percent or 50 percent of husband’s income automatically. Court looks at facts. Everything from income to liabilities will become relevant. Let’s discuss. In simple words, maintenance has nothing to do with guessing “Will judge say wife gets 25%?” or “Will judge order husband to pay 50%?” Divorce maintenance is also not meant to punish your spouse. It is meant to ensure fair financial support during divorce or separation if you or your spouse cannot maintain yourself at a reasonable standard. For wives who cannot maintain their standard of living after separation or during litigation, courts try to ensure fair interim maintenance or permanent alimony so they don’t face financial hardship. Likewise, husbands can also claim maintenance against wife in certain cases as permitted by law if the husband has no sufficient means. If you are fighting for maintenance or trying to defend yourself from a false maintenance claim, guesswork can cost you money. Court will look at your documents, your spouse’s documents, and financial position of both sides. Proper income proof, evidence of expenses and liabilities and practical legal approach really matters in maintenance cases. A divorce lawyer with experience in family court matters can help you prepare better. An advocate BK Singh from Divorce Lawyer Delhi/NCR has helped clients with maintenance/alimony cases, interim maintenance cases, negotiation of monthly maintenance amount, calculation of child maintenance amount, divorce settlement including financial terms, drafting of mutual consent divorce alimony agreement and contested divorce strategy. When it comes to deciding maintenance and alimony, courts look at financial position of both parties, reasonable needs of parties, their standard of living during marriage, sources of income, earning capacities, dependents, child expenses, liabilities, health condition and facts and circumstances of matrimonial dispute. Courts usually look at: Maintenance Pendente Lite & Permanent Alimony are dealt under Hindu Marriage Act in Section 24 and Section 25 respectively. Section 24 lets either wife or husband seek maintenance pendente lite and expenses of proceedings if that spouse has no independent income which is sufficient for his or her support and expenses of the proceedings. Section 25 talks about permanent alimony and maintenance either at the time of passing decree or even after. This depends on facts. Under criminal law route, maintenance of wife, children and parents is now dealt under Section 144 BNSS. This is basically social welfare. If someone has sufficient means to maintain his/her dependent wife, children and parents and such person neglects or refuses to maintain them, the Matrimonial Court or Magistrate can order maintenance. The Supreme Court also passed very important guidelines and judgment on maintenance and disclosure of finances in Rajnesh v. Neha. As per this judgment, courts must ask parties to provide affidavit of assets and liabilities so that courts can understand the true income, expenses and financial position of parties. If you ask me that question, I will say: “It depends on what’s in your documents.” Because each case is different. But guess what, the bottom line is always the same. “How much maintenance/alimony you get or have to pay” depends on your documents, income proof, expenses and facts of your case. If you want help understanding maintenance/alimony laws for your divorce case in Delhi NCR, visit our Maintenance & Alimony Lawyer in Delhi Page. Feel free to explore rest of Divorce Lawyer in Delhi NCR site for other matrimonial and family law issues. Ok. So people love using maintenance and alimony in the same sentence. But they are NOT the same in legal parlance. Maintenance refers to the financial support usually paid on monthly basis or any periodic interval. Interim maintenance or maintenance pendente lite is paid during the pendency of a case. Monthly maintenance after separation also comes under maintenance. Permanent alimony may be claimed by wife from husband after divorce. Depending on court order or terms of settlement, permanent alimony can be paid monthly or as lump sum amount. Alimony however is often used to refer to final financial settlement in one-time payment after divorce. Though the terms are used interchangeably in daily discussions, they can have different meanings depending on context. If wife files an application for monthly payments while divorce is pending, it is called interim maintenance. If husband and wife settle their divorce and husband agrees to pay wife a lump sum amount as full and final settlement, that is often called alimony. Ok. Don’t worry about terms too much. Court will look at substance of the matter. Can spouse get financial support from other? If yes, how much? Indian maintenance law can be involved under multiple provisions depending on religion of parties, type of marriage, case pending and what relief is claimed. If husband and wife are married under Hindu law, key provisions for maintenance include Section 24 and Section 25 of Hindu Marriage Act. Section 24 speaks about maintenance pendente lite and expenses of proceedings. Section 25 speaks about permanent alimony and maintenance. Muslim Law has it’s own provisions for maintenance under Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act. Similarly Christian law, Parsi law and other marriages under Special Marriage Act have their own sets of laws for maintenance. Divorce lawyers deal with family court all the time. From experience we know that courts examine salary, but also look at complete financial picture of both parties. Business income, rent, investments, lifestyle, bank statements, foreign income, cash withdrawals, loans taken, dependents and children expenses can also become relevant. Family courts usually try to look at big picture. Interim maintenance during divorce or matrimonial litigation is referred to as maintenance pendente lite or temporary maintenance. Since divorce cases do not get completed in one day, filing for divorce makes the wife (or husband if he is claiming maintenance from wife) entitled to financial support if he or she has no sufficient income to live on. Section 24 of Hindu Marriage Act provides application can be made for maintenance pendente lite and expenses of proceedings by wife or husband. As mentioned earlier, the spouse who makes such application should not have sufficient independent income to support himself or herself and to pay for the expenses of the proceedings. One important part of Section 24 is that application for maintenance pendente lite and expenses of proceedings should be disposed of by courts as early as possible and the aim was to dispose off within 60 days from service of notice. Interim maintenance is temporary maintenance until the final outcome. Just because wife is getting maintenance during divorce pendency, does not mean she is guaranteed permanent alimony after divorce. Interim maintenance can continue till final disposal of the case. Even after divorce is over, interim maintenance orders continue till they are modified, renewed or replaced by permanent maintenance/alimony orders. The courts ultimately look at financial position of both parties. Just because wife has no income or husband has higher income, does not guarantee divorce maintenance in wife’s favor. Documents of both parties will be seen. If you lie to court about income or financial position and do not file proper documents, court can presume against you. Courts grant permanent alimony after divorce or even after the decree is passed depending on facts. Section 25 allows courts to grant permanent alimony to spouse from another and also maintenance (either party). Need and capacity to pay are looked at for permanent alimony. Documents become again important. Husband and wife must show proofs of income, liabilities, expenses and assets. Standard of living, reasonable needs, employment status, assets and liabilities, age, health conditions and responsibility of children are some factors which Supreme Court mentioned for fair assessment of permanent alimony. Both monthly and lump sum amounts are common. Choose wisely as per your needs and facts. It depends. There is no straight jacket formula applied by courts in each and every divorce case. Stop believing “half of my salary goes to wife.” Or “one third is payable as maintenance.” Those are assumptions made by people on social media. NOT LAW. Every maintenance/alimony case is different. So courts do not simply plug in salary into a ratio and award maintenance. Factors which influence maintenance/alimony include: Hidden income or false expenses can be detrimental to your case. Especially if the other side provides evidence to prove you lie to court. The highest maintenance per month I have seen personally? Rs. 50,000. Paid by husband. And wife was working too. Yes. You read it right. Rs. 50,000. She was educated, earning and husband’s income was high. Also the marriage standard was high. Don’t forget evidence of lifestyle can be used against you. A working wife can get maintenance if her salary is not sufficient to maintain her expenses and standard of living. She will have to prove her expenses and his income. If wife is working, it does not automatically mean she won’t get maintenance from husband. Court will check whether her income is sufficient for her expenses and standard of living. If not, wife can get maintenance up to decent standard which she was living with her husband. Factors which court may consider for working wife maintenance include: Proper maintenance cases are not fought only in the court. They are fought while filing papers and getting documents ready. Many wives do not know under Section 24 husbands also can seek maintenance pendente lite if the husband has no sufficient means for his support and expenses of the proceedings and if wife has sufficient income. That means if you are husband and can prove that you have no sufficient means to support yourself while divorce is pending and your wife has sufficient income, you can also claim maintenance against wife. But remember, courts will carefully look at your application. You will have to prove that you are unable to work, your income and potential and you require support. The wife can argue that you can work and you are deliberately remaining unemployed to harass her. Maintenance has to be reasonably justified and court will scrutinize application carefully. Children are totally different dependent. Child maintenance is not called spouse maintenance. Even if parents are fighting, kids should not suffer because of parents. Parents are responsible for kids upbringing. Court will do what’s best for children. Again documentation is very important. Show bank statements of child expenses. Medical bills, school fee receipts, tuition fees receipts, transport costs – if you have paid from your pocket and are claiming from husband/wife, show evidence. The court doesn’t care whose fault is greater. It cares about who needs money and who has money for kids. There is no strict definition of “child expenses”. Just show true expenses and do not exaggerate. Maintenance can be interim or permanent. Temporary maintenance is during the pendency of divorce case. But once granted, it continues till it is modified or you get a divorce decree. Once divorced, wife can ask for permanent maintenance from husband under Section 25. Here again she has to prove her husband has sufficient means. Should you ask for one-time permanent alimony settlement or monthly payments? There is no RIGHT answer. Every case is different. Both have their own benefits and risks. One-time alimony gives you certainty and finality. Court Orders are best interpreted as HOW MUCH MONEY HAVE TO PAY, NOT UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS WILL PAY. If divorce is mutual and you both agree to terms, you can safely get alimony amount determined in lump sum and avoid future confusion. Monthly payments may be good where parties want long term recurring payments, expenses are high like kid’s expenses or one-time settlements aren’t practical due to high amounts. Just be careful of how you draft orders or settle cases. Kindly see following: Words used in order/mutual agreement should be CLEAR. Court order for monthly maintenance should mention: Mutual agreement should be CLEAR. Maintenance cases require lots of documents. Don’t fall in trap of just talking facts in court. Below are some of the common documents that we at Divorce Lawyer Delhi/NCR recommend clients to gather before filing maintenance cases or defending against false claims. If you already paid some maintenance or expenses from your pocket pending case, gather evidence. It may help in claiming reimbursements. Supreme Court in Rajnesh v. Neha acknowledged importance of financial disclosure affidavit of assets and liabilities so courts can better understand parties’ income, expenses and financial position. One of the most important document which is required in every case is income affidavit. It simply tells the court about your income, expenses, assets, liabilities and lifestyle. It shows financial position of you and your spouse. What many people do not realize is income affidavit is the first document which tells court about you. Lies in income affidavit can harm your case later. You claim very low income and show no bank accounts in your affidavit, but bank statements show your wife deposited money in your accounts or you have two jobs but don’t disclose one salary? The other side will file evidence. Your word vs their documents. Guess who wins! Income affidavit should be truthful and accurate. Supported by evidence. Don’t think courts won’t analyze. They do. Parties can decide maintenance and alimony during mutual consent divorce too. When you move to settle your differences in mutual consent, take care of maintenance too. Tell your lawyer about it. The terms should be clearly recorded in settlement part of terms agreed. Things to keep in mind: Everything should be clearly settled. Because remember, once decree is passed you cannot go back to court asking “You cheated me.” Easy to say. Very hard to prove after decree is passed. As mentioned before, maintenance claims are common in contested divorce cases. Usually wife will file for interim maintenance and expenses. If husband has income and wife has no income or insufficient income, courts may grant maintenance. Husband can oppose maintenance by showing wife is employed or has sufficient means, has higher qualification then him and can work, is remarried(if proves), has actual income higher than stated and wife’s expenses are false. Periodic income review clauses are helpful. But remember if you show false income now and don’t have it in future, you will be in trouble. Bottom line is be honest to court. Modifications can be claimed later too where parties show change in circumstances. Do you really think husbands or wives never get caught lying on income? They do. And if caught, consequences are severe. One spouse cheats slightly and evidence is produced. Courts will exceed liberty to believe other side. Learn from experiences of others. Don’t ignore maintenance consequences. Mr. X husband was ordered to pay Rs. 8,000 monthly maintenance to wife. He didn’t like order and stopped paying maintenance despite wife having proves of salary and income. He lost every right to discuss with court afterward. He just stopped appearing in court. Wife filed execution petition and harassed him legally. His salary was attached till he learned his lesson. Morals of the story: Don’t ignore court orders trying to teach spouse a lesson. You may end up teaching yourself. Also keep proofs of payments made safely. In case of disputes these will help you. Mrs. X working as an teacher in Delhi got divorced from her husband. During proceedings, her husband showed emails exchanged between her and colleagues which discussed her receiving salary payments from other school where she worked without disclosing it to court. The court saw evidence of hidden income. She was not granted interim maintenance. Lesson Learnt: Do NOT hide income and bank statements. Mr. Y husband was paying Rs. 15,000 monthly maintenance to wife even though he was self employed. During divorce, he conveniently “lost” his business bank account statements. But could produce quants of travel during custody period, lifestyle evidence including admissions of his daughter in private school. Costliest mistake he did? Not complying with interim maintenance order while fighting divorce. WIFE WINS POINTS. Instead of facing temporary hardship, he made his life miserable wasting thousands paying lawyer fees. Lesson Learnt: Maintenance Orders should be complied with until legally modified. Maintenance should be dealt sensibly. And with proper legal advice. If you need help understanding maintenance laws for divorce cases in Delhi NCR, scheduling appointment with Advocate BK Singh handling maintenance cases or need help with filing reply to maintenance application, consulting your own lawyer is advisable.Maintenance And Alimony In Divorce Cases: How Courts Decide Amount
“How much maintenance/alimony will the court decide?”
Divorce Maintenance Explained
Maintenance is NOT a lottery.
Quick Question: How Do Courts Decide Maintenance And Alimony In India?
“So how much maintenance/alimony will the court order?”
Difference Between Maintenance and Alimony
Legal Framework for Maintenance and Alimony In India
Maintenance pendente lite or interim maintenance:
Time for deciding application:
Maintenance pendente lite is not same as permanent alimony:
Factors courts look at for interim maintenance:
Permanent Alimony:
How Is Alimony Calculated In India?
Maintenance can be Calculated Physically Too
Working Wife Maintenance:
Husband Can Get Maintenance Too
Child Maintenance
Maintenance Versus Alimony:
Permanent Alimony versus Monthly Maintenance
Important Documents for Maintenance Case
Income Affidavit For Divorce Case
Maintenance in Mutual Consent Divorce
Maintenance in Contested Divorce Cases
Consequences of Not Paying Maintenance
Real World Example 1: Hidden Income By Wife
Real World Example 2: Self Employed Husband
COMMON MATERNITY NEWSONLYMaintenance Mistakes People Make (Avoid These)
Don't worry; Divorce Lawyer Delhi NCR explains everything in plain language without using legal jargon.
No stress and no confusing legal language, Divorce Lawyer Delhi NCR gives clear, honest guidance based on real case experience so the divorce process stays simple and easy to understand.
Schedule Your Consultation