law-subject
Maintenance
Published 2026-10-08. Updated 2026-10-08. 8 minute read. Written 2026-10-08 by LLB subjects editorial chair. Reviewer: LLB subjects editorial chair.
Support is a statutory question
Which family statute applies at all is the prior question in . Maintenance can appear inside a marriage Act and also in a secular criminal-procedure provision about preventing destitution. Those are different texts with different forums and different tests. Read the one the problem names, using . A contract to pay a sum can exist beside a status claim. explains the promise. It does not repeal the statute. This note prints no monthly figure.
Who may claim is not a proverb
Students repeat that “the wife gets maintenance.” Some statutes allow husbands, parents, and children to claim when their conditions are met. Some defences, such as means and conduct, are statutory. Write the claimant the problem gives you and the statute’s words. Do not invent an income threshold. Do not say a working spouse can never receive support, or that a working spouse always must. Both slogans skip the text.
How to answer
Name the statute or say it is missing. Name the relationship. Say that quantum needs evidence the problem may not give. Keep divorce grounds out of the paragraph unless the problem is about dissolution. Keep inheritance out of it too. A claim for monthly support and a claim to a dead relative’s house are different.
A hypothetical about a round number
Hypothetical. A student writes that every separated wife in India is entitled to ₹20,000 a month under “the family law.” The rewrite deletes the figure and the phrase “the family law.” It says the statute is unnamed, means are unstated, and more than one Act might be relevant. Nobody is told to pay or to sue.
A checklist for a maintenance problem
Find the text. 1. Name the statute, or say it is not named. 2. Name the relationship. 3. List the conditions you have opened. 4. Refuse a gender proverb. 5. Refuse a rupee figure that the problem did not give. 6. Keep contract promises in their own paragraph. 7. Confirm the statute on India Code.
Kanoons Academy does not currently list a separate LAWCET, CLAT, or AP LAWCET batch in the catalogue; these notes are study material, and counselling is via . The nearest catalogue course is . That course teaches how to read an Act, a rule, and a judgment note. It is not an entrance-test batch, and the button on this page uses the course’s own name.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one maintenance amount for India?
No. Quantum depends on the statute and the evidence. This note will not print a monthly sum.
Can only wives claim?
No. Who may claim is in the particular statute. Parents, children, and husbands appear in some of them. Read the one that applies.
Is a private settlement the same as a maintenance order?
A contract is a promise. A maintenance order is a court’s or authority’s decision under a statute. They can both exist. They are not the same document.
Which forum do I file in?
This page will not name one. Forum depends on the statute and the facts.
Sources
Editorial standards — educational content; confirm time-sensitive figures on official portals.
Educational material only. It is not advice on your facts, and it is not a filing. Confirm the text in force on the official portal, and instruct a practitioner where a filing or opinion is required.