Living Separately With Parents Does Not Disentitle Widowed Daughter-in-Law To Claim Maintenance From Father-In-Law: Allahabad HC

The case in question involved a widow whose husband was murdered in 1999. Since then, she had remained unmarried and sought maintenance from her father-in-law, asserting that she had only received Rs. 80,000 in terminal benefits from her late husband's employer. She also claimed a right to a portion of her father-in-law’s property that her husband was entitled to.

A Division Bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh said, “it is not a mandatory condition of law that for a daughter-in-law to claim maintenance, she must first agree to live at her matrimonial home. In the societal context in which law must be applied, it is not uncommon for widowed ladies to live with her parents, for varied reasons and circumstances. Merely because the lady may have made that choice may neither lead us to the conclusion that she had separated from her matrimonial home without reasonable cause nor that she would have sufficient means to survive of her own.”

Advocate J.C. Sharma appeared for the Appellant and Advocate Hitesh Pachori appeared for the respondent.

The High Court noted that there was no documentary evidence to support the claim that the widow had misappropriated terminal dues; only oral claims were made. Although evidence showed a fixed deposit of Rs. 20,000 created by the appellant in the widow’s favor, there was no proof of any wrongdoing regarding the terminal dues.

Furthermore, the appellant's claims about the widow’s remarriage and gainful employment were not substantiated with evidence. The court said, “The fact that the widowed daughter-in-law of the appellant was living separately that too with her parent, may not be a circumstance as may dis-entitle her to claim maintenance from her father-in-law, in entirety”

As a result, the High Court upheld the Family Court's decision, affirming that the widow was entitled to maintenance from her father-in-law. The Court reiterated that living separately with her parents does not disqualify the widow from receiving maintenance

Cause Title: Shree Rajpati v. Bhuri Devi, [2024:AHC:140720-DB]

Appearance:

Appellant: Advocates J.C. Sharma, Ravindra Kumar Pandey